Mammals - Species Extinction

A drawing of the Honshu wolf created between 1833 and 1850 by Philipp Franz von Siebold. (© Special Collections of the University of Amsterdam, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

2024-08-18 Doreen Fräßdorf

Honshū Wolf

Island dwarfism led to the smallest subspecies of the wolf The extinct Honshū wolf, which was only found on the Japanese islands of Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū, is considered the smallest subspecies of the wolf. Its body length was about 90 centimeters, and its shoulder height was 56 centimeters. The

The Hokkaidō wolf, one of two wolf subspecies extinct in Japan, was depicted in this illustration by the English zoologist St. George Mivart in 1890. (© Mivart, St. George Jackson (30 November 1827 – 1 April 1900), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

2024-08-18 Doreen Fräßdorf

Hokkaidō Wolf

Harmful animals in Hokkaido In Japanese mythology, both the extinct Honshu wolf and the Hokkaido wolf, also known as the Ezo wolf, are revered as benevolent beings. One legend, similar to the Roman myth of Romulus and Remus, recounts that a son of Fujiwara no Hidehira, a 12th-century Japanese noble

A Barbary lion in Algeria, photographed by Sir Alfred Edward Pease in 1893. The particularly dense, dark mane was notable, but it does not provide significant insights into the species. It may instead represent an adaptation to climatic conditions. (© Alfred Edward Pease (29 June 1857 – 27 April 1939), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

2024-07-30 Doreen Fräßdorf

Barbary Lion

The cultural significance of North African lions Lions played a role in early Egyptian art and literature. Archaeologists discovered statues and statuettes of lions from Egypt’s Early Dynastic Period (3100 to 2686 BC) in Hierakonpolis, the religious and political center of Upper Egypt, and in the ancient Egyptian city of

This is what the Atlas bear might have looked like. (© Nicolas Maréchal, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

2024-07-29 Doreen Fräßdorf

Atlas Bear

The Atlas bear was part of animal hunts in the Roman Empire The Atlas bear is believed to have lived in the North African Atlas Mountains and the adjacent regions of Libya, Algeria, and Morocco. There are no photos, scientific illustrations, museum specimens, or complete skeletons of the Atlas bear.

This illustration of the aurochs was created between 1700 and 1880. The banteng, the gaur and the extinct kouprey are related to the wild cattle. (© Special Collections of the University of Amsterdam, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

2024-06-30 Doreen Fräßdorf

Aurochs

How the wild animal became a domestic pet The aurochs, or urus, is considered the first wild cattle domesticated by humans to ensure a steady supply of meat and milk and to provide draft and work animals. Domestication always involves physical changes: over time, the animals become smaller, their horns

Drawing of the red gazelle from the book Great and Small Game of Africa from 1899. (© Rowland Ward, Limited. [d. 1912], Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

2024-06-10 Doreen Fräßdorf

Red gazelle

The last animal died in 1894 The Red gazelle is known only from the skins and bones of three male specimens, which are currently housed in museums in Paris and London. The last known individual of this species was likely killed by a hunter in 1894, as there have been

Male and female Tasmanian tiger, photographed around 1904 at the Washington D.C. National Zoo. (© Baker; E.J. Keller., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

2024-06-10 Doreen Fräßdorf

Thylacine

Tasmanian wolf or Tasmanian tiger: Neither wolf nor tiger The name Tasmanian wolf might be misleading, as that animal was neither a wolf nor did it resemble one. Rather, its physique was more similar to a dog or dingo; with shorter front legs than hind legs, the thylacine even resembled