19th century - Species Extinction

Traversia lyalli Stephens Island wren or Lyall's wren

The flightless Stephens Island wren, measuring around ten centimeters in total length, was a relatively small bird. (© Avenue, GFDL 1.2, via Wikimedia Commons)

2024-09-11 Doreen Fräßdorf

Lyall’s Wren

The tragic story of the Lyall’s wren Like the dodo, the Lyall’s wren, also known als Stephens Island wren, stands as one of the most well-known examples of bird species extinction, as the circumstances of its disappearance are both poignant and tragic. The story of the Lyall’s wren is often

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

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.

tongan ground skink (Tachygyia microlepis)

The Tongan ground skink is known from only two specimens that were collected on Tongatapu in the early 19th century. The species reached a snout-to-vent length of nearly 18 centimeters, plus the tail. (© Journal, German & Ineich, Ivan & Böhme, Wolfgang. (2024). Was it premature to declare the giant Tongan Ground Skink Tachygyia microlepis extinct?. Salamandra. 60. 82-93.)

2024-07-24 Doreen Fräßdorf

Tongan Ground Skink

From the South Pacific to the museum – The last Tongan ground skinks The Tongan ground skink, a giant lizard, is known only from two specimens that are now housed in the Natural History Museum of Paris. The French doctors and naturalists Jean-René-Constant Quoy and Joseph Paul Gaimard collected the

Remains of the Tasmanian tiger, which was hunted to extinction in the early 20th century. (© Doreen Fräßdorf, photographed at the UCL Grant Museum of Zoology in London, England, 2024)

2024-07-23 Doreen Fräßdorf

Extinctions: How Many Animal Species Have We Already Wiped Out?

There have been five mass extinction events in the history of Earth’s biodiversity, all caused by natural phenomena. It is believed that the sixth mass extinction is currently underway, this time solely driven by human activities. The Thylacine, the aurochs, and the dodo are just a few of the most

Painting of a pair of Himalayan Quails by John Gould from 1883. Females are smaller and lighter; males have darker feathers, a white forehead, and white spots near the eyes. The genus name is derived from Ophrys, which refers to the eyebrow. (© John Gould, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

2024-07-18 Doreen Fräßdorf

Himalayan Quail

A mysterious bird The Himalayan quail is one of the mysteries of avian fauna. It was last conclusively sighted in 1876, and all subsequent search expeditions have been unsuccessful. However, many scientists believe that it may still survive to this day. The IUCN also lists the bird, belonging to the

The Ula-ai-hawane in the book Birds of the Sandwich Islands (1890-1899) by F. W. Frohawk. (© Frederick William Frohawk, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

2024-06-10 Doreen Fräßdorf

Ula-ai-hawane

The Hawaiian Islands once hosted 57 species of honeycreepers Honeycreepers (Drepanidini), a tribe within the finch family (Fringillidae), are found only on the Hawaiian Island chain. Honeycreepers are closely related as sister species to the rosefinches (Carpodacus), yet many species have developed characteristics that differ from those of finches. Honeycreepers

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

Brazilian diving beetle Megadytes ducalis

A+D: Megadytes ducalis (Brazilian diving beetle), B+E: M. lherminieri, C+F: M. magnus (© L. Hendrich, M. Manuel, M. Balke: The Return of the Duke, Vol. 4586 No. 3: 18 Apr. 2019, Licensed under CC BY 3.0)

2024-06-10 Doreen Fräßdorf

Brazilian diving beetle

“Giant of the Dytiscidae” Until recently, the Brazilian diving beetle Megadytes ducalis was known only from a single male specimen, which, according to rumors, was discovered before 1882 at the bottom of a water-filled canoe in the Amazon region of Brazil. It is currently housed at the Natural History Museum