20th century - Species Extinction

Illustration from 1902. Rocky Mountain locusts belong to the suborder of Caelifera, which includes short-horned grasshoppers. (© Julius Bien (1826-1909) biography, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

2024-09-20 Doreen Fräßdorf

Rocky Mountain Locust

Record: A swarm of 12.5 trillion locusts The correct biological term for animals that form large groups is “swarm,” but when it comes to large assemblies of migratory locusts, the term “plague” is used because they not only migrate but also devastate entire regions. Migratory locusts differ from ordinary grasshoppers

Male huias (bottom) reached a length of around 45 centimeters, while female huias (top) measured between 48 and 55 centimeters. The illustration is by John G. Keulemans from Walter Buller's A History of the Birds of New Zealand (1873). (© John Gerrard Keulemans, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

2024-09-15 Doreen Fräßdorf

Huia

When males and females appear as two different species The pronounced sexual dimorphism between female and male huia caused confusion in the past. This confusion was so significant that, in 1836, the English ornithologist John Gould described male and female huia as different species. Even today, the development of gender-specific

Mecodema oconnori belongs to the same genus as the Stephens Island weevil

Images of the Stephens Island weevil are rare; the image shows the ground beetle Mecodema oconnori, which belongs to the same genus. (© S.E. Thorpe, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

2024-09-11 Doreen Fräßdorf

Stephens Island Weevil

From isolated paradise to endangered habitat Stephens Island, a small rocky island in the Cook Strait, is renowned for its unique wildlife. Despite covering only 1.5 square kilometers, the island boasts a remarkable ecosystem that was once home to numerous endemic species, including many land and seabirds. Among its notable

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

Illustration of the Cape Verde Giant Skink by J. Terrier from 1885. Males could reach a body length of around 50 centimeters, and females around 43 centimeters (including the tail). The weight of the animals was almost half a kilogram. (© J. Terrier, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

2024-07-25 Doreen Fräßdorf

Cape Verde Giant Skink

Ilhas Desertas – The terra typica of the Cape Verde giant skink Organisms that occur in isolated ecosystems such as islands are often adapted to the extreme conditions prevailing there. They exhibit characteristics such as dwarfism or gigantism and often lack defensive mechanisms due to the absence of predators, setting

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

Pink-headed ducks reach a length of around 60 centimeters. The males (front) have a dark pink head and neck, chocolate-brown plumage, and a crest on their heads. The females (back) and juveniles are generally somewhat paler overall. (© Henrik Grönvold (1858–1940), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

2024-07-19 Doreen Fräßdorf

Pink-headed Duck

A bird with extraordinary characteristics About half a century after the extinction of the Himalayan quail in northern India, another monotypic species vanished from the region: the Pink-headed duck, also known as the Bengali pink-headed duck. Although much has been written about this duck, many reports remain incomplete or contradictory.

Chestnut casebearer moth (Coleophora leucochrysella)

A photo of the chestnut casebearer moth, published on iNaturalist in June 2020, shows that this species is not extinct as previously believed. Scientists had thought that the insect from the casebearer moth family had disappeared between 1904 and 1950. (© Steven Whitebread, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

2024-06-21 Doreen Fräßdorf

Chestnut casebearer moth

Chestnut blight from East Asia devastated more than just the American chestnut The American chestnut casebearer moth relied on the native American chestnut (Castanea dentata) for survival. This hardwood tree was the sole host plant for its larvae, ultimately leading to the highly specialized moth species’ downfall. Once one of

This is what remains of the holotype of the Ainsworth's salamander. The specimen is kept in the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. (© DesmognathusFuscus, via Wikimedia Commons)

2024-06-10 Doreen Fräßdorf

Ainsworth’s salamander

Last seen in 1964: Plethodon ainsworthi, sp. nov. Ainsworth’s salamander is known only from two specimens collected by biologist Jackson Harold Ainsworth in 1964, two miles south of Bay Springs in Jasper County, Mississippi. Ainsworth initially assumed that these individuals were Northern slimy salamanders (Plethodon glutinosus). However, more than 30

Hula bream (Acanthobrama hulensis) - same genus: Yarkon Bream (Acanthobrama telavivensis)

There are few images of the Hula bream. The photo shows the Yarkon bream (Acanthobrama telavivensis) from Israel, which belongs to the same genus. (© MERRYcristhmas, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

2024-06-10 Doreen Fräßdorf

Hula bream

Drainage of lake and wetland led to extinction of fauna The wetlands surrounding the 20 square kilometer Hula Lake (also known as Hula Lake, Chula Lake) in Israel were artificially drained in the 1950s to create agricultural land. Within a few years, the endemic fauna of the lake – including