Asia - Species Extinction

The dwarf elephant species Palaeoloxodon cypriotes, found exclusively in Cyprus, weighed around 500 kilograms, while the dwarf hippopotamus Phanourios minor (pictured) reached only 130 kilograms. (© GeorgeLyras at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

2024-09-21 Doreen Fräßdorf

New Study: Dwarf Hippopotamuses and Elephants in Cyprus Driven to Extinction by a Few Thousand People

New research reveals that dwarf elephants (Palaeoloxodon cypriotes) and dwarf hippopotamuses (Phanourios minor) on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus were driven to extinction after the arrival of Paleolithic humans around 14,000 years ago. A small population of possibly just 3,000 people was enough to wipe out these animals within a

The Abrau sprat, with a body length of about 9.5 centimeters, is a relatively small fish. (© Лев Семёнович (Симонович) Берг (2 (14) марта 1876 — 24 декабря 1950), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

2024-09-05 Doreen Fräßdorf

Russia: Believed-to-be-extinct Abrau Sprat Rediscovered

In October 2019, researchers collected nine small fish during an expedition from Lake Abrau in the Krasnodar region of western Russia. Recent DNA analyses have confirmed that the captured fish are indeed the endemic Abrau sprat (Clupeonella abrau), a species that had not been recorded since 2008. Challenges for the

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

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.

Pseudophilautus hypomelas from Sri Lanka was considered lost for over 130 years before it was rediscovered in 2010. The species is classified as endangered because it is known only from a small area. (© L.J. Mendis Wickramasinghe, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

2024-07-18 Doreen Fräßdorf

Incredible Rediscovery of the Brown-eared Shrub Frog in India

A recent study published in the journal Zootaxa reports the rediscovery of the brown-eared shrub frog (Pseudophilautus regius) – approximately 700 kilometers away from its previously known distribution range. The brown-eared shrub frog, originally native to the forests of Sri Lanka, was found by researchers in the Indian state of

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 rare Berezowski's reed snake has not been sighted for at least 26 years. (© Liang Y-T, Huang Z-D, Ding L, Vogel G, Ananjeva NB, Orlov NL, Shi S-C, Wu Z-J, Chen Z-N (2024) Revalidated after having been described more than a century ago: Calamaria berezowskii Günther, 1896 (Squamata, Colubridae) from Sichuan, Southwestern China. Zoosystematics and Evolution 100(3): 897-911. https://doi.org/10.3897/zse.100.125798)

2024-07-10 Doreen Fräßdorf

South China: Mystery of Berezowski’s Reed Snake Solved

The snake species Berezowski’s reed snake (Calamaria berezowskii), described as a new species in 1896, puzzled scientists for a long time, as it was unclear whether it even existed. Due to a lack of sightings, it was assumed that the missing Berezowski’s reed snake was not a distinct taxon but

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