Island endemic - Species Extinction

New Zealand's unique birdlife evolved in isolation over millions of years. This late 19th-century illustration depicts a hunting scene involving moas. (© Joseph Smit, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

2024-07-29 Doreen Fräßdorf

In the Footsteps of Moas: Where New Zealand’s Flightless Birds Find Refuge

The settlement of the Pacific Islands by humans led to rapid waves of extinction for many animal species, whose dynamics are difficult to reconstruct. Among the affected species were the wingless moas, which were only found in New Zealand. These often massive birds went extinct in the 14th or 15th

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

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

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

The extinct yellow-tipped Oahu tree snail Achatinella apexfulva (above) at the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden, Netherlands. The species epithet apexfulva means “yellow tip” and refers to the color of the snail shell. (© Naturalis Biodiversity Center, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons)

2024-06-10 Doreen Fräßdorf

Yellow-tipped Oahu tree snail

Hawaii’s first scientifically described snail The yellow-tipped Oahu tree snail Achatinella apexfulva is not only the first scientifically described snail of the Hawaiian archipelago but also the first officially declared extinct. The species was first described in 1789 by British sailor and explorer George Dixon, who acquired a traditional necklace

Similar to Amsterdam wigeon: Auckland duck (Anas aucklandica)

According to the ornithologists Olson and Jouventin, the extinct Amsterdam wigeon is similar to the Auckland duck (Anas aucklandica; see picture), which still exists today and is also flightless. The picture by John Gerrard Keulemans appeared in the book Buller's Birds of New Zealand (1988). (© John Gerrard Keulemans, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

2024-06-10 Doreen Fräßdorf

Amsterdam wigeon

Amsterdam duck was barely larger than a thrush Both Amsterdam Island and Saint Paul are more than 3,000 kilometers away from continents. Yet, or perhaps because of this, the islands were often visited by early sailors and their accompanying animals, leading to the extinction of all endemic birds there before

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

Bones of the North Island giant moa at the <a href="https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/" target="_blank" Auckland War Memorial Museum. (© Auckland Museum, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

2024-06-01 Doreen Fräßdorf

North Island Giant Moa

The second largest moa species This moa species inhabited bush, grass, and dune lands, as well as forests on New Zealand’s North Island. The North Island giant moa is considered the second largest moa species. The largest species is the South Island giant moa, which was endemic to New Zealand’s

The bush moa is the smallest moa species known to date. It was only slightly larger than today's turkeys and reached a weight of around 30 kilograms. The flightless bird died out around 500 to 600 years ago with the colonisation of New Zealand. (© Auckland Museum, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

2024-05-30 Doreen Fräßdorf

Deciphered Bush Moa genome provides insights into New Zealand’s extinct avian world

A team of evolutionary biologists has reconstructed the nearly complete genome of the bush moa (Anomalopteryx didiformis), a flightless bird from New Zealand that went extinct 500 to 600 years ago. Researchers from Harvard University, East Carolina University, Osaka University, and the University of Toronto sequenced ancient DNA from a

Replica of the Gigarcanum or Kawekaweau gecko from the Lille Natural History Museum in France. (© Musée d'Histoire Naturelle de Lille, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

2024-05-30 Doreen Fräßdorf

Gigarcanum (Giant Gecko)

The largest gecko in the world… In the early 1980s, French museum employee Alain Delcourt discovered a forgotten specimen of a single stuffed giant gecko in the basement of the Natural History Museum of Marseille, which had previously been on public display for years. This species was previously unknown to