Portal:Extinct and endangered species

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In biology and ecology, extinction is the cessation of existence of a species or group of taxa, reducing biodiversity. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of that species (although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point; see population bottleneck). Because a species' potential range may be very large, determining this moment is difficult, and is usually done retrospectively. This difficulty leads to phenomena such as Lazarus taxa, where a species presumed extinct abruptly "re-appears" (typically in the fossil record) after a period of apparent absence.

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Vaquitas are the smallest and most endangered species of the cetacean order and are endemic to the northern end of the Gulf of California. The vaquita is stocky and has a classic porpoise shape. The species is distinguishable by the dark rings surrounding their eyes, patches on their lips, and a line that extends from their dorsal fins to their mouth. Their back is a dark grey that fades to a white underside. As vaquitas mature, the shades of grey lighten. Female vaquitas tend to grow to be a bit larger than the male. Females usually end up at a length of 140.6 cm (55.4 in), compared to the males 134.9 cm (53.1 in). The lifespan, pattern of growth, seasonal reproduction, and testis size of the vaquita are all similar to that of the harbour porpoise. The flippers are proportionately larger than other porpoises' and the fin is taller and more falcate. The skull is smaller and the rostrum is shorter and broader than in other members of the genus. The females are discernible from the males due to their larger size.

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Madeiran Scops Owl - Bermuda Flicker - The world's 100 most threatened species - Trias Greenfinch - Tityus exstinctus - Lowland Kagu - Bermuda Towhee - Bos palaesondaicus - Battus polydamas antiquus - Tule shrew - Florida naked-tailed rat - Chadwick Beach cotton mouse - Heliaster solaris - Kaua'i Mole Duck - Yunnan lar gibbon - Darwinius - Saint Helena Shearwater - Great Ground Dove - Huahine Cuckoo-Dove - Puijila - Barbados Rail - Amitabha (bird) - Snipe-rail - Lord Howe Boobook - Lord Howe Fantail - Norfolk Boobook - Gigantornis - Australodelphis - Broad-billed Moa - North Island Giant Moa - Norfolk Thrush - Rhinodrilus fafner - Réunion Rail - Huahine Starling - Argocoffeopsis lemblinii - Chatham Kaka - Mohoidae - Waitaha Penguin - Palaeoloxodon mnaidriensis - Martinique Macaw - Galapagos damsel - Extinct Birds (Rothschild book) - Réunion Fody - Liverpool Pigeon - Bromus interruptus - Oceanic Eclectus Parrot - San Cristóbal Vermilion Flycatcher - Beelzebufo - Onychonycteris - Antioquia Brush Finch

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Did you know...

...that the song The Lord God Bird by Sufjan Stevens is about the possibly extinct ivory-billed woodpecker.
...that the Vaquita is the rarest cetacean in the world with an estimated 90 individuals.
...that the Chihuahuan vole was the largest subspecies of the Meadow vole (Microtus pennsylvanicus) and that is possibly extinct as no lifesigns were recorded in its only known habitat in the Ojo Galeana swamp in Chihuahua, Mexico since 1998.
...that 9,300 year old fossil remains of the Steppe bison (Bison priscus) were unearthed in 2011?
...that the Mastodon became extinct by climate change and not by overhunting as previously thought?
...that only 2500 people lived on New Zealand when the last moa species became extinct in the 15th century.
...that Walton Ford, a famous wildlife artist created a painting about the extinct Elephant Bird.
...that the 24-rayed Sunstar Heliaster solaris from the Galapagos waters died out during the El Niño-Southern Oscillation event in 1983/1984
... that the Christmas Island Pipistrelle is possibly extinct after a survey in 2009 has failed to locate any individuals.
... that the Banggai Crow was rediscovered on Peleng in 2007 after it was only known by two museum specimens from the late 19th century.
... that the extinct flightless Snipe-rail had the smallest wings of all known rail species in proportion to its body size.
... that only 300 copies were published of Walter Rothschild's book Extinct Birds.
... that Cave Lions were about 25 percent larger than the modern African Lions and Asiatic lions.

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An attempt to release the extinct in the wild Hawaiian crow into the wild failed in late 2016, after three of the five released birds have died.

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Extinct and endangered species news

5 January 2017 The newly described ground beetle Bryanites graeffii from Samoa might be already extinct as it is only known by one recently rediscovered museum specimen collected in the 19th century.

13 December 2016 The liverwort Radula visianica has been rediscovered in the northern Italian Alps after 78 years

6 December 2016 Bathochordaeus charon, a larvacean, has been rediscovered after 116 years.

22 November 2016 An auction at Billingshurst, West Sussex, fetches £346,300 for a nearly complete dodo skeleton.

5 October 2016 Two beetles from the United States – Pseudanophthalmus parvus from Kentucky and Heterelmis stephani from Arizona - might be extinct.

26 September 2016 The Rabbs' fringe-limbed tree frog became extinct after the last individual died in the Atlanta Botanical Garden.

3 September 2016 Eight years after it was assessed as extinct in the IUCN Red List, the deepwater char (Salvelinus profundus) has been rediscovered in Lake Constance.

16 August 2016 The Karimui owlet-nightjar (Aegotheles affinis terborghi), a subspecies of the Vogelkop owlet-nightjar, has been rediscovered after 52 years.

8 July 2016 Last seen in 1905, the snail Myxostoma petiverianum was rediscovered in Vietnam in November 2015.

24 June 2016 A former captive individual of the Spix's macaw was spotted in the wilderness of Bahia 16 years after this species became extinct in the wild in Brazil.

20 June 2016 An extinct caracara named Phalcoboenus napieri is described from subfossil remains discovered on the Falkland Islands.

14 June 2016 The Bramble Cay melomys has declared officially extinct by the Australian government after it was last seen in 2009 and its very small habitat has been destroyed due to climate change.

1 June 2016 40 dead tiger cubs have been found in the Tiger Temple in the Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand.

21 May 2016 Last seen in 2007, the blue-eyed ground dove was rediscovered and photographed for the first time in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais.

9 May 2016 An extinct snipe named Gallinago kakuki is described from fossil remains discovered on Cuba, the Cayman Islands, and the Lucayan Archipelago.

17 April 2016 Bush Heritage Australia has established Pullen Pullen, the first ever reserve for the night parrot.

21 March 2016 An extinct lava tube-bat named Synemporion keana is described from fossil and subfossil remains discovered on Hawaii.

20 March 2016 Last seen in 1998 the chameleon species Rhampholeon chapmanorum has been rediscovered in Mali.

14 March 2016 Fifteen individuals of the Borneo rhinoceros have been rediscovered in Kalimantan.

13 March 2016 Less than 50 individuals of the King Island scrubtit, a critically endangered subspecies of the scrubtit endemic to King Island, are known to survive.

21 February 2016 The last individual of Partula faba died in a tank in the Bristol Zoo.

14 February 2016 Last seen in 1979 the Pondicherry shark has been spotted and photographed in the Menik Ganga river on Sri Lanka in January 2016.

13 February 2016 Last seen in 1959 a death specimen of the Pacific degu has been found on Isla Mocha off the coast of Chile in December 2015.

3 February 2016 Lamyctes leleupi and Dicranomyia basilewskyana, a centipede and a cranefly from Saint Helena, have been rediscovered after 50 years.

21 January 2016 Philautus jerdonii, now placed in the newly described genus Frankixalus, a tree frog from West Bengal, India, has been rediscovered in 2007, after it was thought to be extinct since 1870.

20 January 2016 After the death of the Hoan Kiem turtle in Hanoi, Vietnam, the total number of the Yangtze giant softshell turtle dropped to three individuals

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