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The Extinction Thread (Imminent / Declared Extinctions)

Horse chestnut trees (among others) are heading for extinction:

Ahh, from the BBC, it must be true !.
First noticed this rust/canker whatever on Horse Chestnuts about 5 years or so ago. First two years were really bad, after that quite a few individual trees were being affected later each year and not so badly. This year most are doing better, so I'm quite optimistic about them, lot of conkers this year too. Not seen a dead tree yet either.
 
It seems the Chinese paddlefish is now extinct ...

ChinesePaddlefish.jpeg
This 23-Foot-Long Fish May Be First Official Extinction of 2020

One of the largest freshwater fish in the world may be extinct.

In a new paper, scientists led by Hui Zhang of the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences in Wuhan, China, argued that the Chinese paddlefish (Psephurus gladius) is no more, probably having gone extinct sometime between 2005 and 2010. The fish was once common in the Yangtze River in China, the researchers wrote, but overfishing and habitat fragmentation sealed the species' doom. And there is no hope for bringing it back.

"As no individuals exist in captivity and no living tissues are conserved for potential resurrection, the fish should be considered extinct according to the IUCN Red List criteria," Zhang and his colleagues wrote in a paper published in the March 2020 issue of the journal Science of the Total Environment, referring to the International Union for Conservation of Nature's list of threatened and endangered species. ...

The Chinese paddlefish was an impressive creature, with a large, protruding snout. This nose gave the fish one of its nicknames, xiang yu, or "elephant fish" in Mandarin. The paddlefish could grow as long as 23 feet (7 meters), putting it among sturgeon and alligator gar as the largest freshwater fish in the world. Paddlefish were caught regularly in the Yangtze River as late as the 1970s, according to Zhang and his colleagues. In 1981, a major dam, the Gezhouba Dam, was built in the river and split the Chinese paddlefish population in two.

The dam also prevented fish trapped below it from swimming upstream to tributaries where they could spawn. The species was listed as one of China's most threatened animals in 1989, but the population continued to decline despite that listing. The last sighting of a Chinese paddlefish was in 2003.

Now, Zhang and his team wrote, the paddlefish is gone. The researchers scoured records of sightings dating back to 1981 and conducted field surveys in 2017 and 2018 of the Yangtze and its tributaries and lakes: the Yalong River, the Heng River, the Min River, the Tuo River, the Chishui River, the Jialing River, the Wu River, the Han River, Dongting Lake and Poyang Lake. The researchers set up fishing nets to capture species in these waterways and surveyed local fish markets, looking for evidence that this paddlefish species might still be caught.

They found 332 species of fish but not a single Chinese paddlefish. ...

FULL STORY : https://www.livescience.com/chinese-paddlefish-extinct.html
 
Here are the bibliographical particulars and abstract for the cited paddlefish research article ...

Extinction of one of the world's largest freshwater fishes: Lessons for conserving the endangered Yangtze fauna

Hui Zhang, Ivan Jarić, David L. Roberts, Yongfeng He, HaoDu, Jinming Wu, Chengyou Wang, QiweiWei

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.136242

Abstract

The mega river ecosystem of the Yangtze River was once home to diverse aquatic megafauna but is increasingly affected by various anthropogenic stressors that have resulted in continuous loss of biodiversity, such as the probable extinction of Yangtze River Dolphin. The Chinese paddlefish, Psephurus gladius, was one of only two extant members of a relict lineage that was most diverse and widespread 34–75 million years ago. It is also one of the largest freshwater fish species, reaching up to 7 m in length. The Chinese paddlefish was once common in the Yangtze River, with c.25 t being harvested per annum during the 1970s. Populations have, however, declined drastically since the late 1970s as a result of overfishing and habitat fragmentation. Here, a basin-wide capture survey during 2017–2018 found 332 fish species, but did not find a single specimen of Chinese paddlefish. Furthermore, 140 historically reported fish species have not been found and most of them are considered highly endangered. Based on 210 sightings of Chinese paddlefish during the period 1981–2003, we estimated the timing of extinction to be by 2005, and no later than by 2010. In addition, the paddlefish probably became functionally extinct (i.e. it was unable to reproduce) by 1993, before it went extinct. It is likely that the lack of reproduction was among the major causes of extinction. As no individuals exist in captivity, and no living tissues are conserved for potential resurrection, the fish should be considered extinct according to the IUCN Red List criteria. The delayed extinction of Chinese paddlefish resulted from multiple threats, suggesting that optimizing conservation efforts on endangered Yangtze fauna is urgently needed.

SOURCE (With Graphic Timeline of Paddlefish in History)
 
RedHandfish.jpg

(The recently discovered red handfish - a cousin of the smooth handfish)
RIP, smooth handfish. You were weird, and now you’re extinct.

An unusual-looking fish with bulging eyes, a mohawk-like fin on its head and the ability to walk on the seafloor with its pectoral and pelvic fins has reached a grim milestone. The so-called smooth handfish (Sympterichthys unipennis) has been declared extinct, the first modern marine fish on record to completely vanish, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

A mere 200 years ago, the smooth handfish was so plentiful in Australia — where it basked in Tazmania's warm, coastal waters — that it was among the first fish species to be scientifically documented Down Under. In 1802, French naturalist François Péron nabbed the first specimen of the odd-looking creature with a dip net in southeastern Tasmania, a feat that worked because handfish live in shallow waters, the IUCN said in a statement.

Now, Péron's specimen (which you can see here) is the only smooth handfish scientists have left to study. It's not that researchers haven't been looking. Despite extensive underwater surveys along the Australian coastline, the smooth handfish hasn't "been sighted for over 200 years," meaning that Péron was the only scientist on record to collect one, according to a 2017 study in the journal Biological Conservation. ...

FULL STORY: https://www.livescience.com/handfish-extinct.html
 
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Can't quite find a Thread for this so I'll shoehorn it in here. Vid at link.

The mid-air walkways saving endangered animals​

Conservationists have come up with an ingenious way to help an endangered species – the Javan slow loris. They've built a network of mid-air walkways to help them move between treetops, across land that has been cleared for growing crops. And the farmers who own the land are keen to co-operate because the walkways have another special feature that makes their lives easier too.

A film for People Fixing the World by Daniel Gordon.

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/stories-57105250
 
Mass extinction of lizards and snakes caused by settlers and the animals they brought with them.

When European explorers arrived in the Caribbean 500 years ago, they didn’t just upend the lives of the Indigenous people they encountered—they altered the entire ecosystem.

As many as 70% of the snakes and lizards living on some islands may have vanished, a new study suggests. And it wasn’t just the colonists that were responsible: It was the cats, rats, and raccoons they brought with them.

The findings suggest it’s not humans, per se, that cause problems for vulnerable species, but, “We see very different effects” depending on how those humans interact with their environment, says Erle Ellis, a geographer at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, who was not involved with the work. The new results, he adds, are “critical” to future conservation efforts.

Scientists know little about where lizards, snakes, and other reptiles live, compared with popular animals like panda bears. They know even less about the ancient history of these animals. Yet there’s a growing realization that these species play key roles in their ecosystems: They pollinate plants, disperse seeds, eat small animals like insects, and are themselves eaten by even bigger animals. Some even change the very landscape by burrowing into the earth. ...

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/202...nd-snakes-disappeared-after-europeans-arrived
 
Harpy Eagle at risk.

Conservationists say one of the world's largest eagles has "nearly zero" chance of surviving Amazon deforestation.

According to a new study, the bird is struggling to feed its young in parts of the rainforest that have been stripped of trees. About 17% of the Amazon has been destroyed over the past 50 years, and losses have recently been on the rise.

The harpy eagle is the largest in the Americas, with huge talons for hunting monkeys and sloths in the treetops.

The Amazon is regarded as the "last stronghold" for the harpy, with more than 90% of the existing population thought to reside there.

The bird is among millions of animals in the Amazon whose geographic range is shrinking, said study researcher Carlos Peres, professor of environmental sciences at the University of East Anglia, UK.

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-57665575
 
Bye bye blue butterfly, Xerces extinct.

It’s been roughly 80 years since the Xerces blue butterfly was last spotted flitting about on pastel wings across coastal California sand dunes. But scientists are still learning about the insect.

New research on DNA from a nearly century-old museum specimen shows that the butterfly was a distinct species. What’s more, that finding means that the Xerces blue butterfly (Glaucopsyche xerces) is the first U.S. insect species known to go extinct because of humans, researchers report July 21 in Biology Letters.

The butterfly used to live only on the San Francisco Peninsula. But by the early 1940s, less than a century after its formal scientific description in the 1850s, the gossamer-winged butterfly had vanished. Its rapid disappearance is attributed to the loss of habitat and native plant food as a result of urban development and, possibly, an influx of invasive ants likely spread though the shipment of goods. ...

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/xerxes-blue-butterfly-first-human-caused-us-insect-extinction
 
In the almost half a century since the US Endangered Species Act was enacted, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had declared a total of 11 endangered American species extinct. Today the agency will announce 23 additional species are believed to be extinct.
US says ivory-billed woodpecker, 22 other species extinct

Death’s come knocking a last time for the splendid ivory-billed woodpecker and 22 more birds, fish and other species: The U.S. government is declaring them extinct.

It’s a rare move for wildlife officials to give up hope on a plant or animal, but government scientists say they’ve exhausted efforts to find these 23. And they warn climate change, on top of other pressures, could make such disappearances more common as a warming planet adds to the dangers facing imperiled plants and wildlife.

The ivory-billed woodpecker was perhaps the best known species the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Wednesday will announce is extinct. It went out stubbornly and with fanfare, making unconfirmed appearances in recent decades that ignited a frenzy of ultimately fruitless searches in the swamps of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida. ...

Others such as the flat pigtoe, a freshwater mussel in the southeastern U.S., were identified in the wild only a few times and never seen again, meaning by the time they got a name they were fading from existence. ...

The factors behind the disappearances vary — too much development, water pollution, logging, competition from invasive species, birds killed for feathers and animals captured by private collectors. In each case, humans were the ultimate cause. ...

Another thing they share: All 23 were thought to have at least a slim chance of survival when added to the endangered species list beginning in the 1960s. Only 11 species previously have been removed due to extinction in the almost half-century since the Endangered Species Act was signed into law. ...
FULL STORY: https://apnews.com/article/climate-...ildlife-fish-b6e61676548a1d7b2f81a6512cbed7a7
 
Capercaillie at risk.

Capercaillie could be wiped out in Scotland within the next 30 years, scientists have said.

Numbers of the large grouse have declined markedly since the 1970s and there may now be fewer than 1,100 of the birds left.
In continental Europe, the birds' conservation status is not rated as a concern but they are considered to be an endangered species in Scotland.

Most capercaillie are found in the Cairngorms National Park.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-60522715
 
The dugong has been declared "functionally extinct" in China.
Dugong: Animal that inspired mermaid tales extinct in China

Researchers have declared a mammal related to the manatee - said to have inspired ancient tales of mermaids and sirens - extinct in China. ...

Known as the ocean's most gentle giant, the dugong's slow, relaxed behaviour is likely to have made it vulnerable to overfishing and shipping accidents.

It still exists elsewhere in the world but is facing similar threats.

Prof Samuel Turvey, from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), who co-authored the research study, said: "The likely disappearance of the dugong in China is a devastating loss."

Scientists at ZSL and the Chinese Academy of Science reviewed all historical data on where dugongs had previously been found in China.

They found there had been no verified sightings by scientists since 2000.

In addition, the researchers turned to citizen science to interview 788 community members living in those coastal regions identified, to determine when local people had last seen one.

On average, residents reported not having seen a dugong for 23 years. Only three people had seen one in the past five years.

This has led the researchers to declare the dugong functionally extinct - meaning "it is no longer viable... to sustain itself", Heidi Ma, postdoctoral researcher at ZSL, told the BBC. ...
FULL STORY: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-62638485?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA
 
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