Thirty years ago I never would have dreamed I would or could
utter the words of my title. As a left-leaning young ecologist, I hated the way
Limbaugh painted all environmentalists as “whackos”! I was a strong believer in
the Endangered Species Act as a law that would ensure people stopped to
consider win-win solutions for humans and all other species. I believed
conservation science could guide us toward wise environmental stewardship, and
when married to innovative entrepreneurial endeavors, we could build a better
world for all. As director of a university environmental field station, I met
people of all political persuasions eager to enjoy and protect the environment,
and I believed both the left and right would rally around sound environmental
science. So why did Rush label us as whackos? I saw Limbaugh’s polarizing
polemics as an attack on the environment. But now I must agree with Rush’s
recent view that “Apocalyptic, Fear-Mongering Accelerates the Decline of Our
Culture”. In his critique
of a newly published paper, “Accelerated modern
human–induced species losses: Entering the sixth mass extinction”
(hereafter Ceballos and Ehrlich 2015), Rush correctly points out that it is
just another example of apocalyptic fear mongering that drives some people into
hopeless despair, while forcing others to ignore scientists’ steady drone that
the end of the world is before us.
As an ecologist I read several papers a week, looking for
pearls of wisdom that would make us better stewards of the environment. But
Ceballos and Ehrlich 2015 offered absolutely nothing new and absolutely nothing
useful. They simply created a framework that would dramatize their numbers
stating, “Our analysis emphasizes that our global society has started to
destroy species of other organisms at an accelerating rate, initiating a mass
extinction episode unparalleled for 65 million years.” Started to destroy…??? What are we now
doing to suddenly promote mass extinctions?
Indeed more species have likely gone extinct in the past 500
years due to habitat loss, overhunting and invasive species than are known to
have gone extinct over the past 400 thousand years, despite the extreme climate
shifts between the ice age glacials and warm interglacials. But the bulk of
those extinctions were the result of past human actions that are now being
rectified. At this essay’s
conclusion, I added a table for
the first 100 of the 140 extinct bird species from the same IUCN database
that Ceballos and Ehrlich 2015 used for their paper. Unlike Ceballos and
Ehrlich 2015, I included extinction dates and the reason the IUCN has justified
their extinction status. Notice that most extinct species inhabited islands
where organisms are extremely sensitive to all invasive species. That damage
has already been done. So in contrast to claims we are “entering” an era of
accelerated mass extinctions, it would be more honest to say humans are now
reversing what began 500 years ago.
Most island die-offs began shortly after Columbus’
“discovery” of the New World that encouraged worldwide exploration. Of the 100
extinct birds listed below, three species were extinct in the 1500s, 17 in the
1600s, 18 in the 1700s, 32 in the 1800s, and 30 in the 1900s. Overhunting
claimed many island species like the Dodo early on, as hungry sailors and
settlers struggled to survive. However a large proportion of recent extinctions
happened unintentionally due to introduced rats that stowed away on visiting
ships, (or more recently the introduced brown tree snake). Without natural
predators, rat populations exploded. So islanders intentionally introduced
cats, ferrets and mongoose to kill the rats. But island wildlife had evolved
without any threat from land predators, so most species were behaviorally ill
adapted to survive the onslaught of these new arrivals. Many island birds evolved
flightlessness and explorers reported island species as remarkably tame. Most
of the other extinct vertebrate species on the IUCN list suffered a similar
fate in the wake of introduced species. Many of the most recent extinctions in
the 1900s were simply distressed species succumbing to centuries of depredation
from introduced species and lost habitat. Oddly enough, when the Christian Science
Monitor hyped Ceballos and Ehrlich 2015 with How
To Prevent The Sixth Mass Extinction, their only solution was a cure that
is much worse than the disease. They resurrected Camille Parmesan’s pitch for widespread
introduction of species into new habitats where climate change is predicted
to create a more favorable environment. Not only has that remedy always caused
disastrous ecological disruptions, but climate
models have been notoriously awful about simulating regional climate
changes.
 |
| Flightless Extinct Dodo Bird |
The causes of past extinctions have been noted for decades
and centuries. Instead of hammering the public with gloom and doom, Ceballos
and Ehrlich 2015 would have served us better by reporting how extensive recent
efforts are saving species. Globally people have been diligently working to
prevent further island extinctions. For example, the Aleutian Goose was once
believed to be extinct until a few individuals were found on a remote island. The goose had disappeared from all its
other breeding islands because fur farmers had introduced arctic and red foxes.
Recognizing the problem, humans quickly removed the foxes and the species
rebounded immediately (as did many other breeding sea birds). The Aleutian
Goose is now so abundant it is considered a pest on its wintering grounds.
Similarly worldwide efforts to eradicate introduced “pest” species are
reporting various
levels of success. For a more hopeful outlook, and to appreciate how human
efforts are promoting biodiversity, I suggest visiting the websites of
organizations like Island
Conservation or reading about successful
eradications.
Unconscionably, although most past extinctions, as well as
presently endangered species, are found on islands, and despite widespread
local efforts that are preventing further island extinctions, Ceballos and
Ehrlich 2015’s so-called “science” and self-promoting press releases are only
generating horribly despairing and deceptive headlines proclaiming, “Sixth
mass extinction is here: Humanity's existence threatened.”.
Why didn’t Ceballos and Ehrlich 2015 point out productive
efforts that are preventing further extinctions? Why not offer real
conservation guidance and optimism? It appears they
prefer denigrating modern society and promoting apocalyptic fear mongering
rather than promoting good conservation and good science. They wrote, “Modern
extinction rates have increased sharply over the past 200 years (corresponding
to the rise of industrial society) and are considerably higher than background
rates”. But suggesting modern industrial society “corresponds” with those
extinction is a horrible illusion. A stronger case can be made that industrial
society will be wildlife’s savior.
Although the geometric growth of human populations for the
past 500 years has undeniably led to increased habitat destruction and
overhunting. But population growth may soon plateau and
then reverse its growth trend. The “evils” of population growth have been
the mainstay of influential apocalyptic predictions from Malthus in the 1700s to
Ehrlich in recent decades. In
Ehrlich’s 1968 book The Population Bomb,
he warned of the mass starvation in the 1970s and 1980s due to overpopulation.
But as Limbaugh noted, Ehrlich’s predictions have failed miserably. So perhaps
his “new extinction research” is just an attempt to regain some support for his
widely criticized “end of the earth” beliefs. But if Ehrlich is suggesting
booming human populations will soon cause the Sixth Mass Extinction, then he
has failed to report a more optimistic consensus that our modern industrial
society is now reducing population pressures.
Ecologists divide animal reproductive strategies in to 2
broad categories. R-selected species provide little parental care and produce
abundant young, anticipating high mortality. In contrast K-selected species
produce few young but invest a lot of parental care. Modern industrial
societies have encouraged humans to evolve from a R-selected to a K-selected
species. Where humans once depended on cheap child labor to operate marginal
subsistence farms, there was an economic advantage to having many
children. In contrast industrial
societies demand greater parental investment and more education, so reproduction
is delayed and families are smaller. Furthermore mechanization of agriculture
has reduced the demand for abundant cheap labor on marginal farms.
Ecologists calculate that human populations require a
fertility rate of 2.1 births per female to offset deaths. A fertility rate below 2.1 causes the
population to decline, while a higher fertility rate causes population to grow.
In the 1950s, the decade of Baby Boomers, the USA had a fertility rate that
averaged 3.7. By 1980 the rate dropped to 1.8. Now due largely to immigration,
a slightly higher fertility rate stands at 2.0. Worldwide
fertility rates similarly dropped from 2.67 in 1950 to 2.02 in 2000. These
lower rates suggest the global human population will soon plateau and then
decline. Thus decreasing population pressures will not cause an accelerating
extinction rate. These decreasing fertility rates should be a cause for
optimism. The graph below color-codes the fertility rates of every nation. Only
the non-industrial societies are experiencing the high fertility rates (reds
and yellows) that could strain the earth’s carrying capacity and diminish local
biodiversity. So why does Ceballos and Ehrlich 2015 denigrate modern society?
 |
| Fertility Rates: 2.1 births/female needed to maintain population |
Habitat loss has indeed been a major cause of local
extinctions as burgeoning human populations converted more landscape for
agricultural purposes. But better intensive agricultural practices, like
mechanization, genetic engineering and other modern techniques, have allowed
the world to feed more people on fewer acres. For example according
to the USDA since 1950, “the average yield of corn rose from 39 bushels to
153 bushels per acre, and each farmer in 2000 produced on average 12 times as
much farm output per hour worked as a farmer did in 1950. Again such
improvements should be a cause for pride and optimism, as modern society has
increasingly sacrificed less natural habitat for agriculture.
As more marginal farms are abandoned and land is returned to
the wild, we would expect to see the return of more natural habitat and indeed this
was the case for Vermont. In 1900, Vermont was 80% deforested. As marginal farms
were abandoned, Vermont became 80% reforested supporting natural biodiversity.
Similar patterns have been observed throughout New England. As marginal
farmland became reforested moose
migrated southward to warmer regions where they had been extirpated by the
1800s in contrast to global warming theory. Similar reversions to natural
habitat were observed throughout the Great Plains. Furthermore land managers
and private hunting groups like Ducks Unlimited have been improving species
prime breeding habitat in the Prairie Potholes, so that in 2014 North American
duck populations had increased to record
highs, 43% above the 1950-80 average.
But that landscape success story is now being threatened. As politicians
become increasingly mesmerized by another apocalyptic story regards climate
change, governments are subsidizing biofuels that are increasingly destroying
habitat and stress groundwater supplies.
A 2013
paper from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science reported,
“High corn and soybean prices, prompted largely by demand for biofuel
feedstocks, are driving one of the most important land cover/land use change (LCLUC)
events in recent US history; the accelerated conversion of grassland to
cropland in the US Corn Belt.” Due to government biofuel subsidies, the rate of
grassland conversion has accelerated land conversion rates that have not been
seen since the Dust Bowl when wheat subsidies similarly encouraged the plowing
under of grasslands the size of the state of Ohio. These researchers noted the
landscape conversion is “comparable to deforestation rates in Brazil, Malaysia,
and Indonesia, countries in which tropical forests were the principal sources
of new agricultural land.”
Similarly, tropical deforestation and lost biodiversity has
been accelerated by government subsidies for other biofuels. Although palm oil
had been chiefly used in foods and cosmetics, the EU began subsidizing palm oil
for biofuels in a misguided fight against climate change. European Union
subsidies for palm oil raised prices and increased its demand as reported in
2013 in The
EU Biofuel Policy And Palm Oil: Cutting Subsidies Or Cutting Rainforest? (see table below). This resulted in
widespread deforestation throughout Indonesia that now threatens tropical
species like the Orangutans and has been wreaking widespread ecological havoc.
Similar subsidies for sugar cane are accelerating deforestation in Brazil.
EU Palm Oil usage
(Metric tones)
|
2006
|
2012 - After Subsidies
|
% increase
|
Used for fuel and
electrical generation
|
822
|
2459
|
299.0%
|
Used for foods and
cosmetics
|
3692
|
3925
|
06.3%
|
Apocalyptic fear mongering about climate change has similarly
convinced politicians that burning trees (again eliminating more habitat) is
better than burning coal under the guise of “sustainable fuel production”.
Early settlers had decimated Great Britain’s forest thousands of years ago to
create grazing land for their sheep.
But recent conservation efforts were now making this one of the few
nations with increasing forests. Unfortunately government
subsidies are not only promoting cutting local forests, but those subsidies
were creating a demand to import more trees from America and thus destroying
distant habitat. Likewise, Haiti has denuded its landscape as it relies on wood
burning. While due to its reliance on a fossil fuel economy, the Dominican
Republic has preserved more forest. The difference is readily observed below in
NASA’s satellite photo of the Haiti (left) and Dominican (right) border.
 |
| Deforestation and the Haiti-Dominican Republic Border |
Whales, walrus and other marine mammals were nearly hunted
to extinction during the Little Ice Age for their blubber. But the advent of
the oil industry and modern industrial society provided an alternative energy
source that reduced that hunting pressure, and likely prevented the extinction
of most marine mammals. Although the disruption of industrial economies by two
world wars caused a temporary spike in whaling, the recovery of industrial
economies once again has alleviated hunting pressures. Gray Whales are now
believed to have returned to their historic numbers (see graph below), Humpback
Whales are increasing by about 13% a year, and most other species are steadily
recovering but at a lower pace.
In contrast to apocalyptic headlines of climate change
disruption, observations of large numbers of walruses hauling out on Alaskan
beaches are evidence of conservation success as Pacific walruses have rebounded
to equal historic numbers as discussed in Hijacking
Successful Walrus Conservation. Indeed modern societies have reduced the
extinction threats to most marine mammals that were decimated by overhunting
for food and fuel. Again modern industrial society should engender optimism
about our environment’s future, not elicit catastrophic predictions of mass
extinctions.
Ceballos and Ehrlich 2015 suggest we can avoid a sixth mass
extinction by alleviating pressures on stressed populations, caused notably by “habitat loss, over-exploitation for economic
gain and climate change". Yet modern society has been increasingly
addressing those first 2 problems and there is no evidence that climate change
has caused any extinctions. Contrary to climate change fears, since the Little
Ice Age, whether or not warming was caused by rising CO2 or natural climate
change, that warming has contributed to longer growing seasons which has only
benefited the entire food web for all species including humans. Phytoplankton
that form the base of the Arctic
food web has increased 3 fold. It is beyond all reason that proponents of a
CO2 driven apocalypse would suggest that the 1-degree colder temperatures of
the Little Ice Age should be revered as the benchmark against which we evaluate
our “optimal” climate. During the Little Ice Age upwelling was reduced lowering
ocean productivity, glaciers threatened European villages, tree line dropped,
and no new trees grew in several montane regions, and there was widespread
starvation that the pope blamed on witches.
In his critique of Ceballos and Ehrlich’s 6th
mass extinction madness, Limbaugh’s
warns that apocalyptic fear mongering is engendering a lack of faith, and
lack of hope in our children, and in our society. In a similar vein, science
writer Matt Ridley recently wrote in “Climate
Wars’ Damage to Science.” that climate fear mongering is even more
damaging, denigrating the very scientific process itself. Most striking to me
is the lost trustworthiness of the peer review process regards climate science.
It seems as if all one has to do is suggest apocalyptic climate change to get
published no matter how much contradictory evidence is known.
A blatant example of such damage to science, was the
American Meteorological Society’s publication of Parmesan’s
half-truths about climate-caused population extinctions, If she had
honestly reported the whole story that only butterflies that had recently and
opportunistically colonized a logged area had been extirpated, while just ten
feet away in natural communities the same species was thriving, her apocalyptic
climate interpretation would have been shunned (details
here). Instead her story of half-truths was repeated by our top climate
scientists in scientific journals as an example of deadly climate change, and
the BAMS editors refused to retract her bogus paper. But this is not an
isolated incidence. There is a long list of other apocryphal climate
catastrophe publications in peer reviewed science.
Camille Parmesan was also one of the earliest authors to
suggest climate change was extirpating populations in Climate and Species Range. However after careful perusal of her
claims, I documented several fallacies (here)
and then learned that many of her purported extirpated populations have now
returned (according to her own research). Yet she has never published those
more uplifting observations of natural resiliency. Later in an IPCC
publication, she misdiagnosed a species’ range expansion in England due to
successful conservation efforts in order to blame climate change (details
here). Yet despite all of Parmesan’s bad science, she was honored at the
White House and became one of a select few biologists invited to join the IPCC.
While promoters of apocalyptic climate change have elevated Parmesan to hero
status, the only person that publicly challenged her bad science was Rush
Limbaugh.
Similarly J.A. Pounds joined the IPCC after publishing in
Nature that climate change was causing extreme
heat and dryness, which was killing Costa Rica’s amphibians. But other
scientists provided overwhelming evidence that the inadvertent introduction of
a chytrid fungus by researchers and the pet trade had caused the recent
amphibian extinctions. Intensive laboratory studies then revealed that the
deadly fungus could not tolerate extreme warmth or dryness, which contradicted
all of Pounds’ earlier interpretations. So Pounds simply reversed his position
to maintain his apocalyptic climate story, and he now argued global warming was
causing cooler maximum temperatures
and a wetter environment and therefore climate change was still the killer by
enabling the deadly fungus. The editors at Nature never demanded that Pounds
explain his contrary interpretations. As long as apocalyptic climate change was
suggested, it got published (details
here). While other scientists rallied to save threatened amphibians, Pounds
attacked them for not blaming apocalyptic climate change.
Nature published other apocalyptic papers suggesting the
imminent extinction of Emperor Penguins. Researchers blamed global warming
despite the fact that there had been no warming trend at the site where the
population of Emperors had declined. The most likely culprit causing lower
Penguin numbers was researcher disturbance during brutal winter conditions (details here),
but recent papers continue to suggest global warming was the cause to infer
mass extinctions will happen by the turn of the century.
Despite the Inuit insistence that it is the time of the most
polar bears, or the fact that researchers have documented increasing
populations, polar bears have been elevated to icons of apocalyptic climate
change. In another blatant example of editors “looking the other way” and defiling the scientific process,
researchers first
published that cycles of heavy sea ice in the Beaufort Sea had caused
significant drops in ringed seals and polar bears. Then to support the
apocalyptic meme, the same researchers published that those same populations
declines were due to global warming and less ice (details
here).
Pika are rabbit like creatures living in the mountainous
western USA. Erik Beever published that pika were experiencing accelerated
upslope dispersal and extinction due to climate change. But Beever
admittedly eliminated all observations of pika moving to lower elevations.
Although his statistical tinkering
guaranteed “upslope movement” no matter how the climate changed, the editors
considered this “good science.” In contrast more extensive surveys by other
researchers have shown that 19% of all pika detections have been at lower
elevations than first reported in the early 1900s. Nonetheless several papers
and websites only report Dr. Beever’s interpretation of climate change,
apocalyptically driving pika upwards and into extinction. (more details
here)
When Limbaugh argues that apocalyptic fear mongering is the
liberal rage, I thought Rush was overreacting via his political ideology. But after reading the conclusions of Ceballos
and Ehrlich 2015, I realized Ehrlich’s paper was not about biology or good
conservation, but just a vehicle to promote their politics. Ehrlich concluded,
“Avoiding a true sixth mass extinction will require rapid, greatly intensified
efforts to conserve already threatened species and to alleviate pressures on
their populations…. All of these are
related to human population size and growth, which increases consumption
(especially among the rich), and economic inequity (6). [emphasis added] However,
the window of opportunity is rapidly closing.”
That gave me a better understanding of Limbaugh’s
perspective. Although I have yet to see Rush take a pro-environmental stance,
his arguments are not anti-environment. He is railing against the political
corruption of environmental science, something I have sadly observed (see
above). He is fighting against those who misuse the Endangered Species Act to
promote their politics. He is ranting against apocalyptic fear mongering that
robs science of its objectivity and integrity, and robs people of hope in order
to promote an agenda.
Yet apocalyptic fear mongering is powerfully persuasive. It
has empowered a diverse menagerie of cult leaders throughout the ages as those
who preach about the apocalypse are eerily seen as humanity’s saviors.
Mesmerized followers relinquish there critical thinking powers and anoint their
leader as the bearer of all truth. Anyone who thinks for themselves, rejects an
inevitable apocalypse, or exposes the bad science of fear mongering, are called
deniers by a legion of ignorant but rabid internet stalkers (as
exemplified here). I am reminded of the Heaven’s Gate cult that believed
the world was coming to an end, and would soon be “recycled”. Several highly
intelligent high tech workers embraced their leader’s apocalyptic vision,
believing the path to salvation was to castrate themselves and drink the
“kool-ade”, so they could be transported by an alien spaceship hiding behind
the approaching Hale-Bopp comet and swept away to a “higher level.” Once you
believe the world is coming to an end, once you lose faith in humanity and
nature’s resilience, once you lose hope, then like the Heaven’s Gate victims,
you become easy prey for the charlatans that inhabit all walks of life, left or
right, scientist or layperson. Indeed “Apocalyptic, Fear-Mongering Accelerates
the Decline of Our Culture”.
100 Extinct Bird Species from Ceballos
2015
|
||||
Genus
|
Species
|
IUCN justification
|
Extinct Date
|
|
1
|
Aegolius
|
gradyi
|
This raptor was
recently-described from fossil records, and likely accounts for observations
of owls on Bermuda in the early 17th century. It is long Extinct.
|
1600s
|
2
|
Alectroenas
|
nitidissimus
|
This species was found on
Mauritius, but it has been hunted to extinction. The last reports date from
1832 and it is thought to have been Extinct a few years later.
|
1832
|
3
|
Alectroenas
|
payandeei
|
This newly-recognised Extinct
pigeon is known from a single subfossil record. It may have survived into the
17th century but most likely disappeared by the 1690s owing to predation by
invasive rats.
|
1600s
|
4
|
Alopecoenas
|
ferrugineus
|
This species is known from
Tanna, Vanuatu, but the only record dates from 1774 and it is now Extinct.
Hunting is likely to have been the main cause
|
1774
|
5
|
Alopecoenas
|
salamonis
|
This species was known from
Makira, Solomon Islands, but is now Extinct as a result of predation by
introduced species. The last record is a specimen dating from 1927, and
searches in 1995 and more recently failed to find it.
|
1927
|
6
|
Alopochen
|
kervazoi
|
This species was endemic to the
island of Réunion, but is now Extinct. The last record came from 1671-1672,
and it had been lost to hunting by 1710.
|
1710
|
7
|
Alopochen
|
mauritiana
|
This species was endemic to
Mauritius, but is now Extinct. It was last recorded in 1693, when it was said
to be rare, and could not be found in 1698. Hunting is thought to have caused
its extinction
|
1693
|
8
|
Amazona
|
martinicana
|
This species formerly occurred
on Martinique, but it has been driven to extinction by hunting. The last
record dates from 1779 and it is thought to have gone Extinct by the end of
the 18th century.
|
1779
|
9
|
Amazona
|
violacea
|
This species was known from
Guadeloupe, but it has been driven Extinct by hunting. The last records date
from 1779.
|
1779
|
10
|
Anas
|
marecula
|
This species was found on
Amsterdam Island, French Southern Territories, but it is now Extinct having
not been seen since 1793. Hunting was the main cause of its extinction.
|
1793
|
11
|
Anas
|
theodori
|
This species was found on
Mauritius, but is now Extinct having not been recorded since 1696. Hunting is
likely to have caused its extinction.
|
1696
|
12
|
Anthornis
|
melanocephala
|
This species was found in the
Chatham Islands, New Zealand, but it is now Extinct, probably mainly as a
result of habitat loss. It was last recorded in 1906, and a search for it in
1938 was unsuccessful.
|
1906
|
13
|
Aphanapteryx
|
bonasia
|
This species was known from
Mauritius, but went Extinct around 1693 due to cat predation and hunting.
|
1693
|
14
|
Aplonis
|
corvina
|
This species was known from the
island of Kosrae, Micronesia, but it is now Extinct due to overpredation by
introduced rats. The last specimens were taken in 1828, and it was absent
when the island was next visited in 1880.
|
1828
|
15
|
Aplonis
|
fusca
|
This species was formerly found
on the Australian islands of Norfolk and Lord Howe, but it is now Extinct
owing to black rat predation. The last record was of the nominate subspecies
on Norfolk Island in 1923; it was certainly gone by the time the island was
visited in 1968.
|
1923
|
16
|
Aplonis
|
mavornata
|
This taxon was known from Mauke,
Cook Islands, but it is now Extinct due to overpredation by introduced brown
rats. The type specimen was taken in 1825, and the species was not found on
the next ornithological visit to Mauke in 1975.
|
1975?
|
17
|
Ara
|
tricolor
|
This species was known from
Cuba, but hunting drove the population Extinct. The last reports of the
species date from 1885.
|
1885
|
18
|
Atlantisia
|
podarces
|
This species was known from St
Helena, but is now Extinct. It was presumably driven to extinction by hunting
soon after the island was discovered in 1502.
|
1502
|
19
|
Bermuteo
|
avivorus
|
This raptor was
recently-described from fossil records, and is thought to relate to raptors
observed on Bermuda in 1603. It is long Extinct.
|
1603
|
20
|
Bowdleria
|
rufescens
|
This species was formerly found
on the Chatham Islands, New Zealand, but is thought to have gone Extinct
around 1892 when the last specimen was collected. Habitat destruction and
invasive species were probably the major causes.
|
1892
|
21
|
Bulweria
|
bifax
|
This species was endemic to the island of St
Helena, but is thought to have been hunted to extinction shortly after the
island's discovery in 1502.
|
1502
|
22
|
Cabalus
|
modestus
|
This species was known from the
Chatham Islands, New Zealand, but became Extinct between 1893 and 1895. It is
thought that invasive species are responsible, both through direct predation
and habitat modification.
|
1895
|
23
|
Caloenas
|
maculata
|
The one specimen of this
poorly-known species may have come from Tahiti, French Polynesia, but it has
not been reported there since 1928, when the only possible sightings of the
species were made. It is presumed Extinct, and is likely to have been hunted.
|
1928
|
24
|
Camptorhynchus
|
labradorius
|
This species was formerly
distributed along the northeast coast of North America, but it is now Extinct
as a result of hunting. There are no records since the collection of the last
specimen, in 1875.
|
1875
|
25
|
Caracara
|
lutosa
|
This species was endemic to
Guadalupe Island, Mexico, but has been driven Extinct due to persecution by
settlers. It was last recorded in 1903.
|
1903
|
26
|
Chaetoptila
|
angustipluma
|
This species was known from the
Hawaiian Islands, USA, but it has not been recorded since a specimen was
collected in 1859. It was driven Extinct by the logging of its forest
habitat.
|
1859
|
27
|
Chaunoproctus
|
ferreorostris
|
This species was known from
Japan's Ogasawara Islands, but it is now Extinct and has not been certainly
reported since 1828. Forest destruction and predation by introduced species
are thought to have been responsible.
|
1828
|
28
|
Chenonetta
|
finschi
|
This Extinct species is now
thought to have survived beyond the year 1500 and has thus been assessed for
the first time.
|
1500
|
29
|
Chloridops
|
kona
|
This species was known from the
Hawaiian island of Lana'i, USA, but it has not been recorded since 1894 and
is now Extinct. Logging of its forest habitat is likely to have been the
primary cause.
|
1894
|
30
|
Chlorostilbon
|
bracei
|
This species is known from the
island of New Providence, Bahamas, but has been driven to extinction by human
disturbance. A specimen was taken in 1877 and it was probably Extinct soon
afterwards: subsequent collectors found no trace of it.
|
1877
|
31
|
Chlorostilbon
|
elegans
|
This taxon is known from one specimen,
probably from Jamaica, taken in 1860. It is now Extinct, likely due to
deforestation or predation by introduced species.
|
1860
|
32
|
Ciridops
|
anna
|
This species is known from
Hawaii's Big Island, USA, but it is now Extinct due to logging of its forest habitat.
The last confirmed records date from 1892.
|
1892
|
33
|
Coenocorypha
|
barrierensis
|
This species was extirpated from
its historic range by introduced mammalian predators; it was last recorded in
1870 and is classified as Extinct.
|
1870
|
34
|
Coenocorypha
|
iredalei
|
This species has been extirpated
from its historic range in New Zealand by introduced mammalian predators; it
was last recorded in 1964 and is classified as Extinct.
|
1964
|
35
|
Colaptes
|
oceanicus
|
This woodpecker was
recently-described from subfossil remains. It is likely to have persisted
into the 17th century, but is long Extinct.
|
1600s
|
36
|
Columba
|
jouyi
|
This species was formerly found
in Japan's Ryukyu Islands, but it has not been recorded since 1936 and is now
Extinct. The reasons for this are unknown.
|
1936
|
37
|
Columba
|
thiriouxi
|
This Extinct species has been
newly-described from subfossil remains. It is little-known but probably
became extinct around 1730 as a result of overhunting, predation by rats, and
deforestation.
|
1730
|
38
|
Columba
|
versicolor
|
This species was found in
Japan's Ogasawara Islands, but it has not been recorded since 1889 and is now
Extinct. Habitat clearance is likely to have been the major factor driving
its extinction.
|
1889
|
39
|
Conuropsis
|
carolinensis
|
This species formerly occurred
in southeastern USA, but it is now Extinct, primarily as a result of
persecution. The last wild records are of the subspecies ludoviciana in 1910.
|
1910
|
40
|
Coturnix
|
novaezelandiae
|
This species formerly occurred
on New Zealand's South Island, but is now Extinct, probably due to diseases
spread by introduced game birds. A bird that died in 1875 is thought to
represent the last individual of the species.
|
1875
|
41
|
Coua
|
delalandei
|
This species was endemic to
Madagascar, but is now Extinct. It has not been reported since 1834 and
likely succumbed to the complete destruction of its native forest.
|
1834
|
42
|
Cyanoramphus
|
ulietanus
|
This species was known from the
island of Raiatea, French Polynesia, but it is now Extinct, probably as a
result of habitat clearance or the action of invasive species. Two specimens
were collected in 1773 and its extinction likely followed
|
1793
|
43
|
Cyanoramphus
|
zealandicus
|
This species was known from
Tahiti, French Polynesia, but it has not been recorded since 1844 and is now
Extinct. Possible causes include deforestation, hunting and predation by
introduced species.
|
1844
|
44
|
Diaphorapteryx
|
hawkinsi
|
This species was known from the
Chatham Islands, New Zealand, but is now Extinct as a result of hunting. It
is thought to have persisted until at least 1895, when it was described in a
letter.
|
1895
|
45
|
Drepanis
|
funerea
|
This species is known from the
Hawaiian island of Lana'i, USA, but it has not been recorded since 1907 and
is now Extinct. Predation and habitat destruction by invasive species were
the major factors causing its extinction.
|
1907
|
46
|
Drepanis
|
pacifica
|
This species is known from the
Hawaiian Islands, USA, but it has not been recorded since 1898 and is now
Extinct. Habitat destruction was probably the major cause of its extinction.
|
1898
|
47
|
Dromaius
|
baudinianus
|
This species was formerly found
on Kangaroo Island, Australia, but is now considered Extinct. It has not been
recorded since its collection in 1802, and is thought to have succumbed to
hunting pressure some years before the arrival of permanent settlers in 1836.
|
1836
|
48
|
Dromaius
|
minor
|
This species was formerly found
on King Island, Australia, but is now considered Extinct. It was last
recorded in 1802, and had been exterminated through hunting by 1805.
|
1805
|
49
|
Dryolimnas
|
augusti
|
This recently-described,
probably flightless rail was likely driven Extinct in the late 17th century
as a result of hunting pressure and predation by introduced rats and cats.
his recently-described, probably flightless rail was likely driven Extinct in the late 17th century as a result of hunting pressure and predation by introduced rats and cats |
1600s
|
50
|
Dysmorodrepanis
|
munroi
|
This species is known from the
Hawaiian island of Lana'i, USA, but it has not been recorded since 1918 and
is now Extinct. Habitat clearance and introduced predators were responsible
for its decline.
|
1918
|
51
|
Eclectus
|
infectus
|
This recently-described parrot
may have survived as recently as the late 18th century, but became Extinct
most likely as a result of over-hunting and predation by invasive mammals.
|
1700s
|
52
|
Ectopistes
|
migratorius
|
his species was formerly
distributed across North America, but is now Extinct as a result of habitat
clearance and hunting. The last reliable wild record dates from 1900, and a
search beginning in 1910 failed to find it.
|
1890s
|
53
|
Erythromachus
|
leguati
|
This species was endemic to the
island of Rodrigues, Mauritius, but is now Extinct as a result of hunting. It
was last recorded in 1726, and its absence was noted in 1761
|
1761
|
54
|
Falco
|
duboisi
|
his species was endemic to the
island of Réunion, but is now Extinct and has not been recorded since
1671-1672. Persecution is likely to have driven its decline.
|
1672
|
55
|
Fregilupus
|
varius
|
This species was known from the
island of Réunion, but it became Extinct in the 1850s. Introduced disease and
various forms of human disturbance are likely to have contributed to its
decline.
|
1850s
|
56
|
Fulica
|
newtonii
|
This species was found in the
Mascarene Islands, but it has not been recorded since 1693 and is now
Extinct. Hunting was the major cause of its decline.
|
1693
|
57
|
Gallinula
|
nesiotis
|
This species is likely to have
become Extinct in the late 19th century as a result of predation by rats,
though this may have been in combination with feral cat and pig predation,
habitat destruction and hunting by islanders.
|
1800s
|
58
|
Gerygone
|
insularis
|
This species was endemic to Lord
Howe Island, Australia, but was driven Extinct by the depredations of
introduced rats. It was last recorded in 1928, with none found on a survey in
1936.
|
1936
|
59
|
Haematopus
|
meadewaldoi
|
This species was found in the
eastern Canary Islands, but is now Extinct due to overharvesting of its
invertebrate prey. It was last collected in 1913, and locally reported to be
absent by the 1940s
|
1940s
|
60
|
Hemignathus
|
ellisianus
|
This species was found in the
Hawaiian Islands, USA, but it is now Extinct as a result of forest clearance
and introduced disease. The last report was of the subspecies stejnegeri on
Kaua'i in 1969
|
1969
|
61
|
Hemignathus
|
obscurus
|
This species was known from
Hawaii's Big Island, USA, but it has not been reported since 1940 and is now
Extinct. Deforestation and introduced diseases are likely to have been
responsible
|
1940
|
62
|
Hemignathus
|
sagittirostris
|
This species is known from
Hawaii's Big Island, USA, but it has not been recorded since 1901 and is now
Extinct. Most of its habitat was cleared for agriculture, which is likely to
have caused the extinction.
|
1901
|
63
|
Heteralocha
|
acutirostris
|
This species is known from New
Zealand's North Island, but it was last recorded in 1907 and is now Extinct.
Habitat loss, hunting and disease have all been implicated in its decline.
|
1907
|
64
|
Hypotaenidia
|
dieffenbachii
|
This species was found on the
Chatham Islands, New Zealand, but was driven to extinction by the
depredations of introduced species. The type material was collected in 1840,
and it was Extinct by 1872.
|
1872
|
65
|
Hypotaenidia
|
pacifica
|
This species was known from the
Society Islands, French Polynesia, but has been driven Extinct by cat and rat
predation. It was last recorded on Mehetia in the 1930s
|
1930s
|
66
|
Hypotaenidia
|
poeciloptera
|
This species was found in Fiji,
but it has not been recorded since 1973 and is now Extinct. Predation by
introduced cats and mongooses is thought to have been responsible for its
decline.
|
1973
|
67
|
Hypotaenidia
|
wakensis
|
This species was known from Wake
Island in the United States Minor Outlying Islands, but went Extinct in the
mid-1940s, being last recorded in 1945 and never seen by an observer who took
up residence in 1946. It is thought to have been hunted to extinction by
Japanese soldiers that were stranded on the island.
|
1945
|
68
|
Ixobrychus
|
novaezelandiae
|
This species was known from New
Zealand's South Island, but became Extinct for unknown reasons some time in
the 1890s.
|
1890s
|
69
|
Lophopsittacus
|
bensoni
|
This species was known from
Mauritius, but hunting has driven it Extinct. It was last reported in 1764.
|
1764
|
70
|
Lophopsittacus
|
mauritianus
|
This species is known from
Mauritius, but has been driven Extinct by hunting pressure. The last records
date from 1673-1675, and it was absent in 1693.
|
1693
|
71
|
Mascarenotus
|
grucheti
|
This species formerly occurred
on the island of Réunion. It was probably driven Extinct after the island was
colonised in the early 17th century, as a result of habitat loss, hunting or
predation by invasive species.
|
1600s
|
72
|
Mascarenotus
|
murivorus
|
This species was endemic to the
island of Rodrigues, Mauritius, but is now Extinct due to logging of its
habitat. It was last recorded in 1726.
|
1726
|
73
|
Mascarenotus
|
sauzieri
|
This species was formerly found
on Mauritius, but the logging of its forest habitat has driven it to
extinction. It was last recorded in 1837, and certainly Extinct by 1859.
|
1837
|
74
|
Mascarinus
|
mascarin
|
This species was known from the
island of Réunion, but it has gone Extinct as a result of hunting pressure.
The last record of wild birds dates from 1775, and none were observed on a
visit in 1804.
|
1804
|
75
|
Mergus
|
australis
|
This species was formerly found
on the Auckland Islands, New Zealand, but it is now Extinct, primarily due to
hunting. It was last recorded in 1902, and had been lost by the time a
reserve was set up on the islands in 1910.
|
1902
|
76
|
Microgoura
|
meeki
|
This species is known from
Choiseul, Solomon Islands, but it has not been recorded since 1904 and is now
Extinct. It is likely to have been heavily predated by introduced dogs and
cats.
|
1904
|
77
|
Moho
|
apicalis
|
This species is known from the
Hawaiian island of O'ahu, USA, but is now Extinct as a result of habitat loss
and introduced disease. The last record dates from 1837, and it was not found
by the collectors that visited the island in the 1890s
|
1837
|
78
|
Moho
|
bishopi
|
This species was formerly found
in the Hawaiian Islands, USA, but it has not been recorded since 1981 and is
now considered Extinct. Habitat loss was probably the primary cause of its
decline.
|
1981
|
79
|
Moho
|
braccatus
|
This species is known from the
Hawaiian island of Kaua'i, USA, but it is now Extinct having been last
recorded in 1987. Habitat destruction and invasive species were the major
causes.
|
1987
|
80
|
Moho
|
nobilis
|
This species is known from the
Hawaiian island of Kaua'i, USA, but it is now Extinct having been last
recorded in 1987. Habitat destruction and invasive species were the major
causes.
|
1987
|
81
|
Mundia
|
elpenor
|
This species was known from
Ascension Island, St Helena, but is now Extinct. The only record of the
species comes from 1656 and it is thought to have succumbed to predation by
introduced rats and cats.
|
1656
|
82
|
Myadestes
|
myadestinus
|
This species formerly occurred
on the Hawaiian island of Kaua'i, USA, but the multitude of threats in the
region have driven it Extinct. The last definite record dates from 1985 and
targeted searches in 1995 and 1997 yielded no confirmed reports.
|
1995
|
83
|
Myadestes
|
woahensis
|
This species is known from the
Hawaiian island of O'ahu, USA, but it was driven Extinct by the logging of
its forest habitat. The only record is that of the type specimen, collected
in 1825.
|
1825
|
84
|
Myiagra
|
freycineti
|
This species formerly occurred
on Guam, but became Extinct in 1983. Predation by the introduced brown
tree-snake was the cause of its extinction.
|
1983
|
85
|
Nannococcyx
|
psix
|
This species was formerly found
on St Helena. It is now Extinct, presumably as a result of island
deforestation in the 18th century.
|
1700s
|
86
|
Necropsar
|
rodericanus
|
This species was endemic to the
island of Rodrigues, Mauritius, but is now Extinct, probably due to a
combination of hunting, habitat loss and the action of invasive species. The
last records date from 1726, and the species was not found on a visit in
1761.
|
1761
|
87
|
Necropsittacus
|
rodricanus
|
This species was endemic to the
island of Rodrigues, Mauritius, but is now Extinct. It was last reported in
1761 and presumably hunted to extinction soon after.
|
1761
|
88
|
Nesillas
|
aldabrana
|
This species was formerly found
on Aldabra, Seychelles, but it is now Extinct due to predation and habitat
alteration by invasive species. It was last recorded in 1983, and searches in
1986 confirmed its extinction.
|
1983
|
89
|
Nesoenas
|
cicur
|
This Extinct species has been
newly-described from subfossil remains. It is little-known but probably
became extinct around 1730 as a result of overhunting, predation by rats, and
deforestation.
|
1730
|
90
|
Nesoenas
|
duboisi
|
This species was found on the
island of Réunion, but it was last recorded in 1674 and is thought to have
been Extinct since the early 18th century. Predation by introduced cats and
rats is likely to have been the primary cause of its extinction.
|
1674
|
91
|
Nesoenas
|
rodericanus
|
This Extinct species has been
newly-described from subfossil remains. It is little-known but probably
became extinct during the 18th century as a result of overhunting and
predation by rats.
|
1700s
|
92
|
Nestor
|
productus
|
This species was known from
Norfolk Island, but went Extinct in the mid-late 1800s. Habitat clearance and
hunting are thought to have been the major drivers.
|
1850s
|
93
|
Nyctanassa
|
carcinocatactes
|
This species is known only from
subfossil remains. It likely became Extinct during the early 17th century as
a result of invasive predators and hunting for food by human settlers.
|
1600s
|
94
|
Nycticorax
|
duboisi
|
This species was endemic to the
island of Réunion. It was last recorded in 1674, and was probably driven
Extinct by hunters before 1700.
|
1674
|
95
|
Nycticorax
|
mauritianus
|
This species is known from the
mainland of Mauritius. It was last recorded in 1693, and was probably driven
Extinct by hunters before 1700.
|
1693
|
96
|
Nycticorax
|
megacephalus
|
This species was endemic to the
island of Rodrigues, Mauritius, but is now Extinct having been last recorded
in 1726, and mentioned as absent in 1761. Hunting was the cause of its
extinction.
|
1761
|
97
|
Paroreomyza
|
flammea
|
This species is known from the
Hawaiian island of Lana'i, USA, but is now Extinct, probably as a result of
habitat destruction and introduced diseases. The last records date from
1961-1963, and a survey in 1979 failed to find the species.
|
1961
|
98
|
Pezophaps
|
solitaria
|
This species was endemic to the
island of Rodrigues, Mauritius, but was hunted to extinction in the 18th
century. It was reported in 1761, but had become Extinct by 1778.
|
1778
|
99
|
Phalacrocorax
|
perspicillatus
|
This species was known from
Russia's Komandorski Islands, but is now Extinct: the last records date from
the 1940s and the species is thought to have been lost by the early 1950s.
Hunting was the primary cause of its extinction.
|
1950s
|
100
|
Pinguinus
|
impennis
|
This species was formerly
distributed across the north Atlantic, but is now Extinct as a result of
hunting pressure. The last live bird was seen in 1852.
|
1852
|
