Artensterben - Extinct and endangered animals since 1500

European goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) among dandelions: species of everyday landscapes are often right in front of us, yet not all of them are consciously noticed or named. Image: Depositphotos (Cooperation)

News

30. June 2026 Doreen Fräßdorf

Nature on the doorstep: Why we hardly know many species anymore

Dandelions, daisies, stinging nettles or sparrows—many people can still name these species. But what about the plants and birds that are typical of meadows, pastures, field edges and arable fields? A new study by the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) on species knowledge shows that many characteristic species

Rotbindiger Samtfalter (Arethusana arethusa)

The false grayling (Arethusana arethusa) occurs in dry, warm open habitats in southern and south-eastern Europe. According to the respective Red Lists, it is now regionally extinct in Germany and Switzerland; the last records date from 1977 and 1974 respectively. Image: Gilles San Martin, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

News

23. June 2026 Doreen Fräßdorf

Europe’s butterflies: What Red Lists reveal about their decline

Many people are now reporting something similar: where numerous butterflies still flew over meadows, gardens, roadside verges or embankments in summer a few years ago, today there are often only a few—or none at all—to be seen. Such observations are initially personal and local; they depend on the weather, the

drei verschollene Vogelarten wiederentdeckt auf Neuirland (Bismarck-Archipel, Papua-Neuguinea)

In the remote mountain forests of New Ireland in the Bismarck Archipelago, an expedition confirmed the presence of three bird species that had not been documented for many years—including the New Britain sparrowhawk, last recorded in 1994. Image: Depositphotos (Kooperation)

News

19. June 2026 Doreen Fräßdorf

New Ireland: Three lost bird species rediscovered

During an expedition in Papua New Guinea, four young birdwatchers made an extraordinary discovery: In just 17 days, they documented three lost bird species in the mountain forests of New Ireland that had not been reliably recorded for years or even decades—the white-naped lory (Lorius albidinucha), the New Ireland friarbird

The dwarf bulrush (Typha minima) represents a habitat that has been heavily altered in Germany: dynamic river floodplains with open sandy, silty, and gravelly banks. Both subspecies listed in the Red List are considered extinct or no longer found in Germany. Image: Typha minima Funck Observed in France by Flavien Saboureau, CC BY 4.0, via GBIF

News

15. June 2026 Doreen Fräßdorf

Extinct or lost: Plants that no longer occur in Germany

The current nationwide Red List of Germany’s ferns and flowering plants, published in 2018, shows how profoundly the country’s flora has already changed: more than a quarter of the assessed species and subspecies are threatened. In Germany, 65 taxa are even considered extinct or no longer found—equivalent to 1.8% of

Cozumel-Fuchs – Zwergfuchs auf der Insel Cozumel (Urocyon sp.)

In September 2023, the first photo was taken of a dwarf fox living on the island of Cozumel. Image: Rafael Chacón, from Bayer et al. (2026), Neotropical Biology and Conservation, CC BY 4.0 (cropped, edited)

News

13. June 2026 Doreen Fräßdorf

Cozumel fox photographed for the first time: not extinct after all

On the Mexican island of Cozumel, a living Cozumel fox has been documented in photographs for the first time. The record is extraordinary because this dwarf island form from the gray fox genus was previously known with certainty only from subfossil bone finds. Although there had been individual sighting reports

Äthiopische Wassermaus (Nilopegamys plumbeus) - W. H. Osgood (1928)

Illustration of the Ethiopian amphibious rat by Leon L. Pray from the first description from 1928: It is based on field studies by the nature painter Louis Agassiz Fuertes and is one of the few contemporary illustrations of the species. Its close connection to bodies of water is clearly visible. Image: L L. Pray in Osgood 1928

Mammals

12. June 2026 Doreen Fräßdorf

Ethiopian Amphibious Rat: Only one specimen—and lost since 1927

A particularly remarkable novelty It is known from a single specimen: an adult male that the American zoologist Wilfred Hudson Osgood collected on March 20, 1927, in the Ethiopian highlands—in a small mountain stream near the source of the Little Abbai. This animal later became known as the Ethiopian amphibious

Moorfrosch (Rana arvalis) - Moore als Lebensraum

The moor frog (Rana arvalis) is probably one of the most famous moor dwellers. It not only inhabits moors, but also other wet habitats such as swamp forests, wet meadows, swampy grassland and floodplains. Image: Depositphotos (Cooperation)

News

11. June 2026 Doreen Fräßdorf

More than just carbon sinks: Peatlands as habitats for endangered species

Peatlands have long been seen as mysterious, hard-to-reach landscapes. In stories and films, they often appear as dangerous places with unstable ground, dark water and fog—places where someone might sink or disappear without a trace. Ecologically, however, they are far more than this old image: they are among the most

Burulori / Blue-fronted Lorikeet (Charmosynopsis toxopei) by John C. Mittermeier/American Bird Conservancy

Blue-fronted lorikeet (Charmosynopsis toxopei) on Buru—photographed by John C. Mittermeier. It is among the first documented images of the species since 2014. Image: John C. Mittermeier/American Bird Conservancy

News

6. June 2026 Doreen Fräßdorf

Blue-fronted Lorikeet rediscovered: rare parrot lives in remote mountain forests of the Moluccas

The blue-fronted lorikeet (Charmosynopsis toxopei) has been documented again. In April 2026, an expedition team documented the rare parrot species in the highlands of Mount Kapalatmada on the Indonesian island of Buru. It is the first confirmed record since 2014 and only the second confirmed observation of the species since

Some plant species have dwindled to fewer than ten mature individuals in the wild.

News

29. May 2026 Doreen Fräßdorf

The world’s loneliest plants: Species with fewer than ten individuals

For some plant species, fewer than ten mature wild plants remain in nature—sometimes even just a single individual. Such species show how far a decline can go: habitats shrink, populations break apart, and in the end only isolated plants remain, their survival often depending on chance. 15 plant species with

Sacramento Mountains Checkerspot Butterfly (Euphydryas anicia cloudcrofti)

Sacramento Mountains checkerspot: the last known individual in human care, a caterpillar, died in May 2026. The subspecies has not been confirmed in the wild since 2022; whether it still occurs there is uncertain. Image: Euphydryas anicia subsp. cloudcrofti (Ferris & R.Holland, 1980) Observed in United States of America by Chris Grinter, CC BY-NC 4.0, via GBIF

News

25. May 2026 Doreen Fräßdorf

Sacramento Mountains checkerspot butterfly: last known caterpillar has died

May 5, 2026, ABQ BioPark in Albuquerque, New Mexico: The last known caterpillar of the Sacramento Mountains checkerspot butterfly dies—and with it, perhaps, the chance to save an entire butterfly subspecies from extinction. Researchers had hoped that the caterpillar would still transform into an adult butterfly. Then it might have