Tag: 17th Century

Historical depiction of elephant bird
Historical depiction of Aepyornis maximus. Our knowledge of the elephant birds’ external appearance is incomplete: there are no preserved specimens, only bone finds and eggshells. Reconstructions therefore rely on anatomical inferences and comparisons with modern ratites. (© http://www.50birds.com/gextinct5.htm, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Aepyornis maximus – the largest elephant bird and the mystery of when it went extinct

There wasn’t just one elephant bird The elephant bird is probably one of the best-known of all extinct birds. Hardly any other animal so strongly embodies gigantism, enigmatic traditions, and the fascination of a world of animals that humans now know only in fragments. But the name already misleads: there

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Dodo reconstruction at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, France
This replica of the dodo is the result of interpretative work based on historical and scientific research: accounts, depictions and bones. No taxidermied specimen of the species exists. The bird was created by the artist Camille Renversade and realised in collaboration with the museum’s taxidermy workshops. (© Doreen Fräßdorf, photographed at the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris, France, 2024)

Dodo – Dead as a dodo

The dodo, related to pigeons (Columbidae), is probably the best-known example of an animal species exterminated by humans. References to the bird in literature and painting are common—for example in chapter three of the children’s book Alice in Wonderland (1865) by Lewis Carroll or in the paintings of the Flemish

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Überreste des Beutelwolfs im UCL Grant Museum in London
Remains of the thylacine, which was exterminated by hunting in the early 20th century. (© Doreen Fräßdorf, fotografiert im UCL Grant Museum of Zoology in London, England, 2024)

Extinctions: How Many Animal Species Have We Already Wiped Out?

There have been five mass extinction events in the history of Earth’s biodiversity, all caused by natural phenomena. It is believed that the sixth mass extinction is currently underway, this time solely driven by human activities. The Thylacine, the aurochs, and the dodo are just a few of the most

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Aurochs
Life reconstruction of an aurochs bull found in Braunschweig. The skeleton served as a direct reference for the proportions and horns. Body shape and colour are based on current knowledge about the wild cattle. (© Jaap Rouwenhorst (photograph) DFoidl (GIMP modifications), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Aurochs

How a wild animal became a domestic animal The aurochs or ur is considered the first wild cattle domesticated by humans, to guarantee a steady supply of meat and milk and to have draft and working animals available. Domestication is always associated with physical changes as well: over time, the

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