Tag: 18th Century

Georg Forster: Image of the Tongatapu rail?
An illustration of the extinct Tongatapu rail, created between 1772 and 1775, by Georg Forster? (© George Forster, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Tongatapu rail

The only specimen is now lost Quite a few bird species of the past were described from only a single specimen that is now lost. One of them is the Tongatapu rail. Of this rail species (family Rallidae), historical reports and descriptions have survived that are based on observations and

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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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anas aucklandica
According to ornithologists Olson and Jouventin, the extinct Amsterdam duck was similar to the still extant, likewise flightless Auckland teal (Anas aucklandica; see image). The illustration by John Gerrard Keulemans appeared in Buller's Birds of New Zealand (1988). (© John Gerrard Keulemans, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Amsterdam duck

Barely larger than a thrush Both Amsterdam Island and Saint Paul are more than 3,000 kilometers away from continents. Nevertheless—or perhaps precisely because of this—the two islands were frequently visited by early seafarers and the animals that traveled with them, so that all endemic birds there had already been wiped

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