North America - Artensterben

Riesenalk (Pinguinus impennis) von John James Audubon

The extinct great auk was flightless; its vestigial wings served as flippers when diving, while its feet acted as rudders. Image: John James Audubon, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Birds

20. July 2026 Doreen Fräßdorf

Great Auk—the Extinct Penguin of the North

“Today the original penguin is extinct.” Robert Silverberg, 1967, p. 84 The great auk was a large, flightless seabird of the North Atlantic. Its population may once have numbered several million individuals. With its black-and-white plumage, upright posture, and short, flipper-like wings, it bore a striking resemblance to today’s penguins

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

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

Some of the rarest animal species in the world: from the nearly extinct vaquita to the red wolf, the Yangtze giant softshell turtle, the Okinawa spiny rat, and the northern white rhino. These species now survive only in tiny populations.

News

8. May 2026 Doreen Fräßdorf

Fewer than 50 individuals: These animal species have almost disappeared

There are animal species worldwide whose populations have now shrunk to just a few dozen or even only single individuals. Many of them stand on the brink of extinction and survive only in small refuges or through elaborate conservation programs. The main cause of their decline is humans, for example

Mono-Lake-Tauchkaefer / Mono Lake diving beetle (Hygrotus artus)

Until its rediscovery in 2017, the Mono Lake diving beetle was known only from the male holotype collected in June 1917 (photo), which is now housed in the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (© Loggi at German Wikipedia., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Insects

13. April 2026 Doreen Fräßdorf

Mono Lake diving beetle: missing for 100 years—and sought in the wrong place

A mistake with consequences For a long time, the case seemed clear: the Mono Lake diving beetle lived—so it was assumed—in Mono Lake in California’s Sierra Nevada. A lake that could hardly be more inhospitable: highly alkaline, extremely saline, and with conditions to which only a few specialized organisms can

Extremely rare species: northern sportive lemur, Devils Hole pupfish, and cherry-throated tanager (© Wikimedia Commons – Lemur: Edward E. Louis, Jr, CC BY-SA 4.0 / Fish: Olin Feuerbacher, Public Domain / Bird: Jens Bokelaar, CC BY-SA 4.0)

News

7. April 2026 Doreen Fräßdorf

Which animals are threatened with extinction? These 8 species have fewer than 100 individuals

Species extinction is rarely an abrupt event. In many cases, the decline stretches over decades until only small, isolated remnant populations remain. Some of these species now survive with fewer than 100 individuals worldwide. Such extremely small populations are especially vulnerable to chance events, genetic impoverishment, and ongoing habitat loss.

EIner der Vögel Nordamerikas, dessen Bestandsrückgang sich beschleunigt: der Rotflügelstärling (Agelaius phoeniceus)

The red-winged blackbird is one of the most recognizable birds of North American wetlands and agricultural landscapes. Yet even for this once very common species, the decline in populations is accelerating. (© Brian Gratwicke, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

News

6. March 2026 Doreen Fräßdorf

Bird populations in North America: Decline accelerating—nearly every second species affected

Bird populations in North America have been declining for decades. But a new study now shows that not only are bird numbers falling, the speed of this decline is also increasing. This is the conclusion of a study published in the journal Science by researchers from Ohio State University and

Rediscoveries in 2025: Animal species believed to be lost and extinct

In 2025, several animal species returned to the focus of scientific attention after having long been considered lost or even thought to be extinct. (© Shrews: Tatiana Petrova, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons / Snake: Photo courtesy of Professor Blair Hedges)

News

3. January 2026 Doreen Fräßdorf

Rediscoveries in 2025: These animal species were considered lost or extinct

Species do not simply disappear just because no one has seen them for a long time. And they are just as little “saved” just because they suddenly reappear. Rediscoveries mark a narrow line between hope and uncertainty: they show that life can endure – often, however, only barely. In 2025,

Female morphotype specimen of Franklin's bumblebee: collected on May 20, 1972 west of Oregon City. The specimen is preserved in the entomology collection of the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. (© USNMENT01006817 - Bombus franklini (Frison, 1921) Collected in United States of America, CC0 1.0, via GBIF)

Insects

24. October 2025 Doreen Fräßdorf

Franklin’s Bumblebee—the first extinct bumblebee in North America?

Franklin’s bumblebee had the unfortunate distinction of having the smallest range of all bumblebee species in North America—and probably even worldwide. It occurred only in a narrow strip between the Pacific coast and the mountain ranges of the Sierra Nevada and the Cascade Range to the east, in southern Oregon

Betroffen vom Schmetterlingssterben in den USA: der Monarchfalter

The monarch butterfly is one of the most threatened butterfly species in North America. Because of habitat loss, pesticide use and climate change, its populations have declined drastically in recent decades. (© Kenneth Dwain Harrelson, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

News

7. March 2025 Doreen Fräßdorf

New study on insect decline: butterflies in the USA reduced by 22%

A long-term study published in November had already documented the drastic decline of butterflies in Central Europe. Now a comprehensive study by Washington State University in Vancouver, USA, confirms that butterfly populations are also rapidly dwindling in North America. Between 2000 and 2020, the total number of butterflies counted declined