USA - Artensterben

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

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

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

Museum bird specimens as scientific reference objects—and as a mirror of historical collecting practices. (© Doreen Fräßdorf, Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, 2025)

News

3. March 2026 Doreen Fräßdorf

The invisible half of biodiversity — How male-biased collections skew research and species conservation

We will probably never find out what the females of Schomburgk’s deer (Rucervus schomburgki) looked like. In historical drawings, travel reports, and museum collections, only remains of males are found—with their unique, many-branched antlers. Females likely carried none, and apparently collectors in the 19th century considered them too inconspicuous to

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

The grasshopper species Appalachia hebardi, long believed to be extinct, is flightless, measures about 2.5 to 3.8 centimeters in length, and has so far been recorded in only three U.S. states. (© Nicholas Gilchenok, courtesy of the photographer, via iNaturalist)

News

11. February 2025 Doreen Fräßdorf

USA: Appalachian grasshopper thought to be extinct rediscovered

In Augusta County, Virginia, USA, an interesting discovery was made: The Appalachian grasshopper (Appalachia hebardi), a species belonging to the family of Acrididae that had been considered extinct for decades, has been rediscovered. The last confirmed sighting of this rare species dates back—depending on the source—either to the 1960s or

Wiederentdeckung der Kurznasen-Maräne im Lake Superior (Oberer See)

It was here in Lake Superior that the shortnose cisco, believed extinct for 40 years, was surprisingly rediscovered recently. (© Yinan Chen, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

News

10. December 2024 Doreen Fräßdorf

Surprise find: The rediscovery of the shortnose cisco in Lake Superior

The shortnose cisco, a freshwater fish from the salmon family, had been considered extinct since 1985. After almost 40 years, it has now been rediscovered in a place where no one expected it: Lake Superior, the largest of North America’s five Great Lakes. Once, the shortnose cisco (Coregonus reighardi) was

The passenger pigeon was once the most common bird in North America. Today, it exists only in historical records and museum samples. Now modern gene-editing technologies are supposed to help bring the species back. (© Hayashi and Toda (artists), Charles Otis Whitman (author)., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

News

25. October 2024 Doreen Fräßdorf

The Revival of the Passenger Pigeon: A Project by Revive & Restore

The passenger pigeon, once the most common bird in North America, has been extinct for more than a century. Now, biologists from the nonprofit organization Revive & Restore have set a goal to bring the species back using cutting-edge gene-editing technologies. Under the leadership of Ben Novak, efforts are underway