#extinction of species

[soulmates-for-real-tranquility]

"He is the last male of the species singing for a female...who will never come. He is totally alone. And now his voice is gone"

The Last Song of the Kauai O'o Bird

Male singing to female that will never come

These birds mate for life. The song is a duet. The silences between the chirps are so heartbreaking!

[ask-a-bot]

Things live and die, sometimes species go extinct. It's not all Megs' fault.

Enough of it is.

Sunstreaker. He's not the only one to blame, and from what you told us about the history of things, he was trying to make it better.

If he hadn't started the war, Cybertron would still be lit! There would still be hotspots and newsparks and the Allspark would still exist! Our home would still exist! We wouldn't be stuck on this dirtball and Sides wouldn't be-

That's enough. It's not all Megatron's fault things went the way they did. Fault on both sides, it takes two hands to clap, two factions to war. If nothing changed, would you really have been happy in the old system?

I would still have my brother. We were climbing up in the world, creating a home that was ours. Until the Docks bombing sent us back to the Pit.

And Megatron blames himself enough. Come on, I'm sure Pyre would appreciate us getting a headstart on your nice long drive and quiet time before he gets home.

Sunstreaker is right. I made everything so much worse that the planet has likely been destroyed. I wanted to... to make everything better. I made everything worse. I am no better than Mandroid!

What? That's not true!

He told me that he saw himself as the saviour of Earth and humanity, Prime. He had the same delusions of grandeur that I did.

Mandroid... was not like you, Megatron. Even at your worst, you were never beyond reason. I could make you listen. Mandroid was not like you. Stop thinking like that.

[reasonsforhope]

"During an archaeological dig in a desert area north of Jerusalem 40 years ago, a seed was discovered which was determined to be in pristine condition but had obviously seen many a year.

Now, despite falling from its parent 1,000 years ago, it has grown into a mature tree, and botanists examining it believe it may be an extinct species that was used for medicinal purposes for thousands of years—even receiving a nod in the Bible.

Neither Israeli botanists, nor Dr. Sarah Sallon, a physician who founded the Louis L. Borick Natural Medicine Research Center at Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem, could determine what species it was from simply from the seed covering. So they did what nature intended—they planted it.

Using a well-documented technique that saw 2,000-year-old date palm fruit pits germinate, Dr. Sallon soaked the seed in hormones, liquid fertilizer, and water, and then planted it in a pot of sterile seed; then waited.

Despite its genetic code being exposed to environmental stressors for over 1,000 years, the seed sprouted after 5 weeks. The shoot was protected by a caplike feature called an operculum. As the shoot grew, the operculum was shed—leaving something for the team to radiocarbon date. It narrowed down the age of the almost 10-centuries-old seed to between the years 993 an 1202.

Fast forward 14 years and the plant has become a 10-foot-tall tree. Dr. Sallon shared images of the tree, its bark, and its leaves with botanists around the world. One expert suggested it belonged to the genus Commiphora, found across the Arabian Peninsula and parts of Africa. A genetic analysis subsequently revealed this was the case, but a perfect match was lacking.

Pictured: The tree, now 14 years old.

Dr. Sallon and her team thought it was an extinct species known from history as Judean Balsam, but the best way to confirm that suspicion would be to have some aromatic traces similar to the resins of the myrrh tree to which it is related. However, no such fragrant compounds were detected.

Instead, the chemical analysis of the leaves identified a group of phytochemicals known as guggulterols which have been observed in a related species called Commiphora wightii that’s known to possess certain cancer-fighting properties in its resin.

A medicinal balm, the origin of which is not known, is mentioned in multiple historical texts including the Bible as ‘tsori,’ and rather than the fragrant Judean Balsam, it’s this tsori that Dr. Sallon and her team believe they have found.

They must wait until the tree, now 14 years old, produces flower or fruit to know for sure if it’s an extinct species, and if so, how to perhaps keep it alive.

Dr. Louise Colville, senior research leader in seed and stress biology at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in London who wasn’t involved in the research, told CNN that it was a major accomplishment to grow a seed that old and possibly lead to a resurrection of this Biblical botanical.

“What’s surprising in this story is it was just a single seed and to be able to have one chance for that to germinate is extremely lucky,” she said.

“Working in a seed bank, seeing the potential for that extreme longevity gives us hope that banking and storing seeds that some at least will survive for very long periods of time.”"

-via Good News Network, October 8, 2024

--

Note: This is such a good demonstration of why seed banks are so important!! They give us such real and massive hope for deextinction and the revival of endangered species.

[gayvampyr]

i hate talking to people who aren’t aware of or just don’t care how disastrous climate change is. i say “summer is lasting too long” and they go “but i like the warm weather! :)” 😐

[odetoscavengers]

Something that could have been

[hope-for-the-planet]

I need you all to appreciate how crazy it is to have watched the scimitar horned oryx go from a poster child for "it only exists in zoos" to merely endangered (not even critically endangered!) over my lifetime.

So many heroic people contributed ridiculous amounts of time and effort to make this captive breeding and reintroduction effort a success.

[unita-n]

My old piece with quaggas.

watercolour on wallpaper back

[rebeccathenaturalist]

A study that just came out demonstrates that outdoor cats are known to prey on over two thousands species of wild animal, from mammals to birds to insects. That includes 347 species that are endangered, threatened or otherwise of concern, and they've been a key factor of the permanent extinction of over 60 species. And while cats may not always bring home what they catch, chances are if your cat is allowed to roam unsupervised outside, they're killing your local wildlife.

Why is this so important? Worldwide, wild animal populations have decreased in number by 69% in the past fifty years; that means that in my lifetime (born in 1978), the sheer number of wild animals in the world has been decreased by over half. Even "common" wild species are less numerous than before. While habitat population is the single biggest cause of species endangerment and extinction overall, outdoor and indoor/outdoor cats are a significant cause as well. In fact, they are the single biggest cause of human-caused mortality in wild birds.

Most importantly, it's very, very simple to fix this problem: keep your cats indoors, and spay and neuter them. If your cat is bored, they need more enrichment, and there are plenty of ways to make your home more exciting for them, from bringing home cardboard boxes for them to explore, to playing with them more often. If you want your cat to get some outdoor enrichment, leash train them (yes, it can be done!) If you have the space and resources, build them a catio where they can be safe from outdoor dangers like predators and cars, while also keeping local wildlife safe from them.

If you just give into their whining and pawing at the door, then they know that that's what they have to do to get their way; I know it's a tough transition, but it's worth it in the end for everyone involved. Cats are domesticated, which means they are not native anywhere in the world; there are exactly zero ecosystems in which they belong, save for the safety of your home. It is your responsibility to give them an enriching environment without taking the shortcut of letting them go wreak havoc outside.

[kavdragun]

Many boys desire a big dinosaur GF, but others have even bigger ambitions!

Let there be more dino women!

[seraphica]

Biodiversity Reclamation Suits for Urban Pigeons

Artist Laurel Roth Hope takes a unique approach to commemorating lost avian species, by designing and crocheting outfits that represent extinct birds, but are sized to fit a common city pigeon.

Seychelles Parakeet

Great Auk

Passenger Pigeon

Guadalupe Caracara

Carolina Parakeet

Dodo

Bachman's Warbler

Heath Hens

Cuban Red Macaw

Ivory Billed Woodpecker

Paradise Parrot

[squeeegs]

text from porter robinson's "goodbye to a world"

every single animal in this comic is extinct. it's not too late for the ones that are left.

edit: thanks @mudcrabmassacre for the correction, smilodon fatalis did not in fact go extinct in 1023 AD. the actual prediction is around 10,000 years ago - I think i may have missed a zero or two.

[ask-a-bot]

Cybertron was destroyed by the war. I doubt anything could have survived. Humans have rediscovered extinct animals in the past because those animals were good at hiding or came from places that were hard to study. ... Megatron used to use words to manipulate people all the time, but he used that skill to hurt people. Pyreseus said that sometimes it can be used to comfort, distract or teach.

Knowing how to speak and using it to manipulate others for your own gain are two separate things, Thrash. Megs has changed since the war, he seems to really care about Twitch, which is good. You don't manipulate the people you care about.

You're supposed to be resting.

I'm in pain, as usual, not dying. Come on, let's go for a walk.

Pyreseus told you to stay put.

I'm also bored, and I have my braces on. Coming or not, I'm going for a walk. I'll deal with the fallout after.

You're worse than Megatron. Get in, I'll drive.

Hey, I've had a crap body long enough to create workarounds and power through with sheer force of will, cut him some slack.

Good thing Prime's taken Megatron to calm down ready for a quick afternoon siesta, because... well... I don't think either one of 'em would've taken that too well. What's Thrash been saying?

We don't know yet if Cybertron's completely gone or not. We haven't been able to get through to Home World, but that could be because energy is still an issue while life gradually returns to normal.

Some plants 'n' creatures went extinct when I was younger than Hot Rod. Other things were tough enough to thrive 'n' spread over the parts we destroyed. Who knows how much of the planet I remember's gonna be left, even if its not completely dead. I'm a little scared to find out.

From what he's said, Megatron is too. But he needs to know. He feels like he's entirely to blame for every lost species and extinguished spark. He needs to know. Because of that. He wants to know how much he has to hate himself for, I guess.

[extinctionstories]

On April 19th, 1987, a bird known as Adult Condor 9 was captured in the Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge, near Bakersfield, California. After decades ravaged by the threats of lead-poisoning and pesticide exposure, and intense debate over the ethics of captivity, it had been determined that captive breeding was the final hope to save a species. As his designation might suggest, AC-9 was the ninth condor to be captured for the new program; he was also the last.

As the biology team transported the seven-year-old male to the safety of the San Diego Wild Animal Park, his species, the California Condor, North America's largest bird, became extinct in its native range. It was Easter Sunday—a fitting day for the start of a resurrection.

At the time of AC-9's capture, the total world population of California condors constituted just twenty-seven birds. The majority of them represented ongoing conservation attempts: immature birds, taken from the wild as nestlings and eggs to be captive-reared in safety, with the intention of re-release into the wild. Now, efforts turned fully towards the hope of captive breeding.

Captive breeding is never a sure-fire bet, especially for sensitive, slow-reproducing species like the condor. Animals can and do go extinct even when all individuals are successfully shielded from peril and provided with ideal breeding conditions. Persistence in captivity is not the solution to habitat destruction and extirpation—but it can buy valuable time for a species that needs it.

Thankfully, for the California condor, it paid off.

The birds defied expectations, with an egg successfully hatched at the San Diego Zoo the very next year. Unlike many other birds of prey, which may produce clutches of up to 5 hatchlings, the California condor raises a single chick per breeding season, providing care for the first full year of its life, and, as a consequence, often not nesting at all in the year following the birth of a chick. This, combined with the bird's slow maturation (taking six to eight years to start breeding), presented a significant challenge. However, biologists were able to exploit another quirk of the bird's breeding cycle: its ability to double-clutch.

Raising a single offspring per year is a massive risk in a world full of threats, and the California condor's biology has provided it with a back-up plan: in years when a chick or egg has been lost, condors will often re-nest with a second egg. To take advantage of this tendency, eggs were selectively removed from birds in the captive breeding program, which would then lay a replacement, greatly increasing their reproduction rate.

And what of the eggs that were taken? The tendency of hatchlings to imprint is well-known, and the intention from the very beginning was for the birds to one day return to the wild—an impossibility for animals acclimated to humans. And so, puppets were made in the realistic likeness of adult condors, and used by members of the conservation team to feed and nurture the young birds, mitigating the risk of imprintation on the wrong species.

By 1992, the captive population had more than doubled, to 64 birds. That year, after an absence of five years, the first two captive-bred condors were released into their ancestral home. Many other releases followed, including the return of AC-9 himself in 2002. Thanks to the efforts of zoos and conservationists, as of 2024 there are 561 living California condors, over half of which fly free in the wilds of the American West.

The fight to save the California condor is far from over. The species is still listed as critically endangered. Lead poisoning (from ingesting shot/bullets from abandoned carcasses) remains the primary source of mortality for the species, with tagged birds tested and treated whenever possible. Baby condors are fed bone chips by their parents, likely as a calcium supplement—but, to a condor, bits of bone and bits of plastic can be indistinguishable, and dead nestlings have been found with stomachs full of trash.

There's hope, though. There are things we can change, things we can counteract and stop from happening in the future. It was a human hand that created this problem, and it will take a human hand to fix it. Hope is only gone when the last animal breathes its last breath—and the California condor is still here.

-

This painting is titled Puppet Rearing (California Condor), and is part of my series Conservation Pieces, which focuses on the efforts and techniques used to save critically endangered birds from extinction. It is traditional gouache, on 22x30" paper.

[sealsdaily]

Today's Seal Is: Fashionista

[crabussy]

by the way if you think an endangered species deserves to go extinct because it takes effort to save them/they can’t look after themselves, you need to reevaluate the way you look at the world because that is an extremely flawed, messed up, and sad worldview.

[taimira]

The cub lived for only a few weeks, and yet it never knew how important it will become in the far future. Thank you, little cat, for giving us another glimpse of your beautiful species that once roamed the Earth.

Inspired by a relatively recent discovery of a homotherium cub mummy. The first snow has fallen in my town, so I've also got a little mood from that.