Endling

For other uses, see Endling (disambiguation).

The last known thylacine (Tasmanian tiger), photographed at Hobart Zoo in 1933.

An endling is the last known individual of a species or subspecies. Once the endling dies, the species becomes extinct. The word was coined in correspondence in the scientific journal Nature .

Usage

The 4 April 1996 issue of Nature published a correspondence in which commentators suggested that a new word, endling, be adopted to denote the last individual of a species. ^{[1] [2]} The 23 May issue of Nature published several counter-suggestions, including ender, terminarch, and relict. ^{[1] [3]}

The word endling appeared on the walls of the National Museum of Australia in Tangled Destinies, a 2001 exhibition by Matt Kirchman and Scott Guerin, about the relationship between Australian peoples and their land. In the exhibition, the definition, as it appeared in Nature, was printed in large letters on the wall above two specimens of the extinct Tasmanian tiger: "Endling (n.) The last surviving individual of a species of animal or plant". A printed description of this exhibition offered a similar definition, omitting reference to plants: "An endling is the name given to an animal that is the last of its species." ^{[4] [5]}

In The Flight of the Emu: A Hundred Years of Australian Ornithology 1901-2001, author Libby Robin stated that "the very last individual of a species" is "what scientists refer to as an 'endling'". ^[6]

In 2011, the word was used in the Earth Island Journal , in an essay by Eric Freedman entitled "Extinction Is Forever: A Quest for the Last Known Survivors". Freedman defined endling as "the last known specimen of her species." ^[7]

In "The Sense of an Endling", author Helen Lewis describes the notion of an endling as poignant, and the word as "wonderfully Tolkien-esque". ^[8]

Author Eric Freedman describes endling as "a word with finality", stating, "It is deep-to-the-bone chilling to know the exact date a species disappeared from Earth. It is even more ghastly to look upon the place where it happened and know that nobody knew or cared at the time what had transpired and why." ^[9]

Notable endlings

Martha, the last passenger pigeon, died in the Cincinnati Zoo on September 1, 1914.

This is not a comprehensive list of contemporary extinction, but a list of high-profile, widely publicised examples of when the last individual of a species was known.

Birds

A dusky seaside sparrow (Ammospiza maritima nigrescens), officially declared extinct in 1990.

• The passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius) became extinct at 1 p.m. on 1 September 1914 with the death of Martha, the last surviving member of the species, at the Cincinnati Zoo. ^{[10] [11]}
• Incas, the last known Carolina parakeet (Conuropsis carolinensis), died, also at the Cincinnati Zoo (and in the same cage as Martha), on 21 February 1918. ^{[11] [12] [13]} He died within one year of his mate, Lady Jane. ^[14] The species was officially declared extinct in 1939.
• Booming Ben, a solitary heath hen (Tympanuchus cupido cupido), was last seen 11 March 1932 on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. ^[15]
• Orange Band was the last known dusky seaside sparrow (Ammospiza maritima nigrescens), who died on 17 June 1987 at the Discovery Island zoological park at Walt Disney World Resort. ^[16]
• The last known Kauaʻi ʻōʻō (Moho braccatus) was recorded singing a mating call on Kauai in 1987 by David Boynton. The bird is believed to have been killed by Hurricane Iniki in 1992, and the death of this individual also marked the extinction of the entire Mohoidae family. ^{[17] [18]}

Mammals

• In 1627, the last aurochs (Bos primigenius), an ancestor of bovine and cattle, died in a forest near what is now Jaktorów in modern-day Poland. ^[19]

  

  A quagga mare at the London Zoo in 1870. This is the only specimen photographed alive.

• The quagga (Equus quagga quagga) became extinct in the wild in the late 1870s due to hunting for meat and skins, and the subspecies' endling died in captivity on 12 August 1883 at the Artis in Amsterdam. ^[20]
• The final tarpan (Equus ferus ferus) died in captivity in the Russian Empire in 1903. ^[21]
• On 7 September 1936, the last known captive thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus), also called Tasmanian tiger, died in Hobart Zoo, following persecution of the species through hunting and trapping. Information published about this individual has been conflicted throughout the decades following its death. ^[22] An individual named Frank Darby invented the myth that it was named "Benjamin", and the claim was rapidly circulated by media and persists until today, even being repeated by Wikipedia itself. ^[23] Other areas of contention include where it was captured and by whom, by whom it was captured, whether it was neglected in its zoo enclosure and even whether it was the last known surviving thylacine. ^[22] Researchers Robert Paddle and Kathryn Medlock argue that the endling was female and died of neglect, while Gareth Linnard affirms that it was male (despite not being named Benjamin) and died of old age, citing its valued status in the zoo's collection. ^[22] Regardless, the thylacine at Hobart Zoo is the last reputably-verified specimen of not only its species and genus, but also the entire family Thylacinidae. However, some individuals, such Barry Brooks and his colleagues, argue the thylacine probably persisted in the wild for several decades following the captive individual's death in 1936. ^[24]
• The last known Mexican grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis), also called oso plateado (silver bear) in Spanish, was shot in 1976 in Sonora, Mexico. ^[25]

Taxidermised body of Celia, the final Pyrenean ibex

• Celia, the last Pyrenean ibex (Capra pyrenaica pyrenaica), was found crushed by a tree on 6 January 2000 in the Spanish Pyrenees, after hunting and competition from livestock reduced the population to one individual. ^[26]
• The final Vietnamese Javan rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus annamiticus), was shot by a poacher at the Cát Tiên National Park in 2010, after habitat loss, poaching, and the Vietnam War reduced the population to one individual. ^[27]

Reptiles and amphibians

Lonesome George, the last Pinta Island tortoise

• On 24 June 2012, Lonesome George, the last known Pinta Island tortoise (Chelonoidis niger abingdonii), died in his habitat in the Galápagos Islands. ^[28]
• On 26 September 2016, Toughie, the last known Rabbs' fringe-limbed treefrog (Ecnomiohyla rabborum), died in the Atlanta Botanical Garden. ^[29]

  

  'Toughie', the last known Rabb's fringe-limbed treefrog.

• After being considered possibly extinct for 113 years, a Fernandina Island Galápagos tortoise named Fernanda was found in 2019 for the Animal Planet series, Extinct or Alive . However, she is the only living individual known, making Fernanda an endling. ^[30]

Invertebrates

• Turgi was the last Partula turgida , a Polynesian tree snail, who died on 31 January 1996 in the London Zoo. ^[31]
• A tank in the Bristol Zoo was the last refuge of Partula faba , a land snail from Ra'iātea in French Polynesia. The population dropped from 38 in 2012 ^[32] to one in 2015. ^[33] The last individual died on 21 February 2016. ^[33]
• George was the last known individual of the Oahu tree snail species Achatinella apexfulva . He died on January 1, 2019, in captivity near Kailua, Hawaii. ^[34]

Plants

• The Curepipe Botanic Gardens in Mauritius have housed the last specimen of the palm Hyophorbe amaricaulis since the 1950s. ^[35]
• Only one living specimen of the tree species Madhuca diplostemon is known to exist. ^[36]
• Some seeds were found in an archaeological excavation in the Judean desert in 1986–87. In 2009, a specimen of an unknown species of Commiphora was successfully sprouted from one of these ancient seeds (dated 993 CE – 1202 calCE^{[ clarification needed ]}). The tree was named Sheba. In 2024, it was tentatively identified as tsori or Judean balsam, on the basis of taxonomy and resin properties matching ancient descriptions. Similar to Fernanda, Sheba is the only known individual of its species despite recent discovery or rediscovery. ^[37]

See also

• Conservation status
• De-extinction
• Extinction
• Holocene extinction
• Lists of extinct animals
• Rare species
• Terminal speaker

References

1. Jorgensen, Dolly (13 April 2013). "Naming and claiming the last" . Retrieved 26 January 2014.
2. Robert M. Webster; Bruce Erickson (4 April 1996). "The last word?". Nature . 380 (386): 386. Bibcode:1996Natur.380..386W. doi: 10.1038/380386c0 . PMID   8602235.
3. Elaine Andrews (4 April 1996). "The last word". Nature . 381 (272): 272. Bibcode:1996Natur.381..272A. doi: 10.1038/381272d0 . S2CID   39305151.
4. "Tangled Destinies" (PDF). National Museum of Australia. 2002. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 September 2015. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
5. Smith, Mike (2001). "The Endling exhibition, Tangled Destinies gallery, National Museum of Australia, Canberra, 2001" (PDF). National Museum of Australia. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
6. Robin, Libby (2002). The Flight of the Emu: A Hundred Years of Australian Ornithology 1901-2001. Melbourne University Press. p. 260. ISBN   978-0522849875.
7. Freedman, Eric (2011). "Extinction is Forever: A Quest for the Last Known Survivors". Earth Island Journal. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
8. Lewis, Helen (27 June 2012). "The Sense of an Endling". The New Statesman. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
9. Freedman, Eric (5 July 2008). "Cut from history: An abandoned Tasmanian zoo tells the haunting tale of an ending". EJ Magazine. Archived from the original on 5 July 2008. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
10. "Endangered Species Handbook". Animal Welfare Institute. 1983. Archived from the original (pdf) on 2 December 2012. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
11. Blythe, Anne (27 August 2012). "Extinct Carolina Parakeet still fascinates". News Observer. Archived from the original on 29 August 2012.
12. "The last Carolina Parakeet". John James Audubon Center. 22 December 2015.
14. Snyder, Noel (June 2004). The Carolina Parakeet: Glimpses of a Vanished Bird. Princeton University Press.
15. "Heath Hen (Extinct)". BeautyOfBirds (formerly Avian Web). Retrieved 27 January 2014.
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18. Recording Of The Last Kauai 'o'o Bird , retrieved 11 September 2024
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22. Linnard, Gareth; Sleightholme, Stephen R. (31 October 2023). "An exploration of the evidence surrounding the identity of the last captive Thylacine". Australian Zoologist . 43 (2): 287–338. doi:10.7882/AZ.2023.034.
23. Dunlevie, James (5 December 2022). "Stop calling the last thylacine Benjamin, Tasmanian tiger researcher says". ABC News. Archived from the original on 16 December 2023.
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26. Richard Gray and Roger Dobson (31 January 2009). "Extinct ibex is resurrected by cloning". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2 August 2009. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
27. Gersmann, Hanna (25 October 2011). "Javan rhino driven to extinction in Vietnam, conservationists say". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 22 November 2024.
28. Valencia, Alexandra; Garcia, Eduardo (24 June 2012). "Lonesome George, last-of-his-kind Galapagos tortoise, dies". Reuters. Archived from the original on 27 June 2012.
29. Bo Emerson (28 September 2016). "Rare frog goes extinct, despite Atlanta's rescue efforts". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on 11 October 2016. Retrieved 28 September 2016.
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31. "Tiny Tree Snail Finally Creeps To Extinction". Chicago Tribune . 1 February 1996. Archived from the original on 17 April 2024.
32. Five of the world's 10 most at-risk species at Bristol Zoo ^{[ permanent dead link ]}
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External links

• What Do You Call the Last of a Species? by Michelle Nijhuis for The New Yorker
• Cut from history by Eric Freedman for Knight Center for Environmental Journalism
• Bringing Them Back to Life Archived 2013-04-11 at the Wayback Machine by Carl Zimmer for National Geographic Magazine.