Extinction is a natural feature of evolution because for some species to
succeed, others must fail. Since life began, about 99 percent of the earth's
species have disappeared and, on at least five occasions, huge numbers have died
out in a relatively short time. The most recent of these mass extinctions, about
65 million years ago, swept away the dinosaurs and many other forms of life. However, despite such catastrophes, the total number of living species has,
until recently, followed a generally upward trend.
Today, the extinction rate is increasing rapidly as a result of
human interference in natural ecosystems. Primates, tropical birds, and many
amphibians are particularly threatened. For the foreseeable future, this decline
is set to continue because evolution generates new species far more slowly than
the current rate of extinction.
This
website has an educational, non-profit purpose and is made to provide
information on recently extinct animals and to make people aware of this new extinction wave, because sadly
enough not many people know that it is occurring, and the more people know about this problem,
the more can be done to prevent more extinctions!
Ivory-billed
Woodpecker rediscovered!
The Recently Extinct Animals website welcomes the news that the ivory-billed
woodpecker Campephilus principalis, one of the largest and most
spectacular of the world’s woodpeckers, has been rediscovered in North
America, in the "Big Woods"region of eastern Arkansas.
Visual encounters during 2004 and2005, and analysis of a video
clip from April 2004, confirmthe existence of at least one male.
Acoustic signatures consistentwith Campephilus display-drums
also have been heard from theregion. Extensive efforts to locate
birds away from the primarysite remain unsuccessful, but potential
habitat for a thinlydistributed source population is vast (over
220,000 ha).
The
Extinction Forum.
The
Extinction Forum is the online forum of this website. It is dedicated to the discussion
and sharing of information of
all topics pertaining to extinct and animals, extinct plants and extinction in general. Please
Login
or Register.
Guests can visit the forum
too.
Are you looking for information? And you cannot find it? Than I
will recommend you to visit this forum. It contains more than 1000 topics, and
more are posted every day!
Whatever
your level of knowledge or interest in this subject, you are welcome at this
forum.
Feel free to post any comments or questions about extinct animals and extinction
in general.
The
Extinct Animals Group.
Extinct Animals is a list that is dedicated to the discussion of
all topics pertaining to extinct animals. Animals that became extinct in the past
and present millennia. Animals that we will never see again!
Whatever your level of
knowledge or interest in this subject, you are welcome to join. Feel free to
post any comments or questions about extinct animals and extinction in general. More info: The
Extinct Animals Group.
Coming
Soon:
Recent
European Extinctions.
North
America's Most Endangered Animals!
There can be mistakes in
my spelling and grammar on some pages. This is because I'm Dutch and live in the
Netherlands.
I would be very happy if you could contact
me to report any (grammatical) errors.
Information about other
recent extinct animals will appear on this page very soon. Please contact
me when you have information about an extinct or rediscovered animal.
Last updated: 5th May 2005.
This
website has an educational, non-profit purpose!
Best viewed with a screen resolution of
1024-768 pixels.
Extinction is a natural feature of evolution because for some species to
succeed, others must fail. Since life began, about 99 percent of the earth's
species have disappeared and, on at least five occasions, huge numbers have died
out in a relatively short time. The most recent of these mass extinctions, about
65 million years ago, swept away the dinosaurs and many other forms of life. However, despite such catastrophes, the total number of living species has,
until recently, followed a generally upward trend.
