These are species that have been declared extinct but which have then actually been rediscovered, incredibly resurrected, if you will, from the abyss of absolute extinction. Miraculously, though, far out on the extreme right end of our tragic Extinction Spectrum, even beyond these aforementioned mysterious “question mark” species, there lies a handful of the world’s most unique species. This includes, for instance, the Yangtze River Dolphin or Eskimo Curlew, since for both of these species there remains some seemingly legitimate lingering possibility of their continued existence.
In this same area of our spectrum lie other species which similarly are largely considered extinct and probably are, but whose status is uncertain or questioned. For example, one animal that might properly be discussed as we continue our journey to the right on this spectrum is the thylacine, or Tasmanian Wolf, which hopefully isn’t extinct but is widely agreed to be. That’s part of what is so captivating about this “Extinction Spectrum”: things aren’t always as black and white as they might seem.
Australian lazarus project how to#
We can and no doubt will likely discuss and argue over which species and subspecies fit best here and why, or how to rank and order them. So, there’s, sadly, going to be a big clump of long gone creatures never-to-be-seen-again at that end of the spectrumĪs we move to the right along this spectrum, we can add other species or subspecies that are almost assuredly correctly believed to be extinct. Clearly the bulk of species thought to be extinct are, with no question, truly and unmistakably extinct. rex, the stegosaurus, wooly mammoth, dodo, great auk, and passenger pigeon. These species would for example include T. To get started, then, at the left end of our imaginary “Extinction Spectrum” let’s place creatures that we are quite confident are definitely, definitively, and irrevocably extinct. This won’t be a hardcore scientific treatment, or entail complex biostatistics, but let’s use a simplified spectrum to try to characterize how final any decrees or pronouncements of extinction truly are.īefore we go further, though, let’s also more or less agree that recognition of extinction for a species or subspecies is reflective of, typically, a consistent process over time where declining abundance of the creature is noted and eventually the species is eventually officially determined, or at least widely accepted, to have vanished.
For the sake of this article, let’s apply this concept to the subject of extinction. The Ivory-billed Woodpecker and the Spectrum of ExtinctionĪs a starting point for this musing, I hope readers will agree that many facets and phenomena of life and our experience on earth occur on a spectrum.
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