Portal:Extinction/Previous articles
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[edit] 2007-01-29
The aurochs (Bos primigenius) is a very large, extinct type of cattle, originally prevalent in Europe. The word aurochs is both singular and plural; alternative plural forms are aurochsen or urus. The animal's original scientific name, Bos primigenius, translated the German term Auerochse or Urochs, literally "primeval ox", or "proto-ox". The original range of the aurochs was from the British Isles, to Africa, the Middle East, India and central Asia. By the 13th century A.D., the aurochs' range was restricted to Poland, Lithuania, Moldavia, Transylvania and East Prussia. The right to hunt large animals on any land was restricted to nobles and gradually to the royal household. As the population of aurochs declined, hunting ceased but the royal court still required gamekeepers to provide open fields for the aurochs to graze in. The gamekeepers were exempted from local taxes in exchange for their service and a decree made poaching an aurochs punishable by death. In 1564, the gamekeepers knew of only 38 animals, according to the royal survey. The last recorded live aurochs, a female, died in 1627 in the Jaktorów Forest, Poland. The skull was later taken by the Swedish Army and is now the property of Livrustkammaren in Stockholm.
[edit] 2006-12-14
The Laysan Rail or Laysan Crake (Porzana palmeri) was a tiny inhabitant of the Northwest Hawaiian Island of Laysan. This small island was and still is an important seabird colony, and sustained a number of endemic species, including the rail. It became extinct due to habitat loss by feral rabbits, and ultimately World War II. Its scientific name honours Henry Palmer, who collected in the Hawaiian Islands for Walter Rothschild.
[edit] 2006-11-13
The Thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus) is a large carnivorous marsupial native to Australia which is thought to have gone extinct in the 20th century.
Locally, it is known as the Tasmanian Tiger or Tasmanian Wolf, and colloquially the Tassie ("tazzy") Tiger or simply the Tiger.
Although it is only one of many Australian mammals to have become extinct following European settlement of the continent, it is the largest and by far the most famous.
Like the tigers and wolves of other continents (both placental carnivores and therefore not closely related to the marsupial Thylacine), the Thylacine was a top-level predator, and in size and general form quite closely resembled the Northern Hemisphere predators it was originally named after.
[edit] 2006-10-10
The Great Auk (Pinguinus impennis) is an extinct bird. It was the only species in the genus Pinguinus, flightless giant auks from the Atlantic, to survive until recent times, but is extinct today. It was also known as garefowl (from the Old Norse geirfugl), or penguin (see etymology below).
In the past, the Great Auk was found in great numbers on islands off eastern Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Ireland and Great Britain, but it was eventually hunted to extinction. Remains found in Floridan middens suggest that at least occasionally, birds ventured that far south in winter, possibly as recently as in the 17th century (Weigel, 1958).
[edit] 2006-09-30
Moa were giant flightless birds native to New Zealand. They are unique in having no wings, not even small wings, unlike other ratites. Ten species of varying sizes are known, with the largest species, the giant moa (Dinornis robustus and Dinornis novaezelandiae), reaching about 3 m (10 ft) in height and about 250 kg (550 lb) in weight. They were the dominant herbivores in the New Zealand forest ecosystem.
