Extinction Awareness Day

The Great Auk was the “penguin of the north". This 30 inch flightless bird ranged along most of the north Atlantic, but its nesting areas made it vulnerable to hunters.  They were often herded in mass numbers by passing sailors for meat or for feathers for pillows. One of the last major breeding islands on Funk Island was destroyed in a volcanic eruption.   The last documented breeding pair was killed on Eldey Island off the southwest coast of Iceland on July 3, 1844.  The men who killed this pair reportedly crushed an egg in the process.   There may have been a few other sightings after this date, but July 3, 1844 is usually set as the Great Auk's extinction date. Additional Resources: *  http://www.birdorable.com/meet/great-auk/ *  http://www.lostbirdfilm.org/explore_greatauk *  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HU2l2Jmhu4   (film by David Min - junior reporter) *  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIL357oO_l4  (...

The dodo is probably the best known of the recently extinct animals, though much of its existence are somewhat of a mystery.  There are so many references to the dodo in pop culture which I thought fitting to add at the end of today's post.  Will Cuppy summed up cultural perception of the Dodo when he stated, "The Dodo never had a chance.  He seemed to be invented for the sole purpose of going extinct and that is all he was good for." The Dodo bird was a very unique bird, who wasn't adapted to predators.  The Dodo was a 3 foot tall, 50 pound flightless member of the pigeon family that lived east of Madagascar on the island of Mauritius.  The dodo was eaten for food, even though sailors didn’t like the taste.  The dodo was labeled as foolish, because it was curious and didn’t fear people.  It is reported that sailors could knock on trees in the forest and the dodos would come to investigate the new noise. The tambalacoque tree also known as th...

Although the "dodo tree" is not extinct, it had been thought to be highly at risk due to the loss of the Dodo bird.  It was thought by 1973 that only 13 tree remained, all over 300 years old.  It had been determined that there are probably a few hundred trees left today, but it's been hard to tell for sure. The seed of the Tambalacoque tree has a very thick shell.  It had been theorized that without the Dodo present the Tambalacoque seeds would not be able to germinate on their own. These seeds had been a favorite of the Dodo and once ingested could be transported and broken down, thus starting the next tambalacoque generation. They seem to have had a symbiotic relationship. Today wild turkeys are being fed Tambalacoque seeds to break down the hard shell and people are even scraping the dense coating off by hand in order to plant the next generation. It seems that the Tambalacoque tree will be able to stave off extinction without the Dodo there to help out, th...

The Steller’s Sea Cow was a 30 foot sea cow that used to inhabit most of the Northern Pacific Ocean,  but its range was severely diminished by the time it was first spotted.  Steller's Sea Cows weren't discovered until 1741 when Russian explorer Vitus Bering shipwrecked on the Commander Islands in the Bering Sea. Georg Steller was the naturalist with the expedition who named the Steller's Sea Cow, the Steller's Jay, the Steller's Sea Lion, and the Steller's Sea Eagle (he really liked his last name). The crew hunted the Steller's Sea Cows for food, oil, and skins.  Steller's company only ate what they needed to survive before they were able to repair their ship.  When they returned home, they  spread the word about where to find these huge, tasty, easy-to-catch behemoths.    Sea cow I made during an Eric Carle lesson with my kids Steller noted that they were not scared of people at all and always stayed close to shore eating seaweed. Stel...

The Heath Hen is an interesting creature and its story is one    of my personal favorites, so the next several posts will be devoted to it.  It was one of the first species to be protected by Americans, though for many reasons efforts failed (see tomorrow's timeline). The Heath Hen raises the question about what makes an animal unique and a species of its own.  Scientists ran DNA testing on preserved Heath Hens with conflicting results. There are 3 different results from the DNA testing. 1) It was its own distinct species. 2) It was a subspecies of the Greater Prairie Chicken. 3) It was a subspecies of the Lesser Prairie Chicken. Regardless, the Heath Hen was a chicken sized member of the grouse family that once thrived from Virginia to New Hampshire.  It was 17 inches long and about 2 pounds. They were were  probably even on the menu for the first Thanksgiving, not wild turkey.  In colonial times, t hey were a "poor man's food".  Serv...

Heath Hen Timeline * 1791 - New York passes the first American law to protect a species.  The law called for "the preservation of heath-hen and other game..." but New York citizens thought the law was designed to protect "heathens" (Native Americans) so the law was overlooked. * 1870 - no heath hens left on the main land, and 300 heath hens were moved to Martha's Island. * 1890 - there were only 120 - 200 left due to feral cats. * 1908 - there was a Heath Hen Reserve created * 1910 - the population rose to about 2,000 * 1916 - a fire broke out on Martha's Vineyard * 1920 - 600 left after an outbreak of poultry disease and a population rise in area hawks. * 1927 - 12 left, only two of those remaining were female. * December 8, 1932 - Booming Ben was the last of the heath hens * March 11, 1932 - the day that the heath hen went extinct   Here are some pictures I took while visiting the Natural History Museum in DC with my kids. ...

The Heath Hen was closely related to the Lesser and the Greater Prairie Chickens.  Because both of these species are still around today and in need of protection, I'm devoting Part 3 to their conservation.   Although when I was younger I'd never heard of the Heath Hen, I was fascinated by the Lesser Prairie Chicken and created the cartoon character Lester the Lesser Prairie Chicken.   The Greater Prairie Chicken is the largest of the prairie chicken species.  It is easily distinguished from the Lesser Prairie Chicken, because the greater prairie chicken has orange air sacs on its neck and the lesser prairie chickens have a reddish air sac.  The subspecies of the Greater Prairie Chicken, the Attwater's Prairie Chicken, is extremely endangered with only about 260 remaining, 100 of those living in the wild in the Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge and the rest in breeding programs at the Houston Zoo in Texas and NASA's Johnson Space Center. Ad...

Boomer's Introduction from my book,  Deader Than a Dodo http://deaderthanadodo.blogspot.com/       There were now only two more creatures in line until my turn to share and I had trouble focusing on what was being said. Another bird began to share. He looked like small chicken of some kind, like the kind I have sometimes seen around the research station, but he had reddish brown bands running around his plump little body. This chicken like bird had a very stumpy, rounded tail and a set of two longer triangular feathers jutting down from his throat.     “I am the heath hen, and my chosen name was originally Ben, but given the fact that her name is Benjamin,” the heath hen said motioning to the last creature in line, “I’ve decided to take on one of my nicknames from when I was among the people, Boomer. True they called me “Booming Ben” because of my elaborate dance moves, but I think Boomer has a little more pizzazz,” Boomer said in a rhythmic fash...

The Carolina Parakeet once thrived from the Gulf of Mexico north as far as New York and Wisconsin.  They survived the long cold winters by huddling together inside trees.   Carolina Parakeets were even kept as pets, but with colonization came new favorite food sources. They changed their natural diet and were soon viewed as a pest and killed by farmers.   The last pair survived at the Cincinnati Zoo for 35 years, until Lady Jane died.  Soon after Incas, her mate, died.  The Carolina Parakeet went extinct February 21, 1918. Additional Resources: Mounted Carolina Parakeet http://www.lostbirdfilm.org/explore_carolinaparakeet http://www.birdorable.com/meet/carolina-parakeet/ Mounted Carolina Parakeet Image from Wikipedia  Carolina Parakeet as a pet  taken in 1906 Image from Wikipedia

The Thylacine was neither a tiger nor a wolf, which is why thylacine may be the most appropriate name for this carnivorous marsupial.  The Thylacine was the top predator in Australia and Tasmania until the introduction of the dingo, a species of wild dog.  By the time the British arrived in Australia, the thylacine was limited to Tasmania. The Thylacine was up to 51 long plus a 21 inch tail and could weigh up to 70 lbs.  The thylacine's pouch opened facing backwards.  The thylacine could open its jaws an amazing 120 degrees.  They were unable to run at high speeds but hopped like a kangaroo at times. With more sheep farmers moving into Tasmania, the thylacines were seen as a threat.  Between 1888 and 1909 the Tasmanian government paid a bounty of 1 pound (approximately $133) per adult killed and 10 shillings for each pup.   Benjamin, the last Thylacine died at the Hobart Zoo from poor health and neglect September 7, 1936.  There is debate ...

The Caribbean Monk Seal was first discovered by Christopher Columbus on his second voyage to the New World in 1494 near Hispaniola where he had his men kill 8 of them.  He referred to them in his journals as "sea wolves". Picture of monks The Caribbean Monk Seals got their names from a fold of fatty skin around their necks which reminded fishermen of the religious monks back in Europe.  They were one of the few seal types to live in tropical waters.  The Caribbean Monk Seals grew to 8 feet and were reported to have weighed between 400 - 600 pounds.  They had short, clawed front flippers and rather long whiskers. They were darker brown or gray on their backs and slightly lighter in color on their stomach. They sometimes had a greenish color because of the algae that grew in their fur. The Caribbean Monk Seal was one of three monk seal species.  The Hawaiian monk seals (600 or so left today) and Mediterranean monk seals (about 1,100) are both crit...