Endling

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]

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

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]

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

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 clarkei, 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]

Usage

Notable endlings

Birds

Mammals

Reptiles and amphibians

Invertebrates

Plants

See also

References

External links

Wikiwand - on