A Brief History
On June 3, 1844, the last known pair of Great Auks was killed on a small island off Iceland, a magnificent species of flightless bird resembling but not related to Penguins, 30 to 33 inches tall but with tiny six-inch wings.
Digging Deeper
Long a staple food and source of feathers and skins for Native American people, the soft down of the Great Auk made it a target for European hunters that decimated the populations of the aquatic birds.
Changing climate and geography naturally eliminates some species of plants and animals, but humans have greatly accelerated the extinction rate of many other species. Some of the currently threatened animals and plants that may become extinct before the end of this century include:
The Cavendish Banana, the most common type of banana we see in grocery stores is battling a fungal disease that threatens its extinction. Scientists are racing to find a cure to save our most popular fruit. In fact, the original most common banana has already gone virtually extinct, at least as a commercially viable crop.
Incredibly, the Tree of Life is also threatened with extinction by overharvesting by humans. Native to the Caribbean, this tree is used for wood and traditional medicines.
While all surviving Rhinos are disappearing, the Black Rhino and the Javan Rhino are particularly in danger of extinction.
Even larger species in danger of extinction are a pair of Whales, the North Atlantic Right Whale and the even more rare Rice’s Whale, with only about 100 specimens left.
Question for students (and subscribers) to ponder: What plant or animal do you think will be the next to go extinct?
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Birkhead, Tim. The Great Auk: Its Extraordinary Life, Hideous Death and Mysterious Afterlife. Bloomsbury Sigma, 2025.
Kavanagh, James and Waterford Press. Threatened Animals Worldwide: A Folding Pocket Guide to Familiar Species. Waterford Press,, 2016.
The featured image in this article, a painting showing extinct Great Auks (Pinguinus impennis), is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author’s life plus 70 years or fewer.
You can also watch video versions of this article on YouTube.
