The newly extinct thread

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Surroundx

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Rare frog goes extinct, despite Atlanta’s rescue efforts

A rare tree frog – the last documented member of a species relatively new to science – has died at the Atlanta Botanical Garden.

The body of the Rabbs’ fringe-limbed tree frog, estimated to be about 12 years old, was discovered in its enclosure Monday morning during a routine daily health inspection.

Staff at the garden nicknamed the long-lived amphibian “Toughie.”

Amphibian specialist Leslie Phillips told the Mother Nature Network in 2013 that she was charmed by the frog. “He is just really cool,” Phillips said. “No other frog I have seen is quite like him. He is muscular and has giant webbed feet and big eyes … He is a very handsome frog.”

Read more: Last rare frog dies at Atlanta Botanical Garden
 
Two others from earlier this year:

The last known Captain Cook's Bean Snail Partula faba died at Edinburgh Zoo on 21 Feb 2016 - this species was the first Partula snail to be discovered, in 1769: Captain Cook's bean snail Partula faba

The Bramble Cay Melomys Melomys rubicola was announced extinct by the general media in June 2016. (The following report suggests this probably occurred between 2009 and 2011, and also suggests the species may additionally occur in adjacent New Guinea): https://www.ehp.qld.gov.au/wildlife...cuments/bramble-cay-melomys-survey-report.pdf
 
Also from earlier this year:

The San Cristobal vermilion flycatcher was elevated to species level (Pyrocephalus dubius) and suggested as being extinct.

Source:

Carmi, Ore, Witt, Christopher C., Jaramillo, Alvaro and Dumbacher, John P. (2016). Phylogeography of the Vermilion Flycatcher species complex: multiple speciation events, shifts in migratory behavior, and an apparent extinction of a Galápagos-endemic bird species. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 102: 152-173. [Abstract]

The Hoan Kiem turtle, very unlikely but possibly the last of its kind, was found dead on 19 February 2016: Hanoi's Beloved Hoan Kiem Turtle Has Died - Saigoneer

And lastly (technically only an epistemically new extinction), a mid-year paper reported the existence of a now extinct sea lion (Phocarctos sp.) which formerly inhabited New Zealand's Chatham Islands until around 1650 AD.

Source:

Rawlence, Nicolas J. et al. (2016). Human-mediated extirpation of the unique Chatham Islands sea lion and implications for the conservation management of remaining New Zealand sea lion populations. Molecular Ecology. DOI: 10.1111/mec.13726
 
Two Unique Beetles in Arizona, Kentucky Go Extinct After Lengthy Delays in Protection

TUCSON, Ariz.— The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced that the Stephan’s riffle beetle of Arizona and the Tatum Cave beetle of Kentucky have gone extinct — more than two decades after they were first identified as needing federal protections that were never awarded to them. The agency declared the two species extinct after searches and surveys for both miniscule beetles in their respective specialized micro-habitats turned up no insects. Both beetles were known to be threatened by unchecked development. But due to the Service’s delay in deciding whether to protect them as “endangered,” they never received the habitat protections and science-based recovery plans that have helped rescue other species on the brink of extinction.

Read more: Two Unique Beetles in Arizona, Kentucky Go Extinct After Lengthy Delays in Protection
 
Sighting of Yangtze River Dolphin Believed Functionally Extinct

Amateur investigators have reported spotting what they believe to be a baiji dolphin in a stretch of the Yangtze river in eastern China. The animal was declared “functionally extinct” in 2006 after researchers from six countries failed to find a single dolphin, and concluded there were too few left to save the species.

At around 9:20 a.m. on Tuesday, the team of 11 saw what looked like a dolphin in the Yangtze river close to the city of Wuhu, in Anhui province, while on a one-week expedition to look for the animal. The dolphin jumped out of the water in easy view of one of the team’s boats, which was around 100 meters away. People on the team’s second boat, which was around 300 meters away, also saw the animal.

According to Song Qi, the leader of the expedition, the animal breached the surface of the water more than once, allowing the team to get a good look at it. “I saw most of the body, and the second time around I saw its mouth and head,” Song said in a telephone interview with Sixth Tone. Song was on the second boat which was further away, but team members on the first boat got a better look at the creature. “The front boat saw it three times,” Song said. Song estimated that altogether six people on the investigation team saw the animal.

Read more: Sighting of Yangtze River Dolphin Believed Functionally Extinct | Sixth Tone
 
Woinarski, John C. Z., Garnett, Stephen T., Legge, Sarah M. and Lindenmayer, David B. (2016). The contribution of policy, law, management, research, and advocacy failings to the recent extinctions of three Australian vertebrate species. Conservation Biology. doi: 10.1111/cobi.12852 [Abstract]
 
Porch, Nick and Smith, Tessa R. (2017). New Pycnomerus Erichson (Coleoptera: Zopheridae: Pycnomerini) from Rimatara, French Polynesia. Zootaxa 4237(1): 154-166. [Abstract]
 
vogelcommando said:
Sad but intresting video-clip :

Click to expand...
there are some quite dodgy extinction dates in that video - Bermuda Saw-whet Owl in 2014 for example. It didn't become extinct in 2014: it is known only from subfossil remains and possible first-hand accounts from the 17th century.

Mixing actual extinction dates (where they are known) with "declared extinct" dates just really messes up the message they are trying to get across.
 
The locust was extirpated by accident. Was it mourned more than hookworm?

By the way locust DNA is easily sampled from frozen specimens. Is it a better candidate for cloning than mammoths? Few mammoths are known to be cloned but there are myriad frozen locusts to found a new breeding population from.
 
If the Phocarctos sp. is definitively new why was a species not described. This happens with tubenoses: new species are implied based on subfossils that are nondiagnostic and demonstrate only former distribution ie. gadfly petrels in offshore Britain.
 
Chlidonias said:
Mixing actual extinction dates (where they are known) with "declared extinct" dates just really messes up the message they are trying to get across.
Click to expand...

As does using photographs of living relatives to illustrate the extinct species which went extinct longer ago than they claim :P
 
SealPup said:
If the Phocarctos sp. is definitively new why was a species not described. This happens with tubenoses: new species are implied based on subfossils that are nondiagnostic and demonstrate only former distribution ie. gadfly petrels in offshore Britain.
Click to expand...

What tubenoses are these?
 
I was referring to a Scottish gadfly petrel that is listed sometimes as an undescribed but extinct species of Britain. It isn't. The actual species nests in much warmer Macaronesia nowadays but the population is extinct since human settlement.
 
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