What the Extinction Crisis Took From the World in 2022

[UngulateNerd92]

From a frog in Venezuela to a sturgeon in China—obituaries for the species we lost.

Every year, scores of species disappear into the oblivion of extinction, stamped out, in one way or another, by us humans. Sadly, 2022, was no different. This year, the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species—the gold standard, sine qua non, most reliable source of such sorrowful information—added 66 new species to its roster of no-longer-extant creatures. With the following obituaries, we honor four of them.

What the Extinction Crisis Took From the World in 2022

 

[Chlidonias]

These types of articles come out at the end / start of every year - "species which became extinct this year". They are almost always species officially declared extinct that year, not species which actually became extinct that year.

Of the four species detailed in this article, two are not extinct - they are extinct in the wild, which is not the same thing (the cycad and the sturgeon). For the remaining two species, the Mauritius Duck became extinct several hundred years ago (it was simply added to the IUCN list this year), and the harlequin frog was last seen in 1957.

 

[TeaLovingDave]

These types of articles come out at the end / start of every year - "species which became extinct this year".

As do these unnecessary threads

 

[UngulateNerd92]

These types of articles come out at the end / start of every year - "species which became extinct this year". They are almost always species officially declared extinct that year, not species which actually became extinct that year.

Of the four species detailed in this article, two are not extinct - they are extinct in the wild, which is not the same thing (the cycad and the sturgeon). For the remaining two species, the Mauritius Duck became extinct several hundred years ago (it was simply added to the IUCN list this year), and the harlequin frog was last seen in 1957.

I appreciate the clarification of this information.

 

[UngulateNerd92]

As do these unnecessary threads

You know that you don't have to read these threads right?

 

[TeaLovingDave]

You know that you don't have to read these threads right?

Kinda do, in order to properly undertake my moderator duties but my point remains, that people tend to make the same mistake each year and assume that the IUCN list pertains to species which have actually been lost within that year rather than merely reclassified, with the result that one or two threads on the subject get posted each year.

 

[UngulateNerd92]

Kinda do, in order to properly undertake my moderator duties but my point remains, that people tend to make the same mistake each year and assume that the IUCN list pertains to species which have actually been lost within that year rather than merely reclassified, with the result that one or two threads on the subject get posted each year.

Good to know, thank you for the clarification of your comment.