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Hello, everyone, and thank you for your patience while I moved back to the US! In this episode I cover the extinction of the moa. While we think of the moa as a giant bird-and rightly so- it is imperative to realize that there were actually 9 species of moa living on New Zealand when humans first arrived to the islands. What happened that could have brought an entire family down? Find out in this episode!   Editing for this episode was provided by Kalie Shaw. For more information about editing, you can contact her at kalieshaw99@gmail.com.  Kalie's Demo Reel and Credited Editor Roles Sources:  Books: Quest Aotearoa by John Tasker http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-TreRace.html Moa Browsing Evidence: https://newzealandecology.org/nzje/1861.pdf Baby Moa Growth Rates: https://theplosblog.plos.org/2014/06/baby-moa-bones/ Wood et al 2008: https://tinyurl.com/y522kwl6 Allentoft et al 2014: https://www.pnas.org/content/111/13/4922 Huynen et al 2014: https://tinyurl.com/y536dkds Other sources: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091118092633.htm https://www.nzbirds.com/birds/moagiant.html https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/what-color-was-that-moa-13810770/   The cover art for the episode is a recreation of Megalapteryx (Upland Moa) by George Edward Lodge in 1907. Photo via Wikimedia.   

This month, I cover the removal of an invasive species from Hawaii, the destruction of nearly the entire population of Tiehm's Buckwheat in Nevada, and the hard work done to remove invasive predators from a massive area in Australia's Mallee Cliffs National Park in order to restore native species, and an update on the California Condor populations after the wildfires across the western US.  I was also fortunate enough to speak with Dr. Stephen Ngulu, Head Veterinarian at Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya who was kind enough to provide me an update on Najin and Fatu. Eggs were collected from both females last month. The plight of the Northern White Rhino is covered in Episode 5 of the podcast.  Donate to help restore Big Sur Condor Sanctuary: https://www.ventanaws.org/ Donate to help save the Northern White Rhino:  https://donate.olpejetaconservancy.org/   Sources:   Pampas Grass: https://bigislandnow.com/2020/09/23/pampas-grass-eradicated-from-hawaii-island-biisc-reports/ Tiehm's Buckwheat: https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/more-17000-rare-nevada-wildflowers-destroyed-2020-09-16/?fbclid=IwAR0UEAWUbMIwofwbKAOTjIUDishFOGmPb3oq8IWrN-34zkwWMcNPRNmd60k Mallee Cliffs National Park (AUS): https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/mallee-cliffs-park-is-now-feral-predator-free-with-zero-feral-cats-and-foxes/ California Condors:  https://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/environment/article245810215.html   Cover photo of Tiehm's Buckwheat via Wikimedia Commons

This insect caused millions of dollars in damage right around when the passenger pigeon was at its peak, but then suddenly disappeared never to plague the western US again. The plague in 1874 holds the Guinness Book of World Records title for the greatest concentration of animals ever speculatively guessed- nearly 12.5 trillion grasshoppers! But in only 28 years they would go from blacking out the sun to completely extinct.    Sources: Books:  Locust: The Devastating Rise and Mysterious Disappearance of the Insect that Shaped the American Frontier by Jeffery A. Lockwood Podcasts: Episode 431 of The Dollop: Year of the Locust https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Mountain_locust https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locust https://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/23/science/looking-back-at-the-days-of-the-locust.html https://www.hcn.org/issues/243/13695 https://timeline.com/in-the-1870s-12-trillion-locusts-devastated-the-great-plains-and-then-they-went-extinct-6f7c51a15d90 https://www.historynet.com/1874-the-year-of-the-locust.htm https://bugguide.net/node/view/98442 http://traditionalanimalfoods.org/insects/ http://www.native-languages.org/legends-grasshopper.htm https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/55/1/80/248302 https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Melanoplus_spretus/ https://fcmdsc.wordpress.com/2010/09/17/the-rocky-mountain-locust/ https://legendsofkansas.com/grasshopper-plague/ https://history.nebraska.gov/sites/history.nebraska.gov/files/doc/publications/NH2008Grasshoppered.pdf https://sci-hub.tw/https://www.jstor.org/stable/3625918 https://sci-hub.tw/https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-1-4020-6359-6_2289  

This month, I wanted to take the time to highlight what is happening at the US/Mexico border. I was fortunate enough to be able to speak with Laiken Jordhal, a Borderlands Campaigner with the Center for Biological Diversity. The environmental, cultural, and humanitarian crisis that is happening at the border is only getting worse while not being thoroughly covered by many major news outlets. The photo I used for the cover art for this episode depicts a dead buck who had struggled to find shelter on a 110+ degree day and collapsed against the border wall. This buck will likely not be the last casualty of this wall, as it is being built along major migratory paths for a myriad of wildlife.   Nowall.org Follow Laiken on Twitter for updates Follow Endling on Twitter Buy me a Ko-Fi  

It was such a joy to speak with 'The Women in Archaeology Podcast' about the impacts to native cultures when traditional animal use is displaced. We travel across North America from west to east talking about the salmon, bison, and Passenger Pigeon. Two of these species recovered from near extinction and are still incredibly important to First Nations/Native American tribes in those areas today. Women in Archaeology Podcast Episodes Follow WiA on Twitter Follow Endling on Twitter Buy me a Ko-Fi and Support the Podcast  

Hello, everyone! Thanks so much for taking the time to listen to the end of the month episode. This one is a bit longer than my usual updates, but with the new IUCN Red List coming out, there was a lot to cover. Stay tuned for the next full length episode which will be a crossover with the Women in Archaeology Podcast!    As I state in the episode, if you're interested in using this podcast as a teaching resource, please reach out to me at endlingpodcast@gmail.com   Buy me a Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/endlingpodcast   Sources:  Smooth Handfish (RIP): https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/the-first-modern-day-marine-fish-has-officially-gone-extinct-more-may-follow/   School Shark: https://www.miragenews.com/commercially-fished-shark-species-declared-critically-endangered/   Little Penguin: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jul/27/two-men-charged-with-trying-to-steal-penguin-and-eggs-from-tasmanian-breeding-ground   Bison (Alberta): https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.5601311   Bison (UK): https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jul/10/wild-bison-to-return-to-uk-kent   Rewildling Britain: https://www.rewildingbritain.org.uk/   Suffolk Punch Horse: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-shropshire-53446927   Illegal Wildlife Poisoning: https://www.4vultures.org/illegal-wildlife-poisoning-case-reaches-court-trial-in-croatia-for-the-first-time/   Norway (Palm Oil and Deforestation): https://vocal.media/theSwamp/norway-becomes-world-s-first-country-to-ban-the-use-of-palm-oil-in-biofuels-to-stop-deforestation   IUCN Red List: https://www.iucnredlist.org/ https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/09/world/iucn-red-list-july-2020-spc-int/index.html   Smooth Handfish Cover Art via: https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/4324

The Japanese sea lion, locally known as the Nihon ashika, disappeared sometime around 1974 at the latest. It was thought to simply be a subspecies of the California sea lion, but genetic mapping in 2003 led scientists to realize that we had lost another species completely. Just like the passenger pigeon, the ashika wasn't studied while it was alive. Find out what we do know about it in this episode. If there are any papers that you would like to read but do not have access to, I highly recommend using sci-hub.tw as a way to view them. Science should be accessible, and the woman who runs that site is doing great work. Books: The Early History of the Fur Seals: The Beasts of the Sea by George William Steller in 1899 Sources: Itoo 1985: https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jmammsocjapan1952/10/3/10_3_135/_pdf Nakamura 1991: http://nh.kanagawa-museum.jp/files/data/pdf/bulletin/20/bull20_59-66_nakamura.pdf Yamamura 1998: https://www.jstor.org/stable/40316472?seq=1 Gerber and Hilbourn 2001: http://live-conservation-innovation-lab.ws.asu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/2001_Catastrophic_events_and_recovery.pdf Heath and Perrin 2009: https://sci-hub.tw/10.1016/B978-0-12-373553-9.00046-8 Blaricom et al 2013: https://sci-hub.tw/https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-384719-5.00187-8 Shoda et al 2017: http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/118721/1/Shoda_et_al_2017_PURE.pdf Takase 2020: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00438243.2019.1699854 https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Zalophus/ The Sannai Maruyama Site: https://web.archive.org/web/20060928074431/http://sannaimaruyama.pref.aomori.jp/english/image/english-pamph.pdf Alaskan use of sea lions: http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wildlifenews.view_article&articles_id=325 Rewilding talks:  https://web.archive.org/web/20150924012502/http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2007/09/113_9626.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_sea_lion Cover photo via Wikimedia Commons/Naturalis Biodiversity Center

A very quick update with only a few good news stories for the end of the month. If you are interested in purchasing a sticker to support the podcast, please reach out. Thanks for listening and please rate, review, and subscribe! Sources: Smoky Mouse: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jun/21/endangered-smoky-mouse-feared-wiped-out-during-bushfires-found-alive-in-kosciuszko-national-park Bison: https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/bison-back-home-on-the-range/ Asiatic Black Bear: https://grapee.jp/en/143329 Giant Pacific Garbage Patch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=51&v=U7Ka0stsTO0&feature=emb_logo The cover photo is of an Asiatic black bear via Wikimedia Commons. The photo was originally taken by Shiv's fotografia in March 2018.

The loss of the passenger pigeon is one of the most well documented and well known modern extinctions. Their population went from billions to none in a little over 40 years. How did they go from blotting out the sun with their huge numbers to a single bird sitting in a cage in the Cincinnati Zoo? Find out in this episode. Listen through to the end for an interview with the author of 'A Feathered River Across the Sky', Joel Greenberg. He talks about the book, how every day people can help with modern conservation, and what it was like to see an extinct species in person about 15 years before it was lost forever. If you are interested in seeing a Passenger Pigeon in person, a list of museums where they are currently housed can be found on the Project Passenger Pigeon website: http://passengerpigeon.org/ Sources:  Books: A Feathered River Across the Sky by Joel Greenberg  The Passenger Pigeon by Errol Fuller Johnson et al 2010: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1055790310002290?via%3Dihub https://medium.com/wild-without-end/the-second-great-american-extinction-event-1600s-to-1900s-d6e07985116e https://reviverestore.org/about-the-passenger-pigeon/ The cover photo for this episode is of Martha, and the photo is from Wikimedia Commons

Here's some more good news for the month of May. I feel like we all need it. Sources:  https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/dogs-trained-protect-wildlife-saved-22019204 https://english.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2020/5/19/watch-algeria-reports-sighting-of-ultra-rare-saharan-cheetah https://news.mongabay.com/2020/05/from-a-sri-lankan-rainforest-a-new-species-of-orchid-blooms/ https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/white-tailed-eagles-extinct-england-isle-of-wight-a9497476.html?fbclid=IwAR05I09NciSrh8ZqUGYXo_S2c-psGUd-3p2TuGkTdE1WOqxQx2_GXq86fhg https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/may/29/large-heath-butterflies-return-to-manchester-after-150-years https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/52530878?fbclid=IwAR2LxFRifRrwBEBDqiukUUiMoVqlOb9cVIDsS7Swj65jtNbF3C_t2ZIiemI Saharan Cheetah Photo via: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NorthWest_African_Cheetah_(14846381095).jpg

Humans and rhinoceros have coexisted in Africa for thousands of years, but have only recently begun a massive decline. How did the Northern White Rhino go from a population that was steady enough to be hunted by the likes of Teddy Roosevelt in 1910 to only 2 110 years later? Find out in this episode.  Donate to Ol Pejeta Conservancy: https://donate.olpejetaconservancy.org/ Books:  Dodging Extinction: Power, Food, Money, and the Future of Life on Earth by Anthony D. Barnosky https://books.google.ca/books?id=SlXOAwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false The Fateful Journey: The Expedition of Alexine Tinne and Theodor von Hueglin in Sudan (1863-1864: https://southsudanmuseumnetwork.files.wordpress.com/2017/02/willink.pdf Sources:  Ami Vitale's article about Sudan: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2019/09/life-changing-lessons-of-the-last-male-northern-white-rhino/#close Boyle's article for Discover Magazine 2019: https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/the-quixotic-quest-to-birth-a-baby-northern-white-rhino Burchell's Original Specimens of White Rhinos: http://www.rhinoresourcecenter.com/pdf_files/130/1300833513.pdf Moodley et al 2018: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6235034/ Rookmaaker and Antoine 2013: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Pierre-Olivier_Antoine/publication/260366379_New_maps_representing_the_historical_and_recent_distribution_of_the_African_species_of_rhinoceros_Diceros_bicornis_Ceratotherium_simum_and_Ceratotherium_cottoni/links/5bd142a045851537f598fd6c/New-maps-representing-the-historical-and-recent-distribution-of-the-African-species-of-rhinoceros-Diceros-bicornis-Ceratotherium-simum-and-Ceratotherium-cottoni.pdf Lang 1923: https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/1373564.pdf Lang 1924: https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/1373284.pdf Last Chance to Survive Project:  https://web.archive.org/web/20141024083005/http://www.zoodvurkralove.cz/content/image.php?uid=528e2c5e8e7fd Hillman-Smith et al 2009: http://www.rhinoresourcecenter.com/pdf_files/124/1245681966.pdf Sydney 1965: http://www.rhinoresourcecenter.com/pdf_files/137/1378891562.pdf?view Vigne et al 2007: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/277032098_Increased_demand_for_rhino_horn_in_Yemen_threatens_eastern_Africa's_rhinos Vahala et al 1993: https://sci-hub.tw/https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-1090.1993.tb03509.x Wei-Haas for Nat Geo 2015: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/07/150729-rhinos-death-animals-science-endangered-species/#close Operation Rhino: https://blog.londolozi.com/2018/12/01/operation-rhino/ https://planetrhino.tcu.edu/african-rhino-history/ https://wwf.panda.org/knowledge_hub/endangered_species/rhinoceros/african_rhinos/white_rhinoceros/ https://africanrockart.britishmuseum.org/thematic/rhinos-in-rock-art/ https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Ceratotherium_simum/ http://connecticut.news12.com/story/42133815/africas-endangered-wildlife-at-risk-as-tourism-dries-up https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_white_rhinoceros https://www.savetherhino.org/rhino-species/white-rhino/scientists-have-successfully-created-northern-white-rhino-embryos/ https://www.olpejetaconservancy.org/wildlife/rhinos/northern-white-rhinos/  

Hey, everyone! I figured everyone might need some uplifting news this month, so this one is just all good news dealing with wildlife conservation. If you are interested in purchasing a sticker for the podcast, please reach out on Twitter or Instagram (@endlingpodcast) or by email (endlingpodcast@gmail.com). The art was done by my friend Wes, who can be found on Instagram as @artandanimals_wesjames. Please be sure to rate, review, and subscribe. Thanks! Sources:  Rigid Cactus Corals: https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/22/us/florida-aquarium-first-reproduce-ridhed-cactus-coral-trnd/index.html Wolves in France: https://www.newsweek.com/wolf-northern-france-100-years-1498914 Trail Cam Photos by Céline David Desjardins Norfolk Island Owl: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-17/norfolk-island-morepork-owl-new-generation/12150012 Indochinese Tigers:  https://news.mongabay.com/2020/04/photos-of-wild-tiger-cubs-in-thailand-rekindles-hope-for-species/ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320719313813?via=ihub#! NeMO-Net:  https://www.cnet.com/google-amp/news/nasa-wants-gamers-to-help-it-map-the-oceans-coral-reefs/ http://nemonet.info/ Wildverse:  https://techcrunch.com/2020/04/05/internet-of-elephants-launches-wildeverse-an-ar-game-about-endangered-animals-and-conservation/ https://www.wildeversegame.com/

St. Helena is a tiny volcanic island off of the coast of southwestern Africa. This small island was completely uninhabited when it was discovered in 1502, but was covered in plants whose closest cousins were thousands of miles away. On this episode, I cover the St. Helena Olive, one of what was likely the rarest plants on earth before its disappearance in 2003. Sources: Green Imperialism: Colonial Expansion, Tropical Island Edens, and the Origins of Environmentalism (1600 - 1860) by Richard Grove Icones Plantarum, Or Figures, With Brief Descriptive Characters and Remarks, Of New and Rare Plants Selected from the Kew Herbarium by Joseph Dalton Hooker (finished by his son, William Jackson Hooker) https://sthelena.se/index/olive/ http://www.plantsoftheworldonline.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:717646-1#image-gallery https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Helena The radio announcement of the death of the St. Helena Olive:  https://sainthelenaisland.info/endemics.htm Information about the Millennium Forest Project:  https://sainthelenaisland.info/millenniumforest.htm Grove, R. (1993) Conserving Eden: https://sci-hub.tw/10.1017/S0010417500018399 Cronk (1989) The past and present vegetation of St Helena  More information about George Benjamin: http://sthelenaonline.org/george-benjamin-the-man-who-saved-the-st-helena-ebony/ https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/37598/67372241#text-fields  

Just a quick update about some wildlife news this month that you may have missed with all of the news about coronavirus/COVID-19. There's good news about wildlife trafficking and not so good news about your cat. Hear all about it on this episode! Sources:  https://www.traffic.org/news/airasia-adds-momentum-to-the-effort-to-combat-wildlife-trafficking/ https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/19/world/europe/south-africa-rhino-poaching-leroy-bruwer.html https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/18/billion-dollar-wildlife-industry-in-vietnam-under-assault-as-law-drafted-to-halt-trading https://www.inverse.com/science/should-you-let-your-cat-go-outside-gps-study-reveals-deadly-consequences https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms2380 https://www.independent.co.uk/news/badger-cull-vaccine-bovine-tuberculosis-btb-cattle-wildlife-dairy-a9378026.html https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/animals/aussies-tell-of-frightening-big-cat-sightings-across-the-country/news-story/6f84a564199e5fb85f33cd78900957fc TRAFFIC Online Course: https://www.traffic.org/news/behaviour-change-for-conservation-online-course-launched-on-world-wildlife-day/

In this episode, I cover the Spix's Macaw. This bird is most well known from its portrayal in the movie Rio, but there is much more to it's story than most people know. This little blue macaw is a symbol of perseverance in a quiet corner of Brazil. Will these blue macaws ever fly in the caatinga again? What happened to the last birds? Find out in this episode! Sources: Spix's Macaw the Race to Save the World's Rarest Bird by Tony Juniper:  https://www.tonyjuniper.com/content/spix%E2%80%99s-macaw https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2002/12/25/a-rare-bird-flies-home-for-good/c7c523eb-1809-42b3-a9dd-0b028c59c3e3/ http://blog.funtimebirdy.com/2014/07/23/presley-the-spix-macaw-passes-away-he-inspired-the-rio-movies/ https://www.icmbio.gov.br/portal/ultimas-noticias/20-geral/10944-enfim-a-joia-da-caatinga-retorna-ao-lar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spix's_macaw https://www.spixs-macaw.org/ Donate to help the recovery of the Spix:  https://www.act-parrots.org/donate/?lang=en

In this episode, I cover a few pieces of conservation news that came out over the past month. I also talk about what one of the best band names ever might be. Be sure to rate, review, and subscribe! Thanks! Sources:  China's Wildlife Trading Ban:  https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00499-2 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-health-wildlife/china-bans-trade-consumption-of-wild-animals-due-to-coronavirus-idUSKCN20J069 Antarctic Penguin Colonies: https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/10/world/chinstrap-penguin-decline-scli-intl-scn/index.html Abstract: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00300-019-02613-1 46k Year Old Siberian Bird: https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/21/europe/frozen-bird-ice-age-scli-intl-scn/index.html Article: https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-020-0806-7 Mountain Gorillas:  https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-51425617?fbclid=IwAR31EPYCanQnuGPZjK3HfEii-pjeRD6qim4PV6lGS-WJACHmn222osnqosM Albatross:  https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/410160/international-agreement-to-protect-albatross-from-extinction Bighorn Sheep Release in Nevada:  https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/410160/international-agreement-to-protect-albatross-from-extinction Cocaine Hippos:  https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2020-02-09/uc-san-diego-biologist-colombia-cocaine-hippos-pablo-escobar Abstract: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ecy.2991

In this episode, I cover the great auk- the penguin of the north. But was it a penguin as its coloration would suggest or something totally different? What happened to this giant bird? Were these animals killed off completely by humans, or were their populations already on the way out? The range of the great auk stretched from Europe to the shores of eastern Canada, so where did they go? Find out in this episode!  Sources: Razorbill Vocalizations by Stanislas Wroza: https://www.xeno-canto.org/contributor/SDPCHKOHRH Live Cam on Eldey Island: http://www.gannetlive.com/ Funk Island Videos: http://www.funkisland.ca/videos/ Bengston 1984: https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v101n01/p0001-p0012.pdf Groot 2004: https://research.vu.nl/ws/portalfiles/portal/2073867/fulltextgreatauk.pdf Thomas et al 2017: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5485528/ Moum et al 2002: https://academic.oup.com/mbe/article/19/9/1434/996658 Greive 1885: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/great-auk-or-garefowl/3CC16685E4263C92292EC8055C9453E1 Newton, A. 1861: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1474-919X.1861.tb08857.x Montevecchi and Kirk 1996: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/240792777_Great_Auk_Pinguinus_impennis Morris, Reverend Francis O. (1864). A History of British Birds. 6. Groombridge and Sons, Paternoster Way, London. pp. 56–58. Harris & J. R. G. Hislop. 1978. The food of young Puffins Fratercula arctica. J. Zool. 185: 213-236. OLSON, S. L., C. C. SWIFT, & C. MOKHIBER. 1979. An attempt to determine the prey of the Great Auk (Pinguinus impennis). Auk 96: 790-792. Serjeantson D. 2001. The great auk and the gannet: a prehistoric perspective on the extinction of the great auk. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 11: 43–55 Books:  The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert The Great Auk by Errol Fuller The Great Auk (Gone Forever) by Emily Crawford Ancient People of Port Au Choix: the Excavation of an Archaic Indian Cemetary in Newfoundland by James A. Tuck Extinct and Vanishing Birds of the World by James Greenway Hope is the Thing With Feathers: A Personal Chronicle of Vanished Birds by Christopher Cokinos Other Links: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/how-great-auks-went-extinct-penguin https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/with-crush-fisherman-boot-the-last-great-auks-died-180951982/  

Surprise! A month end round up of some of the good and not so good news coming out of wildlife conservation and extinction. This is a much more informal episode, where you can listen to me cheer on a tortoise that saved his whole species (Go Diego!), nerd out about how cool pine trees are, and get really excited about some brand new bird species.  If you are an environmental scientist and are publishing some work in February that you would like people to hear about, please reach out to me at endlingpodcast@gmail.com. I would love to hear from you! Additionally, if you'd like to be interviewed for this podcast about your work, please reach out! Sources:  Dungesness Crabs: https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/27/us/pacific-ocean-acidification-crabs-dissolving-shells-scn-trnd/index.html?fbclid=IwAR1RHJmZec97NtPx7VgZHhPcyppdpkuQzjd1PMzB2f6JXoJ1U9stqTfpCnQ Bednaršek et al 2020: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969720301200#! Wollemi Pines: https://www.gazettenet.com/Australia-firefighters-save-world-s-only-rare-dinosaur-trees-32055091 Australian Bushfires: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/20/more-than-100-threatened-species-australian-bushfires-towards-extinction Española Tortoise: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/13/tortoise-saves-species-sex-drive-galapagos- Galapagos Conservancy Donations: https://galapagos.bsd.net/page/contribute/support Giant Sequoias: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/18/beetles-and-fire-kill-dozens-of-california-indestructible-giant-sequoia-trees-aoe New Songbirds: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/09/flycatchers-and-fantails-new-songbird-species-discovered-on-tiny-islands-indonesia-aoe Rheindt et al 2020: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/367/6474/167 Albatrosses as Secret Spies: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/albatrosses-outfitted-with-gps-detect-illegal-fishing-vessels-180974054/ Weimerskirch et al: https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/01/21/1915499117.short   Wollemi Pine cover art provided by: David Stang Location taken: United States Botanic Garden. Names: Wollemia nobilis W.G. Jones, et al., Australianwollemia, Australski stribor, Cây thông Wollemi, Dižā volēmija, Pin de Wollemi, Pino Wollemi, Sárkán.

In this episode, I cover the thylacine- Tasmania's most famous extinct animal. Were these animals killed off completely by humans, or were there other factors at play? Thylacines were the dominant carnivore within Tasmania until European settlers arrived and began to kill them to protect their sheep. But, were these animals killed off completely by humans, or were there other factors at play?  Sources: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1365-2656.12029 https://web.archive.org/web/20090205080536/http://www.bio.usyd.edu.au/staff/swroe/Lost.pdf http://rw.thylacine.psu.edu/papers/johnson2003.pdf https://parks.tas.gov.au/discovery-and-learning/wildlife/tasmanian-tiger https://publications.rzsnsw.org.au/doi/pdf/10.7882/AZ.2012.008 http://prism.scholarslab.org/prisms/25099fc8-a7f0-11e3-bbb5-e2ab703590ac/visualize?locale=en https://cosmosmagazine.com/biology/return-of-the-living-thylacine https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0034877 Dr. Michael Archer's TED Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/michael_archer_how_we_ll_resurrect_the_gastric_brooding_frog_the_tasmanian_tiger?language=en Allison Reid's Interview from 1996: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAGRCnZ4K10&feature=emb_logo    

In this introductory episode, I cover why I was inspired to start this podcast. This podcast will cover recent extinction events that have happened since humans came onto the scene. Oftentimes, recent extinctions are only covered by people posting about it on social media, but I hope to tell the full life histories of these creatures and talk about the conservation efforts that were in place before they slipped away. Join me on January 25th, 2020 for Episode 1 of Season 1 - The Thylacine