from a creature that swam the Sea of Japan to an apex predator from Tasmania
here are eight animals that went extinct in the last century before we begin be
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number eight Japanese sea lion the Japanese sea lion is one of the most
recent marine animals to be considered extinct inhabiting the Sea of Japan
around the coastal areas of the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese archipelago
commercial hunting in the 1900s is thought to have led to the species is
fatal decline oil extracted from their skin was used in lamps their internal
organs were used in traditional oriental medicine and various products were made
from their leather and whiskers up until 2003 this creature was thought to be a
subspecies of the California sea lion based on DNA analysis the - sea lions
diverged about two million years ago during the early Pleistocene era male
Japanese sea lions typically grew larger than the California sea lion species
reaching lengths over eight feet and weigh in over 1,200 pounds a
collaborative effort was announced in 2007 in which Russia China North and
South Korea would work together towards bringing back sea lions to the Sea of
Japan the main idea behind the plan is to relocate California sea lions from
the United States number seven Pyrenean ibex this iberian wild goat species once
ranged across the Pyrenees in France Spain and the surrounding area the
male's had thick Kirt horns with a rich surface that
developed with age it was said that each Ridge corresponding to a year in the
ibex is life nobody knows for sure how the ibex ended up in the Iberian
Peninsula one theory is that populations moved from the northern hours around
18,000 years ago they were very abundant in the Pyrenees during the Middle Ages
however hunted by man and grazing competition with both while
and domestic host animals eventually led to their extinction before we continue
with our list it's time for a quiz question what was the name of the last
surviving Pyrenean ibex was it a sandy B Celia C Salina
or D Cora let us know what you think in the comment section below and stay tuned
to find out the right answer number six Western black rhinoceros the
Western black rhinoceros used to roam the Savannah of sub-saharan Africa until
it was declared extinct in 2011 standing almost 6 feet tall at the shoulder and
weigh in over 3,000 pounds it had two horns measuring up to four and a half
feet heavy poaching led to their decline as it was aggressively hunted for its
horn it was used to make a ceremonial knife handle called Jan paya which were
considered to be a symbol of status and wealth in the 1950s Mao Zedong wanted to
counter Western influences by emphasizing traditional Chinese medicine
ground up rhino horn was believed to cure a number of ailments including
cancer it was also said to increase virility and detect poison because of
its high alkaline content none of these alleged properties witch
doctors still swear by in some parts of the world have ever been proven by
science nevertheless the price for 2.2 pounds of rhino horn could exceed fifty
thousand dollars which made the Western black and other Rhino species a prime
target for poachers as the Rhinos numbers decreased the value of its horn
increased until it was basically poached into extinction
number five Rabb's fringed limbed tree frog as a species grabs fringe limb tree
frog had a very short existence from the perspective of scientific records it was
first discovered in 2005 and the last known surviving member died in 2016
these tree frogs were quite unique they were the only frog species where the
tadpoles got their nutrition by feeding on the skin cells of their fathers
males were extremely territorial and with guard breeding spots which usually
consisted of water filled tree holes like other fringe limb tree frogs they
had very large hands and feet which were fully wept during descent they could
glide by spreading their hands and feet the tree frogs range was very limited it
had an area of less than 100 square miles in the mountains above the town of
El Valle de Antoine in central Panama by 2009 only four years after its discovery
the species was already considered to be critically endangered then an outbreak
of a fungus that causes deadly disease in amphibians was reported in this
native habitat is why the tree frog was eventually considered extinct in the
wild the last Rabs four-inch limb tree frog was a male
named Tuffy who died at the Atlanta Botanical Garden in September 2016
number 4 Heath hen a subspecies of the greater prairie chicken Heath hens once
inhabited the pine plains of coastal North America from the south of New
Hampshire to the north of Virginia abundant during colonial times has been
speculated that the pilgrims first Thanksgiving dinner actually consisted
of Heath hens and not wild turkey on average these persuade about two pounds
and grew to be roughly 17 inches long their plumage had a strong reddish hue
the tails were grazed Brown and the male's had pointed horns called
pin a like many other creatures on our list one of the primary reasons for the
decline was over hunting by the late 19th century less than a hundred hens
were left they were eventually protected by a hunted man and the establishment of
a heat hen reserve then a destructive ecological fire greatly reduced their
numbers the last Heath hen was a male dubbed boom in been by the locals he was
last seen around Martha's Vineyard in March 1932 and was ultimately presumed
dead number 3 passenger pigeon
the passenger pigeon was once the most abundant bird in North America its
common name is inspired by the birds migratory habits and derived from the
French word passage er meaning to pass by males were about 15 and a half inches
long had black spots on the wings iridescent bronze feathers on their
necks and mainly gray on the upper and under parts females were slightly
smaller and duller in coloration these remarkable creatures had the ideal
physical adaptations for endurance speed and in-flight maneuverability they were
extremely fast fliers and can reach a speed of almost 62 miles per hour
they are often cited as an example of anthropogenic extinction also known as
extinction caused by human activity it's an ongoing event that coincides with the
Holocene the epoch we are currently living in decades of heavy hunting and
loss of habitat from deforestation led to the death of the entire species the
last wild passenger pigeon is believed to have been shot in 1901 and the last
captive bird died in 1914 at the Cincinnati Zoo so what was the name of
the last Pyrenean ibex if he chose be Celia then you are correct
Celia died in 2000 but about a year before that tissue samples were
harvested from her right ear and cryo preserved in nitrogen on July the 30th
2003 the Pyrenean ibex was the first species in history to become
unextinguishable clone was born alive however the ibex died several minutes
later from a lung defect number two Pinta island tortoise this creature was
native to Ecuador's Pinta island was also known as the Pinta giant tortoise
as a Galapagos tortoise species he could achieve some truly astonishing
proportions the largest recorded males weighed over 880 pounds and grew to be
more than 6 feet long Galapagos Tortoises are distinguished
by their longer necks and limbs as well as by their shells which could be dome
or Saddleback shaped the last surviving Pinta island tortoise was named lonesome
George at one point he was known as the rarest creature in the world that became
a symbol for conservation efforts in the Calipari's archipelago he died from
natural causes in June 2012 number one Tasmanian tiger
the thylacine also the Tasmanian Tiger is one of the largest known carniverous
marsupials it first emerged as a species around 4 million years ago and was
native to New Guinea Tasmania and the Australian mainland the thylacine was a
truly fascinating creature as it embodied a number of features than a
typical of other animals it had the size and general appearance of a large dog
like many members of the kanaday family the Tasmanian tiger had powerful jaws
sharp teeth and raised heels yet unlike canit's it could open its jaws as an
unusually large angle of almost 80 degrees the thylacine had stripes on his
back reminiscent of those on a tiger as well as a stiff tail and abdominal pouch
similar to a kangaroos despite the resemblance sister predators in the
northern hemisphere his closest relative is either that numbat or that has mainly
in devil not much is known about its feeding behaviour but it's generally
believed that the thylacine was a nocturnal apex predator the preyed on
Wallabies wombats and kangaroos intensive hunting by humans is generally
regarded as the reason for his extinction other suspected factors
include disease or loss of habitat the last known phyla scene was called
Benjamin and he died at a Tasmanian Zoo in 1936 black and wild videos of him are
still available online however there's hope for the species to
make a comeback an international team of geneticists has successfully sequenced
his genome which means the cloning of thylacine could become a reality in the
near future thanks for watching what are the
recently extinct species do you know tell us about them in the comments
section below