Extinction - Blog Posts

Vietnamese Javan Rhino This one was very fun to do. I had a very low-quality photograph as a reference and I had to invent all the textures and wrinkles and also the color. Very challenging but I'm happy with the result.

There was a very small population of fewer than 12 individuals living in Cat Tien National Park in Vietnam. The last Vietnamese Javan Rhino (a subspecies of the Javan Rhinoceros) was shooted by poachers in 2011 in Vietnam. This animal used to live around very poor populations of villagers that were very hard to convince not to kill them, knowing that its parts could be sold for good money. Let's don't forget that those who decimates the population was mostly European trophy hunters at the beginning of the 20th century.

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Reference: Vietnamese Javan Rhino | Vietnamese Javan Rhino

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North-Eastern Black Rhinoceros. This subspecies is not hundred percent approved by all scientists. Some state that there are four subspecies. The most widely alternative schemes adopted five subspecies, while older ones suggest eight. At some point, it was thought to be 23. This subspecies is extinct. Its distribution consisted of Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Somalia, which apparently vanished by the early 20th century.

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References: Black Rhino | Black Rhino Photo Reference: Susan Portnoy Susanportnoyphotography.com ___________________________________________

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Eastern Black Rhinoceros

Black rhinos have the most subspecies among all rhinos. At some point, it was believed that it was 23 subspecies of black rhinos. This was made of poor investigations based on parts of bones, skulls, and just mere sights of the animal.

With time, better studies suggested that the subspecies consisted of just t four. There is still debate because some say there are five subspecies (which is the one I am inclined to believe) but this cannot be proven because three of the five subspecies are already extinct, and there is not even a photographic register of them. Some skulls and bones are around but it's hard to make conclusions based on just little remains of the animal. It is hard for me to believe that they were extinct without even a picture of them. It is not the case for this subspecies but its situation is critical. A little more than 700 are in the wild including a small group of them that were taken to South Africa. This is uncommon because this animal is restricted to Kenya and Tanzania. Its future is uncertain because of the poaching of the animal for their horns. If there is a market eager to buy horns, it will be some eager to risk their lives in order to feed that market as well.

References: Eastern Black Rhino Eastern Black Rhino Photo Reference: Michal Sloviak ________________________________________

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Humpback Whale

If there is a whale that has been ingrained in the imagination of humanity for centuries, and has been the one that make us fall in love of these magnificent mammals, is without a doubt, the Humpback Whale. Probably the most notorious whale in nature, the Humpback Whale has it's own genus (Megaptera) and stands out as a single one. However, some scientist have noticed that the populations in different regions have been developing very distinctive characteristics that theoretically will diverge the species into various subspecies. In other words: Evolution. In whaling times, this species almost got extinct, with it's population dropping to an alarming 90% before 1996. Today's numbers are stable around 80.000 and we can say is safe and can be found in mostly all oceans.

This is the only whale I have ever seen in my life. (well just a tail surfacing the sea) and despite the seconds I had the chance to observed it, it was extremely captivating. I hope one day I can see more of these beautiful animals and hopefully too, some of its relatives. ________________

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Fin Whale

Formerly known Know as the Finback whale, Common rorqual, Herring whale, or Razorback whale, the Fin whale is the second largest whale on the planet. Its glamorous and slender shape make it one of the fastest rorquals despite its size. It was heavily hunting during the whaling times in the XX century but was able to recover and their numbers are somehow stable. Over 725,000 fin whales were reportedly taken from the Southern Hemisphere between 1905 and 1976. For this reason, the Southern Fin Whale is closer to extinction than the Northern Fin Whale. The North Pacific population is believed to be a third subspecies according to experts, however, more studies need to be done to validate this information. The Fin Whale is more related to the Humpback Whale and the Grey Whale. It is strange because these two rorquals belong to a different genus each.

Vicuña The last species of the family and the smallest too. And like many small things it is also the most precious treasure. The wool of the vicuña is among the most expensive textiles worldwide. A meter square can reach an impressive $3000 US. being mostly exclusive for the most prestigious high couture brands in the world. 

In a move that I found very smart from the governments where the animal can be found, is that the exportation of these animals is strictly prohibited making these countries the only ones who can manage the vicuña’s wool business. Good for them!

Once widespread in millions, it was vastly hunted when the conquerors discovered America (A repeated story), until 1950 where its numbers plumped to mere 10.000. Today is heavily protected and its situation is stable. However,  Scientist state that its stable population depends of the different laws of protection. If those laws would be lifted, the animal will be at the brick of extinction in just five years.

The next family is a very grumpy cute looking giant. 

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I’ve been improving the illustrations of the animals making it more realistic in order for the information to be clearer. Can you tell the difference of these ones compare to the previous ones?

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The Guanaco is a smaller member of the camelidae family also inhabits the andes in South America. 

The information found about this animal is a little bit confusing. While some pages put the animal in an endangered status, some others put it in a Least Concern status. However looking at the numbers of some of the subspecies, I came to the conclusion that it might be a endangered species.

Another issue was that some pages state that it is composed by four subspecies, some other just recognized two ( Guanaco and Guanaco Norteño) saying that the differences are not yet proved and the distribution is unclear.

This just proves how much is still to be done in the animal kingdom and how easy can become a topic of controversy among biologist. Time will give the reason to either of the two theories while some other questions surely arise. Fascinating!

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Isn’t it kind of bananas that for most of human history we’ve been completely oblivious to how utterly environmentally tumultuous the planet has historically been? Before the advent of paleontology, conventional wisdom posited that the earth has more or less looked the same for as long as its been around, but soon enough naturalists like Georges Cuvier came along and said, “well it actually turns out that most of the organisms that have ever existed are actually no longer with us,” thereby introducing the entire concept of extinction to the human race?? Do you realize how coconuts that must have sounded back then?

Not only that, but the more we delved into paleontology the more it became apparent that the Earth has spent so much of its existence (about a billion years) being completely unsuitable and even hostile to life as we know it. A significant stretch of the cosmic timeline classifies our planet as being an oxygen-poor wasteland constantly pounded by asteroids and brimming with active super volcanoes. Even after life on Earth started to stretch out its stubby little amphibious legs we’ve had like five mass extinctions events almost completely fuck it all up (including one known as the Permian extinction which killed off no less than 70% of the planet’s land-based life and 96% of its sea critters). Can you recognize how rare and unlikely it is that out of all the downright catastrophic times any of us could have existed as unfortunate little trilobites or dimetrodons we actually get to exist as humans beings who can learn about this stuff with the help of a scientific discipline that effectively allows us to peer back into the reaches of the past?? Anyway, here’s wonderwall