4. Extinct
• The extinct Golden Toad (Bufo periglenes) was a small,
shiny, bright-orange toad that was once abundant in a
small region of high-altitude cloud-covered tropical
forests, about 30 square kilometers in area, above the
city of Monteverde, Costa Rica. For this reason, it is
sometimes also called the Monteverde Golden Toad, or
the Monte Verde Toad.
• The Golden Toad was described in 1966 by the
herpetologist Jay Savage. Since 1989, not a single
Golden Toad has been seen anywhere in the world, and
it is classified by the IUCN as an extinct species.
6. Extinct
•
Qi Qi, a rare Chinese river dolphin, was
rescued from the Yangtze River in 1980
and lived in Wuhan Baiji Aquarium, until
she died in 2002. A recent six-week
search on the Yangtze failed to find any
trace of the endangered dolphin species,
leading scientists to announce that the
animal is "functionally extinct."
10. Extinct
• The Dodo is the most famous extinct species in the
history of Planet Earth. Its first contact with Europeans
was in 1598, when a Dutch expedition headed by
Admiral Jacob Cornelius van Neck landed on an island,
thick with dense forests of bamboo and ebony, off the
East coast of Africa. The island was named Mauritius by
the adventurous and artistic Admiral – the first man to
draw the extraordinary and unique flightless bird, now
universally known as the Dodo (from the Dutch word
'dodoor' meaning sluggard). The demise of the Dodo has
been attributed to hungry Dutch sailors en route to the
Spice Islands of Indonesia. They would take a dinner
break on the tropical island and consume the
defenseless Dodo.
12. Not
• Three critically endangered Burmese star
tortoises are pictured May 22, 2008 at the San
Diego Zoo, the first time this species has
successfully reproduced at the facility. The
Burmese star tortoise is not often bred in zoos,
but with more as-yet-unhatched eggs, animal
care staff is hoping that more of the tortoises
emerge. The reptile is almost extinct in its native
Myanmar as its numbers dwindle due to
deforestation and hunting, both for food and
profit.
14. Extinct
• One of Africa's most famous extinct animals, the quagga
was a subspecies of the plains zebra, which was once
found in great numbers in South Africa's Cape Province
and the southern part of the Orange Free State. It was
distinguished from other zebras by having the usual vivid
marks on the front part of the body only. In the midsection, the stripes faded and the dark, inter-stripe
spaces became wider, and the hindquarters were a plain
brown. The name comes from a Khoikhoi word for zebra
and is onomatopoeic, being said to resemble the
quagga's call.
16. Not
• Found above the tree line and near permanent
snow in central Asia's dry mountainous country,
the snow leopard has been prized as a hunter's
trophy, destroyed as a predator of domestic
flocks, and sought as a source of valuable fur.
Complete information as to its numbers is not
available, but almost everywhere it is considered
to be rare or in decline. Currently, the most
serious threat to its survival is loss of habitat due
to human expansion.
