An Explanation and an Introduction

The unfortunate pun in the blog's URL is inspired by a whimsical term coined by Robert M. Webster & Bruce Erickson in 1996 as part of a correspondence to Nature, to denote the last individual of a species - an endling. Whilst the term never gained footing in academic circles (or even the dictionary)  it has been featured in exhibitions, essays, articles and books. In contrast, many endlings have themselves become household names, 'Lonesome George' the last Pinta Island Tortoise being the best example of this. Personally, I quite like 'Celia' the last Pyrenean ibex.

The rest of the pun refers to the seemingly "never ending" list of extinctions humanity has already caused. Ofcourse, this list is entirely hypothetical as several studies have suggested that there may be upwards of 5-10 million extant unknown species in addition to the 1.2 million already documented (Miller and Spoolman, 2012). The estimated 86% (Mora et al. 2011) of unknown organisms are subject to the same anthropogenic pressures - global warming, habitat fragmentation and destruction, freshwater acidification - the list goes on. There is no knowing how many endlings have gone unnamed and species lost to all but perhaps the fossil record.

The concept of endlings, to me, reeks of human sentimentality. No doubt, there are good intentions behind bringing media attention to an endling, to try quell the relentless assault on our biosphere. But where have they got us? How many Georges and Celias, Marthas and Benjamins do we have to lose before a true change in our collective global ethos occurs? Through this blog, I hope to change or reinforce this ethos in my readers through discussion of anthropogenic extinctions  and extirpations and their consequences for our ecosystems.

R.I.P Lonesome George, source: Crowded Comics