We are entering a sixth mass extinction. This is the stark warning from scientists 1901 1901 across the world, alarmed by our planets crumbling ecosystems and overwhelmed 2012 2014 1902 2009 Christmas Island Whiptail-skink 1902 1902 1998* 1903 1995 by the speed at which species numbers are falling into decline. They report that 1904 1989 Bramble Cay Melomys Chelonoidis abingdonii Pinta Giant Tortoise 1904 1989 Emoia nativitatis Aguijan Reed-warbler McCranie's Robber Frog the current rate of extinction could be up to 1,000 times higher than natural Melomys rubicola 1905 1989 Craugastor chrysozetetes Beysehir Bleak Acrocephalus nijoi Alburnus akili 1906 background rates. Events like this have happened before. The last mass extinction 1988 Longnose Harlequin Frog 1907 Incilius periglenes Pig-footed Bandicoot ecaudatus Chaeropus Greater Amakihi 1987 Viridonia sagittirostris Golden Toad Auckland Merganser Atelopus longirostris Mergus australis North Island Piopio Turnagra tanagra Long-tailed Hopping-mouse 1907 was around 66 million years ago, when an asteroid wiped out about 75% of life on Notomys longicaudatus 1987 M Guadalupe Caracara R R B B Caracara lutosa Least Vermilion FlycatcherGambusiaAmistad amistadensis Gambusia M B Choiseul Pigeon Telestes ukliva F M Microgoura meeki 1908 earth, including the dinosaurs. This time the finger points accusingly at us as the 1987 B Maclear's Rat B Rattus macleari A B South Island Piopio Pyrocephalus dubius Turnagra capensis 1910 A M primary cause. Homo Sapiens enjoys a time of unparalleled growth, a global 1986 Chatham Bellbird A B Anthornis melanocephala Black Mamo 1912 Moho braccatus F B Drepanis funerea 1986 population doubled since 1970, while the rest of the natural world moves closer Kauai Oo B Huia Atitlan Grebe F Podilymbus gigas Heteralocha acutirostris 1913 1986 Maryland Darter B B Robust White-eye to the brink, their numbers halved in the last forty years. Zosterops strenuus Etheostoma sellare 1914 Heredia Robber Frog B B Slender-billed Grackle 1985* Quiscalus palustris Craugastor escoces B While we battle to save Black Rhinos, Hawksbill Turtles and Mountain Gorillas, what can we learn It is not an enviable task and presents a hugely challenging thing to quantify. Firstly, it is estimated Pseudophoxinus handlirschi B Cape Verde Giant Skink 1914 Chioninia coctei from those that have already gone? What can the legacy of Schomburgk's Deer, the Paradise Parrot that our planet could contain close to a trillion species, and that we are likely to have identified as Egirdir Minnow R 1985* F and Lonesome George teach us about the nature of extinction in the time of humans? Can we little as one-thousandth of 1 percent. Secondly, it’s a complex and intensive process to evaluate the Canarian Oystercatcher Haematopus meadewaldoi identify the destructive forces of the past century, and how do they compare to the challenges that threats affecting a species, nevermind the scope and severity of those threats. The scale of our 1918 B Eungella Gastric Brooding Frog A lie ahead? biosphere alone means there are innumerable animals both extant and extinct, still yet to be 1985 Saudi Gazelle Passenger Pigeon Gazella saudiya categorized. Finally for the sake of easy comprehension, this project deals with only with the Ectopistes migratorius B This data visualization looks to explore and answer these questions, offering a reflection on over a Chordata phylum (animals with a notochord), which includes mammals, birds, reptiles, Rheobatrachus vitellinus F 1918 Laughing Owl century of extinction. Let’s conjure these lost creatures back into our minds for a moment to try amphibians and fish. Spare a brief thought for the plants and molluscs that didn’t make the cut. 1985 Sceloglaux albifacies B and understand what took them past that most final of thresholds. M Of the 46,092 Chordates that the IUCN have studied, 362 of those are listed as extinct. Out of Myadestes myadestinus Carolina Parakeet 1920 Conuropsis carolinensis 1983 B The most comprehensive source for this information is the International Union for those, many fall outside of the criteria for this project, because they have an Effective Extinction Kamao A 1 1 Conservation of Nature (IUCN). For the past 50 years, the IUCN has been promoting the Date (EED) before 1900. Others have too much ambiguity around the EED, or are too lacking Bridled White-eye Lanai Hookbill Zosterops conspicillatus 1922 conservation of animals through their pioneering research, and categorizing every species studied in reliable information about the threats affecting them, and so are impossible to place within the B Dysmorodrepanis munroi Southern Gastric Brooding Frog B to determine their relative risk of extinction, from ‘Least Concern’ all the way through to the structure of the data visualization. 120 animals remain, and these lost species form the data set. 1983 already ‘Extinct’. It is through their work that this visualization navigates the topic of extinction. What will they reveal? Coregonus fera F Rheobatrachus silus B 1923 1983 Aldabra Brush-warbler Red-moustached Fruit-dove B Ptilinopus mercierii A Nesillas aldabrana 1923 Understanding the data visualization Norfolk Starling 1983 B Guam Flycatcher B Aplonis fusca Myiagra eycineti 1927 120 extinct animals are plotted on a circular timeline based on their Effective Laysan Honeycreeper B 1 Animal Identication 1983 San Marcos Gambusia Himatione aithii Extinction Date (EED) that runs clockwise from 1900 to the present day. B The threats affecting each species are plotted on the 10 concentric circles. Gambusia georgei G R I N O ick-billed Ground-dove 1928 The colour defines the threat type, while the size depicts how impactful it was. V B F O Alopecoenas salamonis 1982 E Around the timeline, the animals are shown by both their common and scientific names. Alaotra Grebe L R Tachybaptus rufolavatus P Occasionally an animal doesn’t have a common name, so only the scientific one is given. Utah Lake Sculpin X A F Located in a diamond shaped box next to each species name is their genus. 1928 B E Cottus echinatus Threat Categories 1981 Bishop's Oo Lord Howe Gerygone Moho bishopi B A B F M R B Gerygone insularis 1928 Amphibians Birds Fish Mammals Reptiles 1981 The IUCN uses 11 broad themes to define the threats that a species might face, which are then Cyprinus yilongensis Paradise Parrot B broken down into more specific categories. For the purposes of this data visualization, only the F Psephotellus pulcherrimus overarching themes have been visualized. One of the themes, transportation and service Threat Impact 1928 1981 Anabarilius macrolepis Eastwood's Longtailed Seps corridors, does not effect any of the species featured, so has been removed. The remaining R themes are as follows: F Tetradactylus eastwoodae 1930 Gölçük Toothcarp Once the IUCN decides that something poses a threat to a species, they look to define both the B Oahu Akepa F 1980* Residential and scope and severity of that threat. Does it affect the whole population, a majority or a minority? Aphanius splendens Loxops wolstenholmei Natural Systems Modications 1 Commercial Development 6 Does the threat cause very rapid declines, slow and significant declines, or is the effect negligible? Mount Glorious Day Frog M Darwin's Galapagos Mouse A 1979 With these questions answered, we can start to see a quantifiable value for how impactful a threat Taudactylus diurnus Nesoryzomys darwini 1930 Problem and Invasive Species, 2 Agriculture and Aquaculture 7 is, or in this case was, to a species. Where both scope and severity data is available, the threat has Genes and Disease A been given a score which correlates to one of the circles shown below. The bigger the circle, the 1979 Yunnan Lake Newt Yallara M more damaging the threat was to the species. If a threat was listed but lacked scope and/or severity, Macrotis leucura Hypselotriton wolterstor 1931 a different icon is used, depicting the impact without quantifying it. 3 Energy Production and Mining 8 Pollution F Kuluwarri 1977* M Siamese at-barbelled catsh Lagorchestes asomatus Platytropius siamensis 1932 B Desert Bettong 4 Biological Resource Use 9 Geological Events Eiao Monarch M 1977 Bettongia anhydra Pomarea uxa 1933 B Lesser Stick-nest Rat Human Intrusions Climate Change C M 5 10 Scope/Severity Colombian Grebe Leporillus apicalis and Disturbance and Severe Weather 1977 N More impactful Less impactful not available Podiceps andinus E R N O F New Zealand Grayling 1933 T I Prototroctes oxyrhynchus 1977 Contomastix charrua T F U C B Hawaii Oo R N 1933* What the data tells us Y O T I Moho nobilis 1975* Tristramella intermedia F F E X M Indefatigable Galapagos Mouse Nesoryzomys indefessus 1934 Phantom Shiner What species went extinct? Which threats were most impactful? Notropis orca F M 1975 Desert Rat Kangaroo Caloprymnus campestris Hula Bream 1934 F B Mirogrex hulensis Tahiti Rail 92 species were affected by invasive species and disease 1975 Hypotaenidia pacica B 1935 The most destructive threat overall was competition with, and predation by, B Nuku Hiva Monarch invasive species. The main culprits were the black rat, the brown tree snake Coregonus gutturosus 1973* Pomarea nukuhivae and domesticated cats and dogs, introduced into delicate island ecosystems B B both inadvertently and intentionally by humans. Pagan Reed-warbler Ryukyu Woodpigeon 1935* Columba jouyi 1973* Acrocephalus yamashinae B 51 28 24 11 6 M 49 species were affected by biological resource use Bar-winged Rail ylacine Birds Mammals Fish Amphibians Reptiles 1935* This threat has various subcategories, but the main manifestation is hunting, ylacinus cynocephalus Bushwren F Hypotaenidia poeciloptera B either for food, sport or as a persecution measure. Species such as the 1973 Marquesan Swamphen Saudi Gazelle, the Caribbean Monk Seal and the Japanese Sea Lion all Xenicus longipes Porphyrio paepae 1936 Where were they located? F became extinct due to over hunting.