Not Recognised Species and Subspecies
Previously many more species and subspecies were regarded as extinct. A couple of centuries ago a naturalist could gain fame by naming a new species or subspecies. Naturalists were running all over the place trying to name new species and subspecies. The result of this was that they named a subspecies on very little differences within a species or named a species on little or doubtful information. (Wilson 2004)
Nowadays new research, especially DNA research, reveals that many of those so-called species and subspecies are not distinct from other subspecies or species, like e.g. the Réunion Solitaire, the Curaçao Rice Rat and the Dutch Alcon Blue. They are not regarded as a valid species or subspecies anymore!
Image: a Réunion Solitaire or White Dodo (Raphus solitarius) depicted by Frederick William Frohawk at plate 25 from Lord Lionel Walter Rothschild's book Extinct and Vanishing Birds of the World (1907). This image is in the public domain because the book's copyright has expired.
This page will show you some of those former recognised extinct species or subspecies. Do you know of taxonomic information that will change the status of a certain species or subspecies mentioned on The Sixth Extinction website? Please contact this website.
| Mammals (Mammalia) | ||||
| Not Recognised Scientific Name | Common Name | Recognised Scientific Name | TSEW Status | IUCN Status |
| Bettongia lesueur graii | Burrowing Bettong | Bettongia lesueur | NR | NE |
| Canis lupus deitanus | Spanish Wolf | Canis lupus signatus | NR | NE |
| Lagostrophus fasciatus albipilis | Banded Hare-Wallaby | Lagostrophus fasciatus fasciatus | NR | NE |
| Lynx lynx alpina | Italian Lynx | Lynx lynx lynx / L. l. sardiniae | NR | NE |
| Oryzomys curasoae | Curaçao Rice Rat | Oryzomys gorgasi | NR | DD |
| Oryzomys galapagoensis galapagoensis | Chatham Island Rice Rat | Oryzomys galapagoensis | NR | NE |
| Ovis canadensis auduboni | Audubon Bighorn Sheep | Ovis canadensis canadensis | NR | NE |
| Panthera leo europaea | European Lion | Panthera leo persica | NR | NE |
| Perameles bougainville fasciata | Western Barred Bandicoot | Perameles bougainville | NR | NE |
| Peromyscus gossypinus restrictus | Chadwick Beach Cotton Mouse | Peromyscus gossypinus | NR | NE |
| Peromyscus polionotus decoloratus | Ponce de Leon Beach Mouse | Peromyscus polionotus | NR | NE |
| Rhinoceros sondaicus floweri | Sumatran Javan Rhinoceros | Rhinoceros sondaicus sondaicus | NR | NE |
| Sigmodon arizonae arizonae | Arizona Cotton Rat | Sigmodon arizonae | NR | NE |
| Sigmodon fulviventer goldmani | Hot Springs Cotton Rat | Sigmodon fulviventer | NR | NE |
| Sphiggurus pallidus | Pallid Hairy Dwarf Porcupine | Sphiggurus insidiosus | NR | NE |
| Sus scrofa sennaarensis | Egyptian Wild Boar | Sus scrofa scrofa | NR | NE |
| Synaptomys cooperi paludis | Kansas Bog Lemming | Synaptomys cooperi | NR | NE |
| Synaptomys cooperi relictus | Nebraska Bog Lemming | Synaptomys cooperi | NR | NE |
| Ursus arctos nelsoni | Mexican Grizzly Bear | Ursus arctos horribilis | NR | NE |
| Birds (Aves) | ||||
| Not Recognised Scientific Name | Common Name | Recognised Scientific Name | TSEW Status | IUCN Status |
| Aramides gutturalis | Red-Throated Wood-Rail | Aramides cajanea | NR | NE |
| Cinclus cinclus olympicus | Cyprus Dipper | Cinclus cinclus caucasicus | NR | NE |
| Cygnus sumnerensis | New Zealand Swan | Cygnus atratus | NR | NE |
| Gallirallus sharpei | Sharpe's Rail | Gallirallus philippensis | NR | NE |
| Haliaeetus australis | Chatham Island Sea-eagle | None | NR | NE |
| Laniarius liberatus | Bulo Burti Boubou | Laniarius aethiopicus | NR | NE |
| Pelecanus novaezealandiae | New Zealand Pelican | Pelecanus conspicillatus | NR | NE |
| Raphus solitarius | Réunion Solitaire | Threskiornis solitarius | NR | NE |
| Molluscs (Mollusca) | ||||
| Not Recognised Scientific Name | Common Name | Recognised Scientific Name | TSEW Status | IUCN Status |
| Belgrandiella boetersi | Unknown | Belgrandiella intermedia |
NR | NE |
Bythinella intermedia |
Unknown |
Bythinella austriaca austriaca |
NR | NE |
| Partula attenuata | Unknown | Samoana attenuata |
NR | NE |
| Insects (Insecta) | ||||
| Not Recognised Scientific Name | Common Name | Recognised Scientific Name | TSEW Status | IUCN Status |
| Maculinea alcon arenaria | Dutch Alcon Blue | Maculinea alcon |
NR | NE |
References
Bank, R.A. (2010) Fauna Europaea: Bythinella austriaca. In Karsholt, O. & Nieukerken, E.J. van (eds.) (2010) Fauna Europaea: Lepidoptera, Moths. Fauna Europaea version 2.2, http://www.faunaeur.org.
BirdLife International 2009. Laniarius aethiopicus. In: IUCN 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.4. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 06 November 2010.
Fontaine, B. et al., (2007) The European union’s 2010 target: Putting rare species in focus. Biological Conservation 139: 167–185. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2007.06.012.
IUCN 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.4. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 06 November 2010.
Mollusc Specialist Group (1996). Bythinella intermedia. In: IUCN 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 27 July 2010.
Wehausen, John D. and Rob Roy Ramey II. (2000). Cranial Morphometric and Evolutionary Relationships in the Northern Range of Ovis canadensis. Jl. Mammology 81(1):145-161.
Wilson, R. (2004). Back Cast, August 2004. North Dakota OUTDOORS Magazine. North Dakota Game and Fish Department.
| Citation: | Maas, P.H.J. (2010). Not Recognised Species and Subspecies. In: TSEW (). The Sixth Extinction Website. <http://www.petermaas.nl/extinct>. Downloaded on . |
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| Updated: | 6 November 2010 |