"adj,(Of a species, family, or other larger group) having no living members."
- Oxford Dictionary, Definition of "Extinction".
Is this what extinction really means? On the surface, yes. When the last Great Auk, Passenger Pigeon and - yes - Dodo were as 'dead as dodos', such species were extinct. Similarly, while the human race persists, it is devoid of Incas and people of Tasmanian Indigenous descent, among more than a dozen other groups. On the microscopic scale, the last of Shakespeare's grandchildren perished in 1674.
Delving deeper, things get more complicated. Whilst none of Shakespeare's genes have composed immortal - yet, for a high school student, insufferable - sonnets (or even existed) in over 340 years, "he enriched the English language in ways so profound it’s almost impossible to fully gauge his impact." Despite the hosts having died from smallpox a further hundred years earlier, hordes of tourists flock to Machu Picchu annually. Indeed, whilst no living soul can attest to seeing the sun blotted out by a flock of Passenger Pigeons or heard the call of a million erect Great Auk, serious debate has been entered into resurrecting these creatures with intent to re-introduce them into their previous habitat.
Is extinction real? This is the crux of my expedition and a question that is ill-answered by any dictionary. It’s also something that I intend to solve for myself and something you have to answer for yourself. Questions and comments are thoroughly appreciated.
“...extinction is silent, and it has no voice other than our own.”
- Paul Hawken.
- Oxford Dictionary, Definition of "Extinction".
Is this what extinction really means? On the surface, yes. When the last Great Auk, Passenger Pigeon and - yes - Dodo were as 'dead as dodos', such species were extinct. Similarly, while the human race persists, it is devoid of Incas and people of Tasmanian Indigenous descent, among more than a dozen other groups. On the microscopic scale, the last of Shakespeare's grandchildren perished in 1674.
Delving deeper, things get more complicated. Whilst none of Shakespeare's genes have composed immortal - yet, for a high school student, insufferable - sonnets (or even existed) in over 340 years, "he enriched the English language in ways so profound it’s almost impossible to fully gauge his impact." Despite the hosts having died from smallpox a further hundred years earlier, hordes of tourists flock to Machu Picchu annually. Indeed, whilst no living soul can attest to seeing the sun blotted out by a flock of Passenger Pigeons or heard the call of a million erect Great Auk, serious debate has been entered into resurrecting these creatures with intent to re-introduce them into their previous habitat.
Is extinction real? This is the crux of my expedition and a question that is ill-answered by any dictionary. It’s also something that I intend to solve for myself and something you have to answer for yourself. Questions and comments are thoroughly appreciated.
“...extinction is silent, and it has no voice other than our own.”
- Paul Hawken.