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and。 as strickland wistfully observed； we have more physical evidenceof some ancient sea monsters and lumbering saurapods than we do of a bird that lived intomodern times and required nothing of us to survive except our absence。
so what is known of the dodo is this： it lived on mauritius； was plump but not tasty； andwas the biggest…ever member of the pigeon family； though by quite what margin is unknownas its weight was never accurately recorded。 extrapolations from strickland’s “osseous fragments” and the ashmolean’s modest remains show that it was a little over two and a halffeet tall and about the same distance from beak tip to backside。 being flightless； it nested onthe ground； leaving its eggs and chicks tragically easy prey for pigs； dogs； and monkeysbrought to the island by outsiders。 it was probably extinct by 1683 and was most certainlygone by 1693。 beyond that we know almost nothing except of course that we will not see itslike again。 we know nothing of its reproductive habits and diet； where it ranged； what soundsit made in tranquility or alarm。 we don’t possess a single dodo egg。
from beginning to end our acquaintance with animate dodos lasted just seventy years。 thatis a breathtakingly scanty period—though it must be said that by this point in our history wedid have thousands of years of practice behind us in the matter of irreversible eliminations。
nobody knows quite how destructive human beings are； but it is a fact that over the last fiftythousand years or so wherever we have gone animals have tended to vanish； in oftenastonishingly large numbers。
in america； thirty genera of large animals—some very large indeed—disappearedpractically at a stroke after the arrival of modern humans on the continent between ten andtwenty thousand years ago。 altogether north and south america between them lost aboutthree quarters of their big animals once man the hunter arrived with his flint…headed spearsand keen organizational capabilities。 europe and asia； where the animals had had longer toevolve a useful wariness of humans； lost between a third and a half of their big creatures。
australia； for exactly the opposite reasons； lost no less than 95 percent。
because the early hunter populations were paratively small and the animal populationstruly monumental—as many as ten million mammoth carcasses are thought to lie frozen in thetundra of northern siberia alone—some authorities think there must be other explanations；possibly involving climate change or some kind of pandemic。 as ross macphee of theamerican museum of natural history put it： “there’s no material benefit to huntingdangerous animals more often than you need to—there are only so many mammoth steaksyou can eat。” others believe it may have been almost criminally easy to catch and clobberprey。 “in australia and the americas；” says tim flannery； “the animals probably didn’t knowenough to run away。”
some of the creatures that were lost were singularly spectacular and would take a littlemanaging if they were still around。 imagine ground sloths that could look into an upstairswindow； tortoises nearly the size of a small fiat； monitor lizards twenty feet long baskingbeside desert highways in western australia。 alas； they are gone and we live on a muchdiminished planet。 today； across the whole world； only four types of really hefty （a metric tonor more） land animals survive： elephants； rhinos； hippos； and giraffes。 not for tens of millionsof years has life on earth been so diminutive and tame。
the question that arises is whether the disappearances of the stone age and disappearancesof more recent times are in effect part of a single extinction event—whether； in short； humansare inherently bad news for other living things。 the sad likelihood is that we may well be。
according to the university of chicago paleontologist david raup； the background rate ofextinction on earth throughout biological history has been one species lost every four yearson average。 according to one recent calculation； human…caused extinction now may berunning as much as 120；000 times that level。
in the mid…1990s； the australian naturalist tim flannery； now head of the south australianmuseum in adelaide； became struck by how little we seemed to know about many extinctions； including relatively recent ones。 “wherever you looked； there seemed to be gapsin the records—pieces missing； as with the dodo； or not recorded at all；” he told me when imet him in melbourne a year or so ago。
flannery recruited his friend peter schouten； an artist and fellow australian； and togetherthey embarked on a slightly obsessive quest to scour the world’s major collections to find outwhat was lost； what was left； and what had never been known at all。 they spent four yearspicking through old skins； musty specimens； old drawings； and written descriptions—whatever was available。 schouten made life…sized paintings of every animal they couldreasonably re…create； and flannery wrote the words。 the result was an extraordinary bookcalled a gap in nature； constituting the most plete—and； it must be said； moving—catalog of animal extinctions from the last three hundred years。
for some animals； records were good； but nobody had done anything much with them；sometimes for years； sometimes forever。 steller’s sea cow； a walrus…like creature related tothe dugong； was one of the last really big animals to go extinct。 it was truly enormous—anadult could reach lengths of nearly thirty feet and weigh ten tons—but we are acquainted withit only because in 1741 a russian expedition happened to be shipwrecked on the only placewhere the creatures still survived in any numbers； the remote and foggy mander islandsin the bering sea。
happily； the expedition had a naturalist； georg steller； who was fascinated by the animal。
“he took the most copious notes；” says flannery。 “he even measured the diameter of itswhiskers。 the only thing he wouldn’t describe was the male genitals—though； for somereason； he was happy enough to do the female’s。 he even saved a piece of skin； so we had agood idea of its texture。 we weren’t always so lucky。”
the one thing steller couldn’t do was save