Lost Animals, Disappearing Worlds

Stories of Extinction

Barbara Allen

$49.99

Hardback

Forthcoming
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English

Reaktion Books
16 June 2025

Endangered species & extinction of species; Wildlife: general interest

A moving and motivating collection of portraits of extinct species, revealing the profound implications of their disappearance.

This book presents thirty-one extinct species through personal portraits. The intimate approach not only highlights each species but explores the broader implications of losing a species forever. How do we honour such a loss? Can we grieve for species we never knew? These animals range from the well-known passenger pigeon, thylacine and great auk, to lesser-known creatures like the Arabian ostrich, Saint Helena earwig and Bramble Cay melomys. These poignant portraits tug on the heartstrings and aim to inspire readers to protect vulnerable and endangered species today, motivating them to play a positive role in conserving our planet's biodiversity.

By: Barbara Allen
Imprint: Reaktion Books
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9781836390459
ISBN 10: 1836390459
Pages: 248
Publication Date: 16 June 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

PART ONE Introduction Chapter One: Extinction Chapter Two: Memorializing Grief PART TWO: THE PORTRAITS The Aurochs The Dodo The Rodrigues Solitaire Steller’s Sea Cow The Great Auk The Spectacled Cormorant (or Pallas’s Cormorant) The Falkland Islands Wolf The Quagga The Tarpan The Rocky Mountain Locust The Japanese Wolf (or Honshu Wolf) The Passenger Pigeon The Carolina Parakeet The Syrian Wild Ass The Heath Hen The Thylacine The Xerces Blue Butterfly The Arabian Ostrich The Ivory-Billed Woodpecker The St Helena Earwig The Eskimo Curlew The Tecopa Pupfish The Southern Gastric-Brooding Frog and the Northern Gastric-Brooding Frog/Eungella Gastric-Brooding Frog The Dusky Seaside Sparrow The Golden Toad The Pyrenean Ibex The Baiji (Yangtze River) Dolphin The Pinta Island Tortoise The Bramble Cay Melomys The O’ahu Tree Snail References Bibliography Acknowledgements

Barbara Allen is a minister in the Uniting Church in Australia. Her books include Pigeon (2009), Animals in Religion (2016) and Pelican (2019), all published by Reaktion Books.

Reviews for Lost Animals, Disappearing Worlds: Stories of Extinction

""A scholarly and meditative tribute to the remarkable species that humans have driven to extinction.""--Ross Piper, author of ""Animal Earth: The Amazing Diversity of Living Creatures"" ""These stories of extinct creatures are comprehensively researched and imaginatively written. This book will enlighten and inspire those familiar with the subject and perhaps many who don't yet know that they are interested.""--Errol Fuller, author of ""Extinct Birds"" and coauthor (with Sir David Attenborough) of ""Drawn from Paradise"" ""Lost Animals, Disappearing Worlds: Stories of Extinction by Allen profiles the great auk, passenger pigeon, and Saint Helena earwig, among other extinct creatures, exploring how their disappearances affected their ecosystems and provide insight into humanity's relationship with nature.""-- ""Publishers Weekly (Spring 2025 Fiction & Nonfiction Preview: Science)"" ""Allen's Lost Animals, Disappearing Worlds is an inventive and beautiful hymn to what we have lost, all the while shining an urgent light of hope for the future.""--Leah Kaminsky, author of ""We're All Going to Die"" and coeditor of ""Animals Make Us Human""