地球正处于大灭绝时期？2018年这些动物永远消失了

They’d been on our planet for millions of years, but 2018 was the year several species officially vanished forever.

Three bird species went extinct this year, scientists said, two of which are songbirds from northeastern Brazil: The Cryptic Treehunter (Cichlocolaptes mazarbarnetti) and Alagoas Foliage-gleaner (Philydor novaesi), according to a report from the conservation group BirdLife International.

According to BirdLife, the other extinct bird is Hawaii’s Po’ouli (Melamprosops phaeosoma), which has not been seen in the wild since 2004 (the same year the last captive bird died).

A disturbing trend is that mainland species are starting to go extinct, rather than island species: “Ninety percent of bird extinctions in recent centuries have been of species on islands,” said Stuart Butchart, BirdLife’s chief scientist and lead author on the paper.

“However, our results confirm that there is a growing wave of extinctions sweeping across the continents, driven mainly by habitat loss and degradation from unsustainable agriculture and logging,” he said.

An additional species of bird – the Spix’s macaw, which was made famous in the 2011 animated movie “Rio” – was declared extinct in the wild. Only a few dozen captive Spix’s macaws are alive.

A few other bird species that are near extinction have such exotic names as the New Caledonian Lorikeet and the Pernambuco Pygmy-owl.

Beyond birds, other animals such as the vaquita and the northern white rhino are near the end.

“Vaquitas are the most endangered of the world’s marine mammals,” the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said. “Less than 30 vaquitas remain in the wild.”

The last male northern white rhino died at a wildlife sanctuary in Kenya last March, Mashable reported. Only two females are left.

Earth “is now in the midst of its sixth mass extinction of plants and animals – the sixth wave of extinctions in the past half-billion years,” according to the Center for Biological Diversity.

The group said, “We’re currently experiencing the worst spate of species die-offs since the loss of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.

Words to Learn 相关词汇

【退化】Tuìhuà

degradation the process of something becoming worse or weaker, or being made worse or weaker.

【保护区】Bǎohù qū

sanctuary a tract of land where birds and wildlife, especially those hunted for sport, can breed and take refuge in safety from hunters.

有几种物种已在我们的星球上生存了数百万年，但它们却在2018年正式消失了。

国际鸟类联盟保护组织的报告显示，科学家称，2018年有3种鸟类灭绝了，其中两种是来自巴西东北部的鸣禽——淡眉树猎雀和诺氏拾叶雀。

据国际鸟类联盟称，还有一种于2018年灭绝的鸟类是夏威夷的毛岛蜜雀，这种鸟自2004年以来就没有在野外出现过（最后一只被圈养的鸟也在同一年死亡）。

国际鸟类联盟的首席科学家、论文的第一作者斯图尔特·巴特哈特说，一个令人不安的趋势是大陆物种开始变得比岛屿物种更容易灭绝。他说：“几个世纪以来，百分之九十灭绝的鸟类都是岛屿物种。”

他说：“然而，我们的研究结果证实，日益高涨的灭绝浪潮正席卷整个大陆。主要原因是不可持续的农业和伐木造成（鸟类）栖息地的丧失和退化。”

斯派克斯金刚鹦鹉因2011年的动画电影《里约大冒险》而出名，然而，目前野生的斯派克斯金刚鹦鹉已告灭绝，只有几十只被捕获的斯派克斯金刚鹦鹉还活着。

新岛吸蜜鹦鹉和伯南布哥鸺鹠等几种鸟类也濒临灭绝，它们的名称也很独特。

除了鸟类之外，其他动物，如小头鼠海豚和北方白犀牛也接近灭绝。

美国国家海洋和大气管理局说：“小头鼠海豚是世界上最濒危的海洋哺乳动物。目前野外还存活的不足30只。”

据Mashable网站报道，去年3月份，最后一只雄性北方白犀牛在肯尼亚一个野生动物保护区死去，现在只剩下两只雌性白犀牛。

根据美国生物多样性中心的说法，地球“现在处于过去5亿年中的第6次动植物大灭绝时期”。

该组织认为，“自6500万年前恐龙灭绝以来，我们正经历着最严重的物种大灭绝。”

(Chinadaily.com.cn)