// about

About Endling

An endling is the last individual of a species. Endling is a catalog of them — documented case files of animals and plants that went extinct, traced from what they were to the death of the very last one, with the dates, places, and sources that separate the real record from the myth.

What you'll find here

Species that went from billions to zero — and the named bird, tortoise, or tiger that died last
Where and when the endling died, and who was there to record it
Exactly what drove each one down: hunting, habitat loss, invasive species, disease
Contested cases — "last individual" claims that are disputed or were later overturned
What came after: museum specimens, protective laws, and de-extinction attempts

Every entry follows the same structure: a summary, a decline timeline, a "Profile" of the species, "The Decline," and "The Endling" — the last known individual — then why it vanished, the aftermath, and the lessons, sourced from the IUCN Red List, museum records, scientific literature, and contemporary accounts.

Extinction is usually told as a number. Telling it one named last individual at a time is how you see what the number actually means.

Sister sites

Endling is part of The Vanished — a family of sites cataloging the last of everything:

The Last Word Languages that died — and the last human who spoke each one fluently. Obsolete The everyday trades that millions once worked, quietly erased by technology. Discontinued The technologies, formats, and products the future left behind.