The Last of Its Kind

November 27, 2023
This bland history by Pálsson (Down to Earth), an anthropology professor emeritus at the University of Iceland, traces how British naturalists John Wolley and Alfred Newton’s 1858 expedition to Iceland to study the great auk, a flightless aquatic bird that once thrived in the North Atlantic, revolutionized the scientific understanding of extinction. Drawing on Wolley’s notebooks, Pálsson recounts the ornithologists’ journey in excessive detail, covering their ride on a 20-passenger steamer from Scotland to Reykjavík, their lodging at a “two-story timber-framed” hotel called the Club, and the life story of the boat foreman whose crew rowed tumultuous waters searching for the bird on the naturalists’ behalf. After Wolley and Newton’s conversations with locals revealed that no great auks had been seen or caught in years, the scientists concluded the last of the great auks had likely been killed by hunters in 1844. This revelation led Newton to conclude that humans had caused the bird’s extinction, a possibility previously thought impossible, and he became an outspoken environmentalist. Pálsson makes a persuasive case that Newton made a “vital contribution to the framing of our modern concept of extinction,” but unfortunately, the dry, protracted telling of the largely uneventful 1858 expedition is more tedious than enlightening. This feels like a missed opportunity. Photos.

November 1, 2023
An examination of the extinction of an iconic bird during the 19th century. P�lsson, emeritus professor of anthropology at the University of Iceland and author of The Man Who Stole Himself, examines the human-caused extinction of the great auk. The author focuses largely on the 1858 expedition of ornithologists John Wolley and Alfred Newton, who traveled from Britain to Iceland with the goal of gathering specimens of the great auk, which was "reported to be in serious decline." As P�lsson notes, during the Victorian age, egg collecting was a popular hobby, and "obsessed collectors and scientists abroad" sought to fill their "cabinets of curiosities." At the time, no name existed for the loss of a species, as most people believed that "existing organisms could not vanish, and that new species could not appear." During the course of their expedition, Wolley kept detailed notebooks, known as the Gare-Fowl Books, which include interviews with locals and provide a real-time account of the extinction of the great auk. According to interviews and records, the "last successful trip" related to the great auk had been the infamous 1844 hunt. When Newton returned from the 1858 expedition, he concluded, "As to the extinction of the Great Auk, if it is extinct, I think it has been mainly accomplished by human means." P�lsson demonstrates that Newton's greatest achievement was establishing a clear distinction between unavoidable natural extinction, as theorized by Darwin, and "avertible extinction due to human agency," which paved the way for animal protection measures. For his contributions, P�lsson contends that Newton deserves a place alongside other pioneering environmentalists. Despite its disturbing revelations, this well-written and researched narrative will appeal to scholars and armchair naturalists alike. Both haunting and disheartening, this is an accessible look at a signal species in the history of human-caused extinctions.

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