Lost Wonders: 10 Tales of Extinction from the 21st Century

by Tom Lathan, Claire Kohda (illustrator)

In Lost Wonders author and journalist Tom Lathan tells the powerful stories of ten species that have lived, died out and been declared extinct since the turn of the twenty-first century.

Many scientists believe that we are currently living through the Earth’s sixth mass extinction, with species disappearing at a rate not seen for tens of millions of years – a trend that will only accelerate as climate change and other pressures intensify. What does it mean to live in such a time? And what exactly do we lose when a species goes extinct?

In a series of fascinating encounters with subjects that are now nowhere to be found on Earth – from giant tortoises to minuscule snails the size of sesame seeds, from ocean-hopping trees to fish that wag their tails like puppies – Lathan brings these lost wonders briefly back to life and gives us a tantalising glimpse of what we have lost within our own lifetime.

Drawing on the personal recollections of the people who studied these species, as well as those who tried but ultimately failed to save them, and with beautiful illustrations, Lost Wonders is an intimate portrait of the species that have only recently vanished from our world and an urgent warning to hold on all the more tightly to those now slipping from our grasp.

Illustrated by Claire Kohda

Genres: Nonfiction, Nature, Science, Environment, Ecology, History, Biology

449 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 7, 2024

Reviews

[Dr. Lehman L Ellis]

As a biologist I found this book very interesting and as a person I found the stories to be almost depressing in their similarities. There are ten tales of extinction and each story follows a pattern of basic biology, population declines, and finally what went wrong. There is the unquestionable presence of human activity as an agent in all of these stories but there is a uniqueness to each one. This book should be a wake-up call for paying attention to losses in Earth’s diversity which I think will mostly fall of deaf ears in todays social climate.

[Susan]

Heartbreaking!

[Lola May]

Crying on de Eurostar

[Catriona]

This is a good natural history book and I'm suprised it doesn't have more acclaim. Lathan describes 11 recent extinctions from around the world from micro snails to giant tortoise.

Although, it can be repetitive in places it still packs an emotional punch (the silencing of the Christmas Island pipistrelle - a sweet bat no bigger than a date - brought me to tears).

This book serves as a cross examination of the factors and failures that ultimately lead to the loss of these species while singing praise to the people working tirelessly to save them.

Most but not all are laying dormant preserved in "frozen zoos" waiting for science to catch up with science fiction and bring them back from the dead, like Jurassic Park. This is no solution; this book serves as a warning to preserve the species we have or watch our world become silent and lacking any variation.

[Luísa Andrade]

“Lost Wonders” is a book about extinction that refuses to treat loss as abstraction. Lathan writes against cold statistics, reconstructing the ecological biographies of species that vanished in our time — tiny snails, forgotten birds, uncharismatic mammals — restoring to them context, singularity, and duration. Each chapter exposes the brutal mismatch between the long time of evolution and the speed with which these endings are sealed. The book is devastating without being rhetorical, political without being polemical, and deeply human in insisting that losing species is not merely losing ecological functions, but closing irrepeatable stories. An impeccable work that turns grief into responsibility and reading into witness.

[Luke Bishop]

A melancholic series of vignettes concerning animals that have gone extinct within the 21st century. The types of animals, locations, and causes vary, leading to most of the vignettes feeling quite different from one another and distinct. Although the exact causes vary, humans are ultimately behind the destruction of all of these beautiful animals, giving the reader a good look at the damage humans can do and are doing to the natural world around and the responsibility we have to do better. Although there is an innate sadness to the book, there is hope, for some of the chapters include the stories of wildlife whose populations are recovering. An excellent read for anyone with an interest in conservation, environmental issues, or even animals generally.

[Coral Davies]

Essential reading!

[mow]

“When a million years of evolution is extinguished right in front of you, what words suffice to describe this moment?”

It’s rare I feel grief while reading, yet every chapter put a lump in my throat. Not only for the sake of the species the stories focused on, but for the ones we face to lose now. History of destructive colonization and governmental indifference that led to the loss of these lives foreshadow the seemingly inevitable loss of many more in my lifetime.

[Patrick Tullis]

This is one of the best nature books I’ve ever read. It is, quite simply, a gift from the author to its readers.

In general, the book describes ten different species which have become extinct since 2000. The author does a great job weaving in facts about the species, their habits, and potential reasons for why they didn’t make it. However, it was the people in this book I really connected with. In every chapter, there were people struggling to save these species, even to the bitter end. Sometimes they couldn’t get enough money to save them, other times they had enough resources but were confounded by bureaucracy or lack of public support. These caretaker did their duty and then bared witness to the extinction of a species.

I am lucky in that I get to work in a healthcare setting where we take care of babies. Some of the smallest babies ever born receive care at my workplace. In this setting, there are wonderful and talented people trying to care for these smallest and most fragile of humans. We cannot save them all, unfortunately, and at times, all we can do is bare witness as their life comes to an end. We remember and grieve them.

But…we don’t give up. We continue to try and save as many as possible. All the people in this book were the same. They continue to save other species and hope that they can never watch another species drift off into extinction.

[Henry Gee]

We hear a great deal about how the encroachment of humans is driving many species  to extinction. What we hear much less about is extinction at the sharp end, on a case-by-case basis. Here Tom Lathan presents ten case histories of species that have become extinct very recently, that is, in the 21st century, their demise known to the very day. The only one anyone is likely to have heard of is Lonesome George, the last Pinta Island giant tortoise of the Galapagos. Others include birds, bats, fish, snails, and a shrub. The time, energy of efforts expended by conservationists to keep the various species alive in the face of natural disasters and bureaucratic ineptitude add up to a poignant read, but in the end I was left waiting for the other shoe to drop. All the species lived on small islands or in remote, patchy habitat and would very likely have gone extinct anyway, and rather soon, whatever anyone did. Some were close relatives or even variants of other, known species, so their existence and extinction rather depended on one's viewpoint as a taxonomist. Lathan didn't broaden his outlook to, say, consider other threatened species that represent much deeper lineages: the tuatara, say, or the aye-aye. More importantly, he didn't explore whether the extinction of a few species of which nobody had heard might be the thin end of the wedge. That once one starts to pull at the seemingly insignificant threads of an ecosystem, first one species goes, and then another, until the whole thing collapses. And he doesn't address the perhaps unfashionable view that, by creating new and novel patches of habitat, and moving animals and plants around, human activity might actually have increased biological diversity. In which case the efforts of conservationists to save endangered endemics, while laudable in and of themselves, look increasingly like Canute trying to stem the tide on command. Nature is much bigger than humanity, against which the efforts of humans to demand that nature stays exactly as it is looks a lot like hubris. DISCLAIMER: An uncorrected proof of the book was sent to me by the publisher.

[Diane]

Evolution and extinction are two of my favorite topics, so it’s no surprise that I got my hands on this book about ten 21st Century extinctions almost as soon as it was published.

I liked it very much—both the reading and the Googling that goes along with stories of remote places and unique critters.

The high bar for me in this genre is David Quammen’s Song of the Dodo, published in 1996. Lost Wonders did not match the emotion of Song of the Dodo. That is probably due at least in part to the type of living things featured. Lost Wonders covered 1 plant, 2 snails, a fish, a rodent, a tiny bat, a lizard, 2 birds. The most emotion was associated with the story of Lonesome George, a giant tortoise who was the last of his kind (for 70 years!) in a remote corner of the Galápagos Islands. David Quammen has decades upon decades of experience with science writing…he is never just reporting, but also teaching, and creating “feels”. He makes a deeper connection to the reader (this reader, anyway). Tom Latham not quite there, but it was still a 5-star read.

[Sara Jelinek]

I thought this book was really interesting. The author provides in depth stories about the extinction of 10 different animals. I loved that he not only delved into the animals’ history, but he also spoke with the people who were actively trying to keep the animals alive and/or were present during the death of the last of a species. It was really sad to hear how the conservationists worked so hard (in some cases) to keep the animals alive, only to see extinction occur before their eyes. I gave this 4 stars because the author’s writing style was a little dry, and there were times where I felt like he didn’t really convey why an animal was important to remain in the ecosystem (which was a big goal of his book). It seemed like his reason for why it was important was just because they had existed for a long time. While I don’t dispute that this is an important reason (and I think a sufficient reason), I would have liked a broader explanation as to the impact of the disappearance of a specific species (e.g., economic, ecological, medical, etc.).

[Michael McEwen]

I knew that when I got weepy over the loss of a Malaysian microsnail that I was in for an emotional read. Each chapter tells a story of an extinction through the history of the creature (and one tree), its discovery and attempts to save it. There is some validity in the complaint that these are mostly pocket species from small habitats that may have faced extinction in any case, but I don’t think that blunts the impact of their end. There is such fascination in how they adapted and lived for millions of years… at least until they didn’t. I have to admit that I had to put the book down between chapters to take a break, but still an excellent read.

PS In the way of serendipity, the previous book I read, Endling by Maria Reva, featured a Ukrainian malacologist which may have softened me up for those microsnails. Although it is (mostly) a work of fiction it makes a good companion to this work.

[Waj]

Despite knowing how these stories end, I found myself riveted, thanks to the engaging writing and the extraordinary stories and people involved. Even the brief account of preparing the taxidermy of the last individual of a species was moving. I came away with a deep sense of gratitude for those involved in conservation. Even though these ten species were lost, what was learned from the effort will continue to provide valuable assistance for other creatures. The author writes with a sense of curiosity and wonder, giving the animals he portrays a respectful treatment rather than merely reporting their demise, and this undoubtedly drew me into their world and the heartbreaking struggle to save them.

[Kiril Valchev]

" Lost Wonders " е трогателният разказ за десет (може би единайсет) биологични вида, обявени за изчезнали през настоящия век. За тази своя печална менажерия от "изгубени чудеса", Том Лейтън ни повежда на околосветско пътешествие: Малайзия, архипелага в Торесовия проток, о-в Св. Елена, Френска Полинезия, Хаваи, о-в Рождество, Галапагоски о-ви, Бразилия, Мексико и ни среща с хората, станали свидетели на финалната глава, на истории писани в продължение на стотици хиляди и милиони години. Книгата запознава своите читатели и с малайзийската циментова промишленост, делата на един изгнаник на о-в Св. Елена (не онзи французин), тънкото изкуство на борбата с вредители и още много примери на разрушителна човешка креативност.

П.П. Корицата дава представа за създанията, които ще откриете сред страниците. Лесно може да пропуснете единствения растителен вид - маслината, която не е маслина, в горния десен ъгъл.

[The Inquisitive Biologist]

An emotional gut punch of a book, Lost Wonders momentarily resurrects ten recently extinct species and speaks to the people who tried to save them. Read my full review at https://inquisitivebiologist.com/2024...

[m c wiggins]

I thought this book was amazingly well written and made me feel the loss of a snail so keenly it hurt! A very talented author who has opened my eyes to extinction in a unique way, thank you Tom. I note he is volunteering with Wisent in Kent now and hope the next book might be about them!

[James Raatgever]

Highly recommend, awesome book and very captivating.

[Theresa]

Not really the type of book I’d normally read, but wanted to try it due to the reviews. It didn’t really keep my interest, but I did learn a few things, which was a plus.

[Maurice Ryan]

Fascinating but sobering stories all that history just disappearing. And he could probably write about another 10 species for a sequel.

[Rolf]

A very accessible piece of popular science writing that is very effective at getting the reader to care about the rate of extinction in our current moment.

[Jess Keast]

Interesting but very sad.
A bit long, some chapters could've been half the length. Don't need a minute by minute blow of the end...

[Eleanor]

Review to come

[Emmaa22]

wonderfully touching, beautifully written - who'd think you'd care about some of these bugs and critters, but you will.

[Emily Thirion]

Heartbreaking! I cried over a snail!

[Ronda Canary]

3.4

[Lucian Anderson]

Many critters I never knew about. I am glad Hawaiian birds and snails got some attention.

[Isaac Daffern]

Incredibly moving and well written

[Miriam James]

This was incredibly interesting, informative, and depressing. Each chapter I was invested fully in learning about these creatures and then devastated when I remembered they were all extinct. This book is so important to understand how much of an impact we are having on the world, especially as they have all gone extinct in my lifetime. It was well-researched, easy to read, and just brought these animals back to life. There is some optimism too, reading about the extent people go to try and save species. I would really recommend this book.

[Kathryn Newsham]

This book was fascinating and so thought provoking, I thoroughly enjoyed it. However, it made me feel sad and disappointed yet again in mankind. It was like attending a succession of funerals. Whilst I was reading this book, the news published an article about the two last remaining white rhinos. 😢