Remains of Extinction

We are currently living through a major extinction event with vast numbers of species across the planet rapidly becoming extinct because of human actions, from climate change to habitat conversion to pollution. The high number of species either recently extinct or facing imminent extinction and the great speed at which extermination is happening even exceeds the most well-studied extinction event—the dinosaur extinction at the end of the Cretaceous period. At least 322 vertebrates are known to have become extinct since 1500, and many more invertebrates and plants. What remains after a species has become extinct and how can heritage professionals engage with those remains? In this talk I will discuss two types of remains of the extinct: the tangible bodily remains and the intangible stories that remain. I will discuss the challenges of collecting and exhibiting both kinds of remains, thinking through the practical and ethical dilemmas of conservation (or not) of the extinct. Through examples of extinct animals such as the passenger pigeon of North America and the bluebuck of Southern Africa, I will discuss the modes that the heritage sector has been and can be engaging deliberately with the ongoing extinction crisis.