Quiet extinctions of invertebrates are largely unnoticed and unmourned

‘This is the way the world ends; not with a bang but a whimper’ TS Eliot, The Hollow Men

"Australian species have become extinct over this 236-year period...We predict that 39–148 species will become extinct in 2024. This is inconsistent with a recent pledge by the Australian government to prevent all extinction...Unless there is a major increase in investment and change in conservation priorities, and more effective control of threats, this rate of extinction will increase. We should not simply maintain the current conservation status quo and let these extinctions happen."

"So long as invertebrate extinctions remain nameless and invisible, this failure cannot be demonstrated, or readily overcome; and efforts will instead be directed towards the less imperilled, but better-known and iconic species."
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Woinarski JCZ, Braby MF, Gibb H, et al. This is the way the world ends; not with a bang but a whimper: Estimating the number and ongoing rate of extinctions of Australian non-marine invertebrates. Cambridge Prisms: Extinction. 2024;2:e23. doi:10.1017/ext.2024.26
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/cambridge-prisms-extinction/article/this-is-the-way-the-world-ends-not-with-a-bang-but-a-whimper-estimating-the-number-and-ongoing-rate-of-extinctions-of-australian-nonmarine-invertebrates/D0DCAA03EBA7ACC25F98F7BF5D87A2A6
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