Endling
An endling is the last known individual of a species or subspecies. Once the endling dies, the species becomes extinct. The word was coined in correspondence in the scientific journal "Nature". Alternative names put forth for the last individual of its kind include ender and terminarch. The word relict may also be used, but usually refers to a population, rather than an individual, that is the last of a species. Usage. The 4 April 1996 issue of "Nature" published a correspondence in which commentators suggested that a new word, "endling", be adopted to denote the last individual of a  species. The 23 May issue of "Nature" published several counter-suggestions, including "ender", "terminarch", and "relict". The word "endling" appeared on the walls of the National Museum of Australia in "Tangled Destinies", a 2001 exhibition by Matt Kirchman and Scott Guerin, about the relationship between Australian peoples and their land. In the exhibition, the definition, as it appeared in "Nature", was printed in large letters on the wall above two specimens of the extinct Tasmanian tiger: "Endling (n.) The last surviving individual of a species of animal or plant". A printed description of this exhibition offered a similar definition, omitting  reference to plants: "An endling is the name given to an animal that is the last of its species." In "The Flight of the Emu: A Hundred Years of Australian Ornithology 1901-2001", author Libby Robin stated that "the very last individual of a species" is "what scientists refer to as an 'endling'". In 2011, the word was used in the "Earth Island Journal", in an essay by Eric Freedman entitled "Extinction Is Forever: A Quest for the Last Known Survivors". Freedman defined "endling" as "the last known specimen of her species." In "The Sense of an Endling", author Helen  Lewis describes the notion of an endling as poignant, and the word as "wonderfully Tolkien-esque". In "Cut from history", author Eric Freedman describes "endling" as "a word with finality." He opines, "It is deep-to-the-bone chilling to know the exact date a species disappeared from Earth. It is even more ghastly to look upon the place where it happened and know that nobody knew or cared at the time what had transpired and why." Notable endlings. This is not a comprehensive list of contemporary extinction, but a list of high-profile, widely publicised examples of when the  last individual of a species was known.