Extinction
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Extinction was the end of a species, caused by either the sudden death of the entire population or the slow reduction in number over a long period of time until the last members eventually died.
Mass extinctions[[edit] | [edit source]]
Major catastrophes could cause hundreds to millions of species to die out all at once. In cases of planetary destruction, all the species native to the planet could be driven to extinction (unless any native species had access to space travel).
The Last Great Time War led to the near destruction of the Daleks, as well as the destruction of many planets, star systems and even galaxies. (COMIC: Agent Provocateur [+]Loading...["Agent Provocateur (comic story)"]) Specific planets included Eve's planet (leaving Eve the only survivor), (TV: The Mad Woman in the Attic [+]Loading...["The Mad Woman in the Attic (TV story)"]) The Doctor was considered "the only survivor" of the Time Lords, who were thought to have been "all gone", (TV: The End of the World [+]Loading...["The End of the World (TV story)"]) but in fact, thirteen of the Doctor's incarnations had frozen Gallifrey in time and placed it in another dimension. (TV: The Day of the Doctor [+]Loading...["The Day of the Doctor (TV story)"]) The war had also resulted in all of Gallifrey's animal life going extinct, save the flies and possibly the ancient predators that they'd resurrected during the conflict. (PROSE: A Brief History of Time Lords [+]Loading...["A Brief History of Time Lords (novel)"])
By the end of the Thousand Year War between the Kaleds and the Thals, almost all animal life on Skaro was extinct. (AUDIO: Corruption [+]Loading...["Corruption (audio story)"]) Ironically, the first species to be exterminated by the fledgling Daleks was their own humanoid forebears, the Kaleds, who were understood by human historians to have been utterly eradicated with only Davros, the Daleks' creator, being known to have survived. (PROSE: Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe [+]Loading...["Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe (short story)"]) Indeed, one Dalek would later observe that the Daleks, having originally been devised as a way to preserve the Kaleds, had failed in their mission. (TV: The Power of the Doctor [+]Loading...["The Power of the Doctor (TV story)"])
After the first generation of Daleks detonated a neutron bomb that they believed had rendered all life beyond the Dalek City extinct. (PROSE: Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe [+]Loading...["Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe (short story)"]) The Second Doctor believed the Dalek Civil War would bring about Dalek extinction, (TV: The Evil of the Daleks [+]Loading...["The Evil of the Daleks (TV story)"]) but the Daleks managed to recover from this setback. (PROSE: The Evil of the Daleks [+]Loading...["The Evil of the Daleks (novelisation)"]) Following the Last Great Time War, the Daleks were thought to be extinct, (TV: Dalek [+]Loading...["Dalek (TV story)"]) before they revived their species. (TV: Victory of the Daleks [+]Loading...["Victory of the Daleks (TV story)"]) Historians from an era succeeding the Time War who studied the Dalek race noted that the Daleks had several "Final End"s, (PROSE: Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe [+]Loading...["Dalek: The Astounding Untold History of the Greatest Enemies of the Universe (short story)"]) with it being recorded that the Daleks had endured several mass extinction events but always managed to return. (PROSE: The Last Dodo [+]Loading...["The Last Dodo (novel)"]) In an alternate timeline created when Rassilon allied with the Cyberiad, the Cybermen, viewing the Daleks as a threat to galactic conquest, drove their foes into extinction. The Daleks were restored when these events were undone by a remorseful Rassilon and the Twelfth Doctor. (COMIC: Prologue: The Fifth Doctor [+]Loading...["Prologue: The Fifth Doctor (comic story)"], Supremacy of the Cybermen [+]Loading...["Supremacy of the Cybermen (comic story)"])
In 500 million BC, the Cirranin homeworld was destroyed, leaving only Hr'oln alive. (PROSE: The Last Dodo [+]Loading...["The Last Dodo (novel)"])
In 1981, the arrival of the Tremas Master on Logopolis fatally disrupted life there, and he killed Logopolitans at random with his Tissue Compression Eliminator. Eventually, because their Block Transfer Computations no longer worked, the planet itself began to crumble and lose coherence, as did the inhabitants. The entropy field caused by the destruction of Logopolis also destroyed a portion of the universe, including the planet of Traken. (TV: Logopolis [+]Loading...["Logopolis (TV story)"])
At some point, the Maston's homeworld was destroyed. (AUDIO: Slipback [+]Loading...["Slipback (audio story)"])
During the war between the All of Us and the People, fifteen planets, three planetary rings and fifteen asteroid habitats were destroyed (PROSE: The Also People [+]Loading...["The Also People (novel)"]) and twenty-six billion individuals died. (PROSE: Walking to Babylon [+]Loading...["Walking to Babylon (novel)"])
At the climax of the century-long war between the Thraals and the Olabrian, the Olabrians destroyed the Thraal's homeworld, wiping out all life on the planet. (PROSE: Ship of Fools [+]Loading...["Ship of Fools (novel)"])
The Veil became near-extinct when their planet's star was extinguished. The last member of the race, Androvax, went on a vengeful vendetta, destroying twelve planets before finally being arrested by the Judoon when he attempted to destroy Earth. (TV: Prisoner of the Judoon [+]Loading...["Prisoner of the Judoon (TV story)"])
The Malmooth became extinct when Yana killed Chantho, the last of their species. (TV: Utopia [+]Loading...["Utopia (TV story)"])
The alien Stingrays travelled to San Helios and consumed all life on the planet. (TV: Planet of the Dead [+]Loading...["Planet of the Dead (TV story)"])
During their invasion of Aridius, the Daleks exterminated the Mire Beasts and the Aridians. (PROSE: The Sagarro Desert Storm [+]Loading...["The Sagarro Desert Storm (short story)"]) Koral became the last of her kind when her planet, Red Sky Lost, was destroyed by the Daleks. (PROSE: Prisoner of the Daleks [+]Loading...["Prisoner of the Daleks (novel)"])
All life on the planet Ceres was destroyed when a meteor collided with the planet. (TV: Sirens of Ceres [+]Loading...["Sirens of Ceres (TV story)"])
Survivors of attacks supported by the Etydions banded together to vaporise their homeworld, cleansing it of all life. One Etydion survived, arrived on Earth and tried to convert the human race to his kind, but when he realised what he was doing, he reversed the process and died. (TV: The Custodians [+]Loading...["The Custodians (TV story)"])
During the Flux Offensive, the Lupar were rendered functionally extinct by the Sontarans, survived only by Karvanista. (TV: The Vanquishers [+]Loading...["The Vanquishers (TV story)"])
Earth mass extinctions[[edit] | [edit source]]
96% of life on Earth went extinct in around 260 million BC by the hands of the predatory Permians. (AUDIO: The Land of the Dead [+]Loading...["The Land of the Dead (audio story)"])
Around 65 million BC, a time travelling spaceship filled with anti-matter hit Earth, causing the destruction of the dinosaurs. (TV: Earthshock [+]Loading...["Earthshock (TV story)"]) The Myrka supposedly went extinct 65 million years prior to 1886, as Madame Vastra had believed. (COMIC: The Lost Dimension [+]Loading...["The Lost Dimension (comic story)"]) Although natural-born Myrka were believed to be extinct in the wild in the modern era, with the species being unknown to human science in the 20th century, it was speculated that vast colonies of them might have survived in the depths of the ocean, unbeknownst to humans and Silurians alike. (PROSE: The Behemoths [+]Loading...["The Behemoths (short story)"])
In the Unbound Universe, Mike Yates volunteered for a one way trip back in time and detonated forty nuclear bombs, rendering the Silurians extinct before they could awaken and threaten humanity. (AUDIO: Sympathy for the Devil [+]Loading...["Sympathy for the Devil (audio story)"])
Individual extinctions[[edit] | [edit source]]
Species would also go extinct on an individual basis, due to a variety of causes.
The Khorlthochloi went extinct in the distant past. (PROSE: Synthespians™ [+]Loading...["Synthespians™ (novel)"])
The Vorgel Scourge, whom had occupied the planet Tivoli, were "wiped out" by a space plague prior to 1977, leaving the native Tivolians in an "unwelcome state of independence". (AUDIO: The Tivolian Who Knew Too Much [+]Loading...["The Tivolian Who Knew Too Much (audio story)"])
Whilst the Face of Boe was pregnant with Boemina in 200,000, the time of the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire, (TV: The Long Game [+]Loading...["The Long Game (TV story)"]) it was during the Empire that Boekind became all but extinct, with the Face of Boe living on alone (PROSE: The Time Traveller's Almanac [+]Loading...["The Time Traveller's Almanac (reference book)"], TV: New Earth [+]Loading...["New Earth (TV story)"]) until his death in the year 5,000,000,053. (TV: Gridlock [+]Loading...["Gridlock (TV story)"])
A virus created from the mood drug Bliss was eventually starved to extinction when New Earth's inhabitants all died and the planet was quarantined for 100 years. (TV: Gridlock [+]Loading...["Gridlock (TV story)"])
The Racnoss were made functionally extinct when the Tenth Doctor killed off the Racnoss Empress' children. (TV: The Runaway Bride [+]Loading...["The Runaway Bride (TV story)"])
Baaraddelskelliumfatrexius beasts were hunted to extinction by the Raxacoricofallapatorians. (TV: Revenge of the Slitheen [+]Loading...["Revenge of the Slitheen (TV story)"])
The Arkellis flower, native to Skaro, became extinct. (PROSE: Birth of a Legend [+]Loading...["Birth of a Legend (short story)"])
The Dals died out at some point before Davros was born. (AUDIO: Purity [+]Loading...["Purity (audio story)"])
The Trods were destroyed by the Daleks. (COMIC: The Trodos Ambush [+]Loading...["The Trodos Ambush (comic story)"])
By the 29th century the star whales were driven to near-extinction. Only one survived and offered help to the people remaining on a dying Earth, but it was captured and tortured by the humans, who built Starship UK around it. Three hundred years later its intent was realised and it was released by Amy Pond. It continued to serve Starship UK. (TV: The Beast Below [+]Loading...["The Beast Below (TV story)"])
The Benelisans became extinct when the Beast travelled to Benelisa and fed on them. Before they became extinct, the Benelisans sent Azoth to locate and destroy the Beast. (PROSE: The Taint [+]Loading...["The Taint (novel)"])
Two hundred species, including Irradiate Grinderstag and the Stellar Raptors, were driven to extinction by the Endangered Dangerous Species Society. (PROSE: The Doctor Trap [+]Loading...["The Doctor Trap (novel)"])
The Thains became extinct in 6000 BC. (PROSE: Placebo Effect [+]Loading...["Placebo Effect (novel)"])
The Tytheg became extinct by the 26th century. (PROSE: St Anthony's Fire [+]Loading...["St Anthony's Fire (novel)"])
The Time Lords erased the Charons before they existed as they feared that all other life in the Universe could not co-exist alongside them due to their ability to warp the fabric of the universe. Only one Charon somehow survived the death of its people and constructed a pocket universe. The Seventh Doctor confronted the Charon and learned that, after being alone for so long, it wanted to die. The Doctor sadly granted its wish. (PROSE: Sky Pirates! [+]Loading...["Sky Pirates! (novel)"])
The Valnaxi were driven to near-extinction in 118 at the end of the Valnaxi-Wurm War. (PROSE: The Art of Destruction [+]Loading...["The Art of Destruction (novel)"])
When the Vervoids went on a rampage on Hyperion III, the Sixth Doctor was forced to kill them all. (TV: Terror of the Vervoids [+]Loading...["Terror of the Vervoids (TV story)"])
The Aeolians were driven to near extinction in the Centaurian Catastrophe, leaving only two known survivors left. (TV: Aeolian [+]Loading...["Aeolian (TV story)"])
The Cybershade became extinct when the CyberKing exploded. (TV: The Next Doctor [+]Loading...["The Next Doctor (TV story)"])
When the Weeping Angels arrived on Alfava Metraxis, they wiped out the Aplans. (TV: The Time of Angels [+]Loading...["The Time of Angels (TV story)"])
The Shugs accidentally wiped themselves out when they brought a virus from the past into their time. (PROSE: Walking to Babylon [+]Loading...["Walking to Babylon (novel)"])
A tiger-like species was wiped out in unknown circumstances. Lady Huntingdon and her granddaughter Bella Huntingdon both survived and escaped to Earth. (PROSE: Old Flames [+]Loading...["Old Flames (short story)"])
The Fifth Doctor believed that the Jovians of Jupiter had become extinct by the 24th century. (AUDIO: The Jupiter Conjunction [+]Loading...["The Jupiter Conjunction (audio story)"])
The Titanthropes became extinct before modern man appeared. (AUDIO: Last of the Titans [+]Loading...["Last of the Titans (audio story)"])
The Caxtarid wiped out four indigenous sentient species on Kapteyn 5 after their conquest of the planet. (PROSE: The Room With No Doors [+]Loading...["The Room With No Doors (novel)"])
The Woprat was long-extinct on Gallifrey by the time of the Doctor. (PROSE: Heart of TARDIS [+]Loading...["Heart of TARDIS (novel)"])
The humanoid inhabitants of an Earth-like planet became extinct, allowing the other inhabitants, the Tryods, to become the dominant species. (PROSE: The Word of Asiries [+]Loading...["The Word of Asiries (short story)"])
The Deathsmiths of Goth became extinct when their Apocalypse Device killed them all. (COMIC: Black Legacy [+]Loading...["Black Legacy (comic story)"])
The Steggosians were almost completely wiped out by a plague they had caught from rats, and became extinct when the last survivor died during a conflict with the Tenth Doctor. (PROSE: The Eyeless [+]Loading...["The Eyeless (novel)"])
Mother Nothing consumed her own race when her home planet was struck by a great famine. She died as a result of a confrontation with Captain Jack Harkness in a failed attempt to acquire the diamond engine of a space station. (AUDIO: One Enchanted Evening [+]Loading...["One Enchanted Evening (audio story)"])
On one planet, megalovore sharks went extinct after their home, the Outland Sea boiled away during the Ice Cap Wars. (PROSE: The Secret in Vault 13 [+]Loading...["The Secret in Vault 13 (novel)"])
The Hysk became extinct nine hundred years before the Doctor visited Archimedes. (PROSE: The Infinity Season [+]Loading...["The Infinity Season (short story)"])
The Sontarans ultimately became extinct by the "twilight years" of the universe. (AUDIO: The Eternal Battle [+]Loading...["The Eternal Battle (audio story)"])
Earth extinctions[[edit] | [edit source]]
The dodo went extinct in 1681. (PROSE: The Last Dodo [+]Loading...["The Last Dodo (novel)"])
By 2040, human activity had caused the emperor penguin to become extinct. (PROSE: The Last Emperor [+]Loading...["The Last Emperor (short story)"])
Numerous species went extinct during the Ozone Purge of 2106, including sheep, sparrows and cats. (PROSE: Lucifer Rising [+]Loading...["Lucifer Rising (novel)"])
Tigers went extinct before 2148. (PROSE: St Anthony's Fire [+]Loading...["St Anthony's Fire (novel)"])
Badger pirates were created when the badger became extinct. (PROSE: The Pirate Loop [+]Loading...["The Pirate Loop (novel)"])
Begonias went extinct before the 24th century, but were brought back with seeds found by Bernice Summerfield. (PROSE: The Mary-Sue Extrusion [+]Loading...["The Mary-Sue Extrusion (novel)"])
By the 30th century, all species of wild plants and animals had become extinct except for humanity and the rat. (PROSE: Just War [+]Loading...["Just War (novel)"])
Other references[[edit] | [edit source]]
The last survivor of the Astrophia Tribe became a hunter, collecting the last members of several extinct species. (COMIC: Agent Provocateur [+]Loading...["Agent Provocateur (comic story)"])
The Museum of the Last Ones was a museum that preserved and kept a single living specimen of every extinct species. (PROSE: The Last Dodo [+]Loading...["The Last Dodo (novel)"])
The Silurians were capable of bringing species back from extinction, such as many species of dinosaurs. (PROSE: Blood Heat [+]Loading...["Blood Heat (novel)"])
The Klempari defence was a common ruse in interrogation. The subject would claim to be the last of their kind. When the Eleventh Doctor questioned the Silurian, Alaya, she claimed to be the last of her species. He knew she was lying because he was the last of his species, and told her not to insult him. (TV: The Hungry Earth [+]Loading...["The Hungry Earth (TV story)"])
