An article on Mental Floss examines 11 foods – animal and vegetable – that have gone extinct. If you’re looking for an interesting detail for your past-set story or a bit of trivia for your present-day novel or mystery, here are some ideas:
- The Ansault Pear is believed to have gone extinct in the early 20th century. Sweet and buttery, the pears were impractical for large farms because the trees were temperamental and difficult to care for. Once nurseries got out of the business, the fruit was doomed.
- The passenger pigeon (gross) was apparently too delicious for its own good and was hunted to extinction. The last one died at the Cincinatti Zoo in 1914.
- Aurochs were cattle the size of a small elephant, the last of which died out in the 17th century.
- Stellar’s Sea Cow, another animal hunted to extinction, this one for its corned beef flavored flesh and almond-like fat.
- The Taliaferro apple was cultivated by Thomas Jefferson at Monticello and believed lost with the estate’s original orchard.
Read about the other six, including the Woolly Mammoth, at the link below.
