As we bid farewell to Lonesome George, the last of his Galapagos tortoise subspecies, remember that plenty of other species have been declared extinct pretty recently.
Pinta Island Tortoise, June 24, 2012
The last of his kind, Lonesome George died this weekend in his pen at a research facility. His exact age isn't known, but he was estimated to be over 100.
Source: samir
Baiji or Yangtze River Dolphin, 2006
Declared extinct in 2006, a video of what appeared to be a baiji dolphin was taken in 2007. The species is still considered "functionally extinct", meaning that if there is only one of a few old creatures alive, no new ones will be born.
Source: cranular.com
Western Black Rhinoceros, 2011
A subspecies of the black rhino that lived mainly in Cameroon, the western black rhino was a victim of rampant poaching, even after protections were issued in the 1930s. Scientists searched for any signs in 2006 and came up empty, and it was offically declared extinct in 2011. The other 3 remaining subspecies of black rhinos are also critically endangered.
Source: io9.com
Caribbean Monk Seal, 2008
Although the last one seen alive was in 1952, it wasn't until 2008 that the caribbean monk seal was finally declared extinct. Christopher Columbus recorded killing a few of these seals when he arrived in the Caribbean, and they were hunted extensively during the in the 1700s and 1800s for their blubber, which was used as oil for lamps and machinery.
According to the notes from a zookeeper at the New York Aquarium, which had a few of these seals in the early 1900s, these cheeky seals had a habit of spraying water from their mouths at visitors who leaned in too close over the railing.
The extinction of seal also mean the extinction of the Caribbean Monk Seal Nasal Mite, a gross insect that only lived inside the nose of this species of seal.
Source: andrewisles.com