utdødde

Utdødde is a Norwegian term used to describe organisms, languages, or cultures that no longer exist in any living form. In biology and palaeontology, it denotes species that have no surviving individuals anywhere, whether in the wild, in captivity, or in collections. The concept is used to distinguish complete loss from other conservation statuses that indicate declining populations but not total disappearance. Extinction can result from gradual die-out (background extinction) or from rapid, catastrophic events (mass extinctions).

In scientific and public discourse, utdødde is commonly employed in discussions of biodiversity changes, historical ecosystems, and the consequences of environmental change. The term also appears in archaeology and history when referring to past human cultures or languages that no longer have living descendants or speakers.

For formal classification, institutions such as the IUCN Red List classify species as extinct when there is no reasonable doubt that the last individuals have died. In Norwegian usage, different inflected forms (such as utdødd or utdødde) may appear to agree with gender and number, but the core meaning remains that the species or group no longer exists in any living form.

See also: Extinction, Evolution, Conservation biology, IUCN Red List.