endangered species

endangered species (plural endangered species)

1. (biology) A species which is in danger of becoming extinct throughout all or a significant portion of its range.

   The federal government has added five more birds to the endangered species list.

   • 2022 February 23, Daisy Chapman-Chamberlain, “Ground-breaking rail innovation goes international”, in RAIL, number 951, page 35:

     This project involves construction of a railway crossing for wild hazel dormice on the Furness line (Lancashire), in a bid to save the endangered species from extinction, and it will be the first of its kind on the railway.

2. A class or kind whose continued existence is threatened.
   • 2014, “About the Book”, in Newton Lee, editor, Digital Da Vinci: Computers in Music, Springer, page vii:

     Since the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century, the division of labor has brought forth specialization in the workforce and university curriculums. The endangered species of polymaths is facing extinction.

• “CHAPTER 35—ENDANGERED SPECIES”, in 16 U.S.C., 2018, §1532(6), page 1749