Vivi fossilium living fossils

Government and research agencies worldwide predict one third of species will become extinct by 2050 due to habitat loss, climate change, pollution, overhunting and loss of genetic variant unless dramatic changes are made. 

As of December 2023, there are more than 16,000 endangered species, 9,760 critically endangered and 1,302 possibly extinct. 21 species were confirmed extinct in 2023 alone.

Thousands of species are dying right now and being ignored. We are wiping them out, creatures who have learned to survive everything except us. As extinction rates gain momentum, Vivi fossilium living fossils proposes the acceleration of fossilization. These mineralized species are my memento mori interpreted as geodes.

Reliquiae are the geologic fossil remains of animals or plants. The word also refers to things made or modified by human art in archeology.