Abstract

ARIAS-HENAO, Juan David. “More People and Fewer Fish”: The Social Sciences and the Study of Mass Species Extinction from Latin America. Antipod. Rev. Antropol. Arqueol. [online]. 2025, n.60, pp.109-135.  Epub Aug 06, 2025. ISSN 1900-5407.  https://doi.org/10.7440/antipoda60.2025.05.

Mass species extinction has long been considered a biological phenomenon of great importance to the natural sciences. However, it has recently drawn the attention of some social scientists and humanists through extinction studies, a field that emphasizes the importance of exploring the meanings, histories, practices, and knowledges emerging from the contact zones between humans and extinct or endangered species. While there are some precedents, the social sciences in Latin America have yet to devote sufficient attention to this phenomenon. Within this context, the aim of this article is to analyze the social transformations generated by the looming disappearance of bocachico fish in the Samaná Norte River (Colombia), using this case to explore some conceptual tools for social studies on extinction in Latin America. To achieve this aim, the study employed a multispecies ethnographic approach over several field visits to the river between 2018 and 2024, which included river and land journeys, semi-structured interviews, and daily life shared with fishers, cooks, transporters, and local residents involved with the fish. This study found that mass extinction is a phenomenon of great relevance to the social sciences and ethnographic research. By affecting human societies and their relationships with nature, the absence of certain beings raises ethical, social, and political challenges that call for holistic and collaborative approaches. Thus, the article’s contribution lies in illustrating-through a relevant case study in Colombia-the common dynamics Latin America shares in terms of species extinction, and in offering tools to help the social sciences recognize the plurality of multispecies worlds at risk of disappearing.

Keywords : Extinction studies; fish; multispecies ethnography; political ecology; social sciences..

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