Today’s picture features a 25,000 year-old cave painting of a Tarpon horse. The horse was ENDEMIC or native to the forests and steppes of Europe.
Now let’s fast forward to the Spring 2026 School Days SATs. Although the Tarpon horse is now extinct, it is making a comeback on SAT vocabulary in context questions. SAT test writers could have used kangaroos as an example of an animal that is ENDEMIC to Australia or American alligators as an animal that is ENDEMIC to southeastern U.S. swamps. But NOOOO – they have chosen to go with Europe’s Tarpon horses.
BEWARE – Don’t confuse ENDEMIC with EPIDEMIC. ENDEMIC is used to describe something that is native to a specific place. In contrast, an EPIDEMIC is a widespread occurrence of an infectious disease.
ENDEMIC – something that is native to a specific place