Extinction News

September 9, 2016

A Tenth of World's Wilderness Lost Since 1990s

New Reptile Species from 212 Million Years Ago

Most Great Apes One Step Away from Extinction

Poaching Is Decimating Madagascar's Sea Turtles

Latest Headlines

updated 12:53am EDT

Why Moths Are Attracted to Light

Sep. 8, 2016 — Light at night changes animals’ behavior. A new study shows that moths are attracted to street lamps within a radius of approximately 23 meters. The number of specimens ... read more

Global Warming Data Not Enough to Predict Animal Extinction, Lizard Study Finds

Sep. 6, 2016 — Current models used to predict the survival of species in a warming world might be off target because they ignore the ... read more

European Earthworms Decrease Species Diversity in North America

Sep. 6, 2016 — European earthworms invading the forests of North America are responsible for a decline in species diversity in the forest understory. Scientists have now been able to ... read more

Blue Coral Snake, Calliophis Bivirgata: A Mysterious Beauty Armed With Exotic Toxins

Sep. 5, 2016 — Toxicologists in Malaysia published the first report on the venom proteome correlating toxic functionalities of the Malayan ... read more

A Nonet of New Plant Species from Africa Emphasizes the Importance of Herbaria in Botany

Aug. 30, 2016 — Some collected 40 years ago, some as far back as a 100, nine new plant species from the custard apple genus Monanthotaxis ... read more

Deadly Duo: Study Reveals Role of Killer Shrimps in the Disappearance of Species in Central European Rivers

Sep. 1, 2016 — Researchers have discovered that the amphipod crustacean, which is native to the Ponto-Caspian region, is not a true ... read more

Paleontology: A Monster Put in Its Place

Sep. 1, 2016 — An analysis of the fossil known as the Minden Monster has enabled paleontologists to assign the largest predatory dinosaur ever found in Germany to a previously unknown genus, among a group that ... read more

Habitat Is a Crucial Factor in Survivability of Released Tortoises

Aug. 31, 2016 — A team of wildlife experts has analyzed the effect of habitat quality on the survival and dispersal of released desert tortoises. Juvenile tortoises used in this study originated from eggs produced ... read more

Endangered Right Whale Population Threatened by Entanglements and Dramatically Declining Birth Rate

Sep. 1, 2016 — The most endangered large whale species in the Atlantic is threatened by increasing rates of lethal and debilitating ... read more

How Songbirds Island-Hopped out of Australia

Aug. 30, 2016 — Research finds songbirds began diversifying about 33 million years ago and underwent extensive diversification in Australia. Furthermore, songbirds first dispersed out of ... read more

Violent Coral Bleaching Caught on Camera

Fish Urine: Keeping Our Beloved Coral Reefs Alive

A Majority Of The World's Largest Animals Could Be Extinct By 2100

Some Coral Reefs Thriving, Says Report

Species Conservation Profile of a Critically Endangered Endemic for the Azores Spider

Sep. 1, 2016 — Subject to continuing population decline due to various factors, an endemic cave-dwelling spider from the Azores is considered as Critically Endangered. To provide a fast output potentially ... read more

First Test of Oral Rabies Vaccine Brings Hope to the World's Rarest Canid

Aug. 31, 2016 — A new study reports on field trials of the oral vaccine SAG2 in Ethiopian wolves, Africa's most threatened carnivore and the world's rarest canid. The trials are the first ever conducted in ... read more

A Lost Century for Forest Elephants

Aug. 30, 2016 — Because forest elephants are one the slowest reproducing mammals in the world, it will take almost a century for them to recover from the intense poaching they have suffered since ... read more

Fossil Pollen 'Sneeze' Caught by Research Team

Aug. 30, 2016 — Researchers have recorded the only known example of prehistoric pollen caught in explosive mid-discharge from a fossil flower. The team describes this "freeze-frame" fossilized pollen ... read more

Tasmanian Devils Evolve to Resist Deadly Cancer

Aug. 30, 2016 — Tasmanian devils are evolving in response to a highly lethal and contagious form of cancer, a researcher has ... read more

What's Hiding Behind the Trapdoor?

Aug. 30, 2016 — A researcher has discovered several new species of trapdoor spider -- and you'd never guess where. Trapdoor spiders spend most of their life underground their true number and diversity has been ... read more

Shark Fins and Meat Contain High Levels of Neurotoxins Linked to Alzheimer's Disease

Aug. 29, 2016 — Scientists found high concentrations of toxins linked to neurodegenerative diseases in the fins and muscles of 10 species of sharks. The research team suggests that restricting consumption of sharks ... read more

An Imbalance in Nutrients Threatens Plant Biodiversity

Aug. 29, 2016 — An unnatural balance of nutrients threatens biodiversity in a survival of the fittest scenario, according to new research. A global network of researchers who have tested the impact increased ... read more

A Mammoth Undertaking: Can De-Extinction Be Ecologically Responsible?

Aug. 25, 2016 — Can the woolly mammoth be brought back from the dead? Scientists say it's only a matter of time. A conservation ecologist and colleagues have examined ecologically responsible de-extinction, and ... read more

Mutually Helpful Species Become Competitors in Benign Environments

Aug. 24, 2016 — Nature abounds with examples of mutualistic relationships. Think of bees pollinating flowers whose nectar nourishes the bees. Each species benefits the other, and together their chances of survival ... read more

Arctic Gives Clues on Worst Mass Extinction of Life

Aug. 24, 2016 — Extreme global warming 252 million years ago caused a severe mass extinction of life on Earth. It took life up to 9 million years to recover. New study finds clues in the Arctic as to why this ... read more

Endangered Cuban Solenodon Evolved After the Extinction of Dinosaurs

Aug. 24, 2016 — The Caribbean islands form a natural laboratory for the study of evolution due to their unique biological and geological features. There has been heated discussion since the early 20th century on how ... read more

Warbler Genomes Look to Be 99.97 Percent Alike

Aug. 23, 2016 — New research shows that, genetically speaking, blue-winged and golden-winged warblers are almost identical. Scientists behind the research say the main differences between the two species are in ... read more

The Cave Bear: A Vegan Gone Extinct

Aug. 23, 2016 — Scientists have studied the feeding habits of the extinct Cave Bear. Based on the isotope composition in the collagen of the bears' bones, they were able to show that the large mammals subsisted ... read more

Reef Castaways: Can Coral Make It Across Darwin's 'Impassable' Barrier?

Aug. 23, 2016 — An international team of researchers have shown that vulnerable coral populations in the eastern tropical Pacific have been completely isolated from the rest of the Pacific Ocean for at least the ... read more

Scientists Map Migration Paths of Arctic Breeding Birds

Aug. 22, 2016 — Conservation of intertidal habitat -- 65 percent of which has been lost over the last 50 years -- is critical to the survival of countless birds during migration on the East Asian Australasian ... read more

Logged Rainforests Can Be an 'Ark' for Mammals, Extensive Study Shows

Aug. 22, 2016 — Research reveals that large areas of 'degraded' forest in Southeast Asia can play an important role in conserving mammal ... read more

'Ecosystem Canaries' Provide Early Warning Signs of Catastrophic Changes to Ecosystems

Aug. 18, 2016 — 'Ecosystem canaries' can provide early warning signals of large, potentially catastrophic, changes or tipping points in ecosystems, say researchers. Like canaries that coal miners used to ... read more

Paleontologists Discover Major T. Rex Fossil

Aug. 18, 2016 — Paleontologists have discovered a Tyrannosaurus rex, including a very complete skull. The find, which paleontologists estimate to be about 20 percent of the animal, includes vertebrae, ribs, hips and ... read more

Most Island Vertebrate Extinctions Could Be Averted, Concludes New Study

Aug. 18, 2016 — Eight of every ten species extinctions has occurred on islands, and invasive mammals are the leading reason for those losses. Currently, 40 percent of species at risk of global extinction are island ... read more

Thursday, September 1, 2016