Extinction News

October 14, 2016

Dinosaurs Likely Did Not Sing

Loner Spiders Prevail as Pioneers

Tiny Carnivorous Primates Are Our Cousins

Climate Change: Will Coral Reefs Just Move?

Latest Headlines

updated 8:54am EDT

Temporary Extinction Reprieve for Some Frogs

Oct. 12, 2016 — Australian scientists have good news for frog conservation: there may be longer than expected time to intervene before climate change causes extinction of some ... read more

Rainforest: Roads for Species Conservation?

Oct. 11, 2016 — The impact of old forest roads on the species diversity in the rainforest of Central Guyana has been the focus of recent research. Investigators reached the conclusion that ... read more

Beer Eases Final Moments for Euthanized Invertebrates, Study Finds

Oct. 6, 2016 — A scientist sought a humane way to end the lives of snails in a laboratory. She found a dip in a few ounces of beer or a 5 percent ethyl alcohol solution sedates the snails. ... read more

Peccaries of Mesoamerica Now Highly Threatened, Warn Experts

Oct. 4, 2016 — Hunting, deforestation, and cattle ranching in Mesoamerica have become a triad of trouble for the white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari), an ecologically important species now ... read more

The Amazing Recovery of Yosemite’s Yellow-Legged Frog

Oct. 5, 2016 — With 7,000 amphibian surveys conducted over 20 years, biologists detail the remarkable recovery of an endangered frog species ... read more

The Great Feeding-Frenzy: Species-Rich Food Webs Produce Biomass More Efficiently

Oct. 5, 2016 — Researchers have discovered a feedback in complex food webs: species-rich ecosystems favor large, heavy animals. Even though ... read more

Extensive Deep Coral Reefs in Hawaii Harbor Unique Species and High Coral Cover

Oct. 4, 2016 — Researchers has completed a comprehensive investigation of deep coral-reef environments throughout the Hawaiian Archipelago. ... read more

Large Animals, Such as the Imperious African Elephant, Most Vulnerable to Impact of Human Expansion

Oct. 4, 2016 — Some of the most iconic giants of the animal kingdom, such as the imperious African elephant, are most vulnerable to the detrimental impact of human ... read more

Fossil from Oldest Ancestor of Modern Sea Turtles

Oct. 3, 2016 — The earliest ancestors of modern sea turtles may have come from the Deep South in the United States, new evidence suggests. Working with two relatively complete turtle ... read more

Optimization Technique Identifies Cost-Effective Biodiversity Corridors

Sep. 27, 2016 — A new optimization technique could help conservation biologists choose the most cost-effective ways of connecting isolated populations of rare, threatened and endangered ... read more

More Animals Are Getting Legal Protection. Now For The Bad News

Endangered Hawaiian Crow Species Shows Knack for Tool Use

Dinosaurs Roar Into Life in Berlin Thanks to Virtual Reality

Add Eastern Gorillas To The List Of Critically Endangered Species

Fossils Can Help Predict Future Species Survival

Sep. 27, 2016 — Many people are concerned about conservation of the planet's cute and cuddlies. But in a world of global climate change, sometimes we must prioritize which species we can and should save from ... read more

Poaching Behind Worst African Elephant Losses in 25 Years

Sep. 26, 2016 — Africa's overall elephant population has seen the worst declines in 25 years, mainly due to poaching over the past ten years -- according to IUCN's African Elephant Status ... read more

Gaps in Data Place Thousands of Illegally Traded Wild Animals at Risk, Say Researchers

Sep. 26, 2016 — The fate of over 64,000 live wild animals officially reported to have been confiscated by enforcement agencies remains untraceable, according to a new report. Between 2010 and 2014, more than 64,000 ... read more

Underwater 'Cystoseira Zosteroides' Forests, the Mediterranean Algae, Threatened by Human Activity Impact

Sep. 23, 2016 — The effects of an intense storm every twenty-five years could make the marine alga populations of <em>Cystoseira zosteroides</em> disappear – an endemic species of the Mediterranean ... read more

Bizarre New Species of Extinct Reptile Shows Dinosaurs Copied Body, Skull Shapes of Distant Relatives

Sep. 22, 2016 — Iconic dinosaur shapes were present for at least a hundred million years on our planet in animals before those dinosaurs themselves actually ... read more

How a Native Plant Ended Up on Reality TV, and Why It's at Risk

Sep. 22, 2016 — In one of television’s more bizarre recent offerings, the History Channel show “Appalachian Outlaws” follows a band of West Virginians as they hunt rugged forests for American ginseng, a ... read more

More Than One in Ten UK Species Threatened With Extinction

Sep. 21, 2016 — Climate change, urban expansion and agricultural intensification blamed for risk to some of Britain's best loved species. Some of the UK's leading nature experts have delivered a clarion ... read more

Malaysia's Unique Freshwater Mussels in Danger

Sep. 21, 2016 — Peninsular Malaysia hosts at least three rare mussel species, one of which (Hyriopsis bialata) is not found anywhere else on the planet. Now investigators suggest that this species may be in danger. ... read more

Better Models to Forecast Effects of Environmental Change on Food Webs

Sep. 21, 2016 — Ppredator-feeding behavior, global warming, and nutrient enrichment affect the basic building blocks of food webs, says a new dissertation. Just a small increase in temperature or in the availability ... read more

Fate of Turtles, Tortoises Affected More by Habitat Than Temperature

Sep. 20, 2016 — Habitat degradation poses a greater risk to the survival of turtles and tortoises than rising global temperatures, according to new research. More than 60 per cent are listed as vulnerable, ... read more

Where and How Climate Change Is Altering Species

Sep. 20, 2016 — New research illuminates where and why novel species combinations are likely to emerge due to recent changes in temperature and ... read more

Sea Otter Survey Encouraging, but Comes Up Short of the 'Perfect Story'

Sep. 20, 2016 — The southern sea otter,Enhydra lutris nereis, continues its climb toward recovery, according to the annual count. For the first time, southern sea otters' numbers have exceeded the threshold ... read more

Reptilian Anachronism: American Alligator Older Than We Thought

Sep. 17, 2016 — From climate to the peninsula's very shape, not much in Florida has stayed the same over the last 8 million years. Except, it turns out, ... read more

What Dinosaurs' Color Patterns Say About Their Habitat

Sep. 16, 2016 — After reconstructing the color patterns of a well-preserved dinosaur from China, researchers have found that the long-lost species Psittacosaurus (meaning "parrot lizard," a reference to ... read more

For 20 Million Years, the Diversity of Large Terrestrial Mammals Depended on Plant Growth

Sep. 15, 2016 — For more than 20 million years, the ups and downs of diversity in terrestrial large mammals were determined by primary production, i.e. net production of plant biomass. This pattern changed with the ... read more

Larger Marine Animals at Higher Risk of Extinction, and Humans Are to Blame

Sep. 14, 2016 — In today's oceans, larger-bodied marine animals are more likely to become extinct than smaller creatures, according to a new report. It's a pattern that is unprecedented in the history of ... read more

Tropical Crow Species Is Highly Skilled Tool User

Sep. 14, 2016 — An international team of scientists and conservation experts has discovered that the critically-endangered Hawaiian crow is a highly proficient tool ... read more

New Book Details South America’s Surprising Prehistoric Mammals

Sep. 14, 2016 — South America was home to a host of unique animals during the 60-some million years the continent was isolated, during most of the Cenozic Period. Details and constructions of mammals ranging from ... read more

Coastal Occupation Affects Tropical Reefs in Brazil

Sep. 14, 2016 — Researchers in Brazil warn of the negative environmental impacts of unplanned coastal occupation on tropical reefs and consequently on the conservation of marine biodiversity. Researchers state that ... read more

Ancient DNA Traces Extinct Caribbean 'Island Murderer' Back to the Dawn of Mammals

Sep. 13, 2016 — From skeletal remains found among ancient owl pellets, a team of scientists has recovered the first ancient DNA of the extinct West Indian mammal Nesophontes, meaning 'island murder.' They ... read more

Tuesday, September 27, 2016