Five hundred juvenile sturgeons were released into the Saginaw River system last week as part of an ongoing effort to bring the giant fish back from the brink of extinction.
Tag: Extinction
Ammonites’ fate sealed by meteor strike that wiped out dinosaurs
Ammonites were not in decline before their extinction, scientists have found.
Scientists Predict Localized Extinction of Hudson Bay’s Polar Bears if Paris Climate Agreements Are Breached
For the first time, a multi-disciplinary team of scientists analyzes sea ice thickness against polar bear and seal survival across all of Hudson Bay; due to faster-than-expected sea ice loss, scientists predict localized polar bear extinction if Paris Agreements are not met
Human activity contributed to woolly rhinoceros’ extinction
Researchers have discovered sustained hunting by humans prevented the woolly rhinoceros from accessing favourable habitats as Earth warmed following the Last Ice Age.
Marine plankton behaviour could predict future marine extinctions, study finds
Marine communities migrated to Antarctica during the Earth’s warmest period in 66 million years long before a mass-extinction event.
450-million-year-old organism finds new life in Softbotics
Researchers used fossil evidence to engineer a soft robotic replica of an extinct marine organism to understand how locomotion has changed in animals over time.
How to help save plants from extinction
UCR researchers suggest that assessing a plant’s physiological state during stress, exacerbated by hotter, drier climates, can reveal their proximity to local extinction
UAlbany Expert Available to Discuss The Risks of Existential Terrorism and AI
ALBANY, N.Y. (Sept. 28, 2023) — Gary Ackerman, an associate professor and associate dean at the University at Albany’s College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity (CEHC), has spent decades studying terrorism around the world — from the motivations and capabilities…
Study finds human-driven mass extinction is eliminating entire branches of the tree of life
The passenger pigeon. The Tasmanian tiger. The Baiji, or Yangtze river dolphin. These rank among the best-known recent victims of what many scientists have declared the sixth mass extinction, as human actions are wiping out vertebrate animal species hundreds of times faster than they would otherwise disappear.
The pace of climate-driven extinction is accelerating, a UArizona-led study shows
Climate change is causing extinctions at an increasing rate, a new study by the University of Arizona researchers shows. They surveyed populations of the Yarrow’s spiny lizard in 18 mountain ranges in southeastern Arizona and analyzed the rate of climate-related extinction over time.
Kordofan giraffes face local extinction if poaching continues
Poaching of two Critically Endangered Kordofan giraffes per year could result in extinction in just 15 years within Cameroon’s Bénoué National Park without intervention. These are the alarming new findings of a University of Bristol and Bristol Zoological Society-led study published in the African Journal of Ecology.
Study finds European breeding birds respond only slowly to recent climate change
Over the last 30 years European breeding birds have shifted their range by, on average, 2.4km per year, according to new research.
Using AI to save species from extinction cascades
Algorithms can predict what movies or songs you might like, but they can also predict which species a predator would most likely eat.
Testing Yields New Evidence of Human Occupation 18,000 years ago in Oregon
University of Oregon archaeologists have found evidence suggesting humans occupied the Rimrock Draw Rockshelter outside of Riley, Oregon more than 18,000 years ago.
Insular dwarfs and giants more likely to go extinct
Islands are hotspots for biodiversity – they cover less than 7% of the Earth’s land area, but account for up to 20% of all terrestrial species on the planet. However, islands are also hotspots for species extinction as 50% of today’s IUCN threatened species are native to islands.
New study reveals biodiversity loss drove ecological collapse after the “Great Dying”
By exploring the stability and collapse of marine ecosystems during the Permian-Triassic mass extinction, researchers gain insights into modern biodiversity crisis
Rates of hatching failure in birds almost twice as high as previously estimated
Hatching failure rates in birds are almost twice as high as experts previously estimated, according to the largest ever study of its kind.
Malformed seashells, ancient sediment provide clues about Earth’s past
Nearly 100 million years ago, the Earth experienced an extreme environmental disruption that choked oxygen from the oceans and led to elevated marine extinction levels that affected the entire globe.
Diving birds are more prone to extinction, says new study
Diving birds like penguins, puffins and cormorants may be more prone to extinction than non-diving birds, according to a new study by the Milner Centre for Evolution at the University of Bath.
What Ancient Underwater Food Webs Can Tell Us About the Future of Climate Change
UNLV analysis challenges the idea that ocean ecosystems have barely changed over millions of years, pointing scientists down a new path on conservation efforts and policy.
Math Model Shows Climate Change Puts Rainforest Animal’s Survival in Jeopardy
A South American marsupial with ties to an ancient line of animals may go extinct in the next half-century due to warming temperatures. Researchers from the Universidad Austral de Chile will present a mathematical model of the monito del monte’s survival predictions this week at the American Physiological Society (APS) Intersociety Meeting in Comparative Physiology: From Organism to Omics in an Uncertain World conference in San Diego.
Keeping Kermit healthy
A world-first study from the University of South Australia shows that while Bd can significantly reduce in captive frogs, captivity can have negative consequences for the frogs’ protective skin microbiota, providing new insight into diversity management.
Environmental stability on Earth allowed marine biodiversity to flourish
Modern ocean biodiversity, which is at its highest level ever, was achieved through long-term stability of the location of so-called biodiversity hotspots, regions of especially high numbers of species, scientists have found.
Scientists react to planned cull of Swedish wolves
The Swedish Parliament recently presented its ambition to drastically reduce number of wolves in Sweden – from approximately 400 down to approximately 200. Scientists are now reacting to this goal. In a letter published in Science 18 researchers from 5 countries warn that such a cull would further threaten this already highly vulnerable population.
Scientists identify gaps in the protection of Vietnam’s amphibians
As was highlighted in the foreword to the renowned WWF Greater Mekong Report 2021, written by Prof. Dr. Thomas Ziegler, Curator for Herpetology, Ichthyology, and Invertebrates, at Cologne Zoo (Köln, Germany), there is an urgent need for more studies that identify the gaps in species conservation.
Dinosaurs Took Over Amid Ice, Not Warmth, Says a New Study of Ancient Mass Extinction
Many of us know the conventional theory of how the dinosaurs died 66 million years ago: in Earth’s fiery collision with a meteorite, and a following global winter as dust and debris choked the atmosphere.
Researchers Reveal New Mechanism of End-Permian Terrestrial Mass Extinction
End-Permian extinction (EPE) is the greatest biotic crisis in Earth’s history, eliminating more than 90% of species in the oceans and more than 70% of species on land.
The first international study of its kind assesses the status of all reptile species: At least 2,000 species of reptiles are threatened
The new assessment will enable researchers to understand the conservation needs of threatened species and find intelligent conservation solutions
More reptile species may be at risk of extinction than previously thought
Machine learning tool estimates extinction risk for species previously unprioritized for conservation.
Brain Size Determined The Chances of Survival Among Large Animals
Researchers at Tel Aviv University, and the University of Naples, have examined the mass extinction of large animals over the past tens of thousands of years and found that extinct species had, on average, much smaller brains than species that survived.
Global Bird Populations Steadily Declining
Staggering declines in bird populations are taking place around the world. So concludes a study from scientists at multiple institutions, published today in the journal Annual Review of Environment and Resources. Loss and degradation of natural habitats and direct overexploitation of many species are cited as the key threats to avian biodiversity. Climate change is identified as an emerging driver of bird population declines.
World’s New Stream Frog Found in Myanmar: Chula Researcher Indicates Its Ecosystem Is Intact
A biologist from the Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University working with researchers from Germany and Myanmar has discovered two of the world’s newest stream frogs in Myanmar highlighting the remaining diversity of ecosystems in Southeast Asia and cautions all those involved of the need to conserve our forests before our valuable wildlife become extinct.
Humans hastened the extinction of the woolly mammoth
New research shows that humans had a significant role in the extinction of woolly mammoths in Eurasia, occurring thousands of years later than previously thought.
New Book by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Marine Scientist Offers a Grim Look at an Endangered Whale Species
A new book by Michael Moore, veterinarian, and marine scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), examines the plight and future of the North Atlantic right whale, one of the most critically endangered species on the planet, and draws on Moore’s 40 years of fieldwork to offer possible solutions.
New Research Reveals Remarkable Resilience of Sea Life in the Aftermath of Mass Extinctions
Pioneering research has shown marine ecosystems can start working again, providing important functions for humans, after being wiped out much sooner than their return to peak biodiversity.
New Study Sheds Light on Caribbean Mammal Extinctions, Helps Guide Conservation Strategies
A new study reveals that the largest and smallest mammals in the Caribbean have been the most vulnerable to extinction. The findings, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, help predict future extinction risk and inform the conservation strategies needed to prevent future biodiversity loss.
Don’t focus on genetic diversity to save our species
Scientists at the University of Adelaide have challenged the common assumption that genetic diversity of a species is a key indicator of extinction risk.
Rutgers Expert Available to Discuss Record Year for Bald Eagles in N.J.
New Brunswick, N.J. (Jan. 13, 2021) – Rutgers University–New Brunswick ecologist Michael C. Allen is available for interviews on the record year for bald eagles in New Jersey. “The resounding return of bald eagles in North America has been especially strong…
Big Differences in How Coral Reef Fish Larvae are Dispersed
How the larvae of colorful clownfish that live among coral reefs in the Philippines are dispersed varies widely, depending on the year and seasons – a Rutgers-led finding that could help scientists improve conservation of species. Right after most coral reef fish hatch, they join a swirling sea of plankton as tiny, transparent larvae. Then currents, winds and waves disperse them, frequently to different reefs.
Most Nations Failing to Protect Nature in COVID-19 Pandemic Recovery Plans
The COVID-19 pandemic provides an opportunity to reset the global economy and reverse decades of ecosystem and species losses, but most countries are failing to invest in nature-related economic reforms or investments, according to a Rutgers-led paper.
Climate change threatens Komodo dragons
The world’s largest lizard, the Komodo dragon, could be driven to extinction by climate change unless significant measures to intervene are taken soon.
Discovery of a new mass extinction
It’s not often a new mass extinction is identified; after all, such events were so devastating they really stand out in the fossil record. In a new paper, published today in Science Advances, an international team has identified a major extinction of life 233 million years ago that triggered the dinosaur takeover of the world. The crisis has been called the Carnian Pluvial Episode.
Fossil Pollen Record Suggests Vulnerability to Mass Extinction Ahead
Reduced resilience of plant biomes in North America could be setting the stage for the kind of mass extinctions not seen since the retreat of glaciers and arrival of humans about 13,000 years ago, cautions a new study published August 20 in the journal Global Change Biology.
Mankind is the problem, and we appear to be hastily destroying life around us, says a Washington University in St. Louis biodiversity expert about new research with a WashU connection.
Mankind is the problem, and we appear to be hastily destroying life around us, says a Washington University in St. Louis biodiversity expert upon reading new research with a WashU connection. In a study published June 1 in the Proceedings of…
Scientists resurrect mammoth’s broken genes
Woolly mammoths on Wrangel Island may have been the last of their kind anywhere on Earth. To learn about the forces that contributed to their extinction, scientists have resurrected a Wrangel Island mammoth’s mutated genes. The goal was to study whether the genes functioned normally. They did not.
Lights out? Fireflies face extinction threats of habitat loss, light pollution, pesticides
Habitat loss, pesticide use and, artificial light are the three most serious threats endangering fireflies across the globe, raising the spectre of extinction for certain species whose features render them more vulnerable to specific threats. Impacts range from loss of biodiversity to ecotourism.
What Is An Endangered Species?
What makes for an endangered species classification isn’t always obvious.