Endangered Animals News

November 1, 2024

Top Headlines

Oct. 28, 2024 — A new study shows the remarkable adaptability of the critically endangered Cat Ba langurs. Despite low genetic diversity, the langurs have retained key genetic traits that help them survive in their isolated environment on Cat Ba Island in Vietnam. ...

Giant Clam Declared Critically Endangered After the Latest Assessment

Oct. 28, 2024 — Once abundant, the massive, colorful clam is now locally extinct in many regions, with a critical drop in population due to overfishing and climate ...

Crustacean With Panda-Like Coloring Confirmed to Be a New Species

Oct. 24, 2024 — Decades after it was first found in Japan, a crustacean species with unique black-and-white coloring resembling a panda has been confirmed to be new to ...

Fossils Unveil How Southern Europe's Ecosystem Changed Through Glacial-Interglacial Stages

Oct. 23, 2024 — Fossils from more than 600,000 years ago reveal how Southern Europe's animal community shifted between warm and cold climate fluctuations, according to a new ...

Latest Headlines

updated 11:18pm EDT

Move Along, Moose: Study Reveals the 'Most Canadian' Animals

Oct. 25, 2024 — What is the 'most Canadian' animal? Spoiler: it's not the beaver, or the moose. A new study ranks species of terrestrial vertebrates in Canada by their level of Canadian evolutionary distinctness: ...

New Parasite Discovered Amid Decline of California's Unique Channel Island Fox

Oct. 23, 2024 — In the 1990s, the San Miguel Island fox nearly went extinct, with numbers dropping to just 15. A recovery program increased their population by 2010, ...

Researcher Works to Preserve the White Shark in the Mediterranean Sea

Oct. 22, 2024 — Biologists are working to save one of the most endangered white shark populations on the planet. The research team located signs of the remaining white sharks in the Sicilian ...

Modern Mass Extinction in an Ecuadorean Cloud Forest Found to Be a Mirage

Oct. 15, 2024 — An international team of botanists finds no proof of extinctions in Centinela, but abundant evidence that Centinela's flora lives on in the scattered remaining fragments of coastal Ecuador's ...

Tube Sock-Like Skunk Covers More Ground Than Deer, Impacted by Winter Weather, Study Finds

Oct. 15, 2024 — A study in the Cascade Range in Oregon of a tiny, elusive skunk found the animal can cover more ground than deer and is sensitive to climate change, ...

Bonobos May Be More Vulnerable Than Previously Thought, Suggests Genetics Study

Oct. 15, 2024 — Bonobos, endangered great apes that are among our closest relatives, might be more vulnerable than previously understood, finds a genetics study that ...

Adaptability of Trees Persists After Millions of Years of Climate Change

Oct. 14, 2024 — Seven of the most common forest trees in Europe have been shown to be able to shelter their genetic diversity from major shifts in environmental conditions. This is despite their ranges having shrunk ...

Dance, Gibbon, Dance!

Oct. 11, 2024 — Female crested gibbons display jerky, almost geometric patterns of movement. Researchers have studied these conspicuous movements, which are comparable to human dances. They describe the structure of ...

Whale Shark Shipping Collisions May Increase as Oceans Warm

Oct. 7, 2024 — Global warming could increase the threat posed to whale sharks from large ships, according to a new ...

The True Global Impact of Species-Loss Caused by Humans Is Far Greater Than Expected

Oct. 3, 2024 — The extinction of hundreds of bird species caused by humans over the last 130,000 years has led to substantial reductions in avian functional ...

Smaller, More Specific Academic Journals Have More Sway Over Policy

Oct. 18, 2024 — Journals focused on ferns, clams, or coral reefs had proportionally more of their articles cited by the federal government when protecting species than more prominent, higher-impact journals. The ...

Scientists Use Tiny 'Backpacks' on Turtle Hatchlings to Observe Their Movements

Oct. 2, 2024 — Miniature accelerometers reveal new insights into the elusive period between turtles hatching and emerging above ...

Megadiverse Flowering Plant Family on Isolated Islands

Sep. 30, 2024 — Asteraceae, a family of flowering plants which includes daisies, sunflowers and asters, are the most diverse group of flowering plants in the world. This plant family comprises around 34,000 species, ...

Return of the Elephants Seals: From a Few to Thousands

Sep. 27, 2024 — A new international study has revealed the genetic impact of hunting in northern elephant seals. The research shows that this species narrowly escaped extinction by hunting, resulting in lasting ...

Forest Loss Forces Langur Species to Interbreed

Sep. 27, 2024 — Research shows a threatening development for two endangered primate species in Bangladesh: Phayre's langurs (Trachypithecus phayrei) and capped langurs (Trachypithecus pileatus). In mixed groups ...

Extreme Polar Light Environment of the North and South Poles Sustains Biodiversity

Sep. 23, 2024 — Researchers working in Finland propose that the unique light environment of the Earth's Polar regions creates conditions that result in circumpolar hybrid zones around the North and the South ...

What's for Dinner? Scientists Unearth Key Clues to Cuisine of Resident Killer Whales

Sep. 19, 2024 — Scientists have discovered the cuisine preferences of two resident killer whale populations, also known as orcas: the Alaska residents and the southern residents, which reside primarily in the Salish ...

Even Marine Animals in Untouched Habitats Are at Risk from Human Impacts

Sep. 18, 2024 — Climate change and a range of other human impacts are putting marine animals at risk of extinction -- even those living in almost pristine marine habitats and diverse coastal regions -- reports a new ...

If You Build It, Will They Come? Wildlife Corridors Need Smarter Design

Sep. 18, 2024 — A study reveals that current methods of designing and evaluating wildlife corridors may not be adequate to ensure wildlife protection, and suggests that Best Management Practices should include ...

Scientists Urge New Conservation Approach to Save Vulnerable Species from Climate Change Impacts

Sep. 18, 2024 — A team of scientists alarmed by the loss of biodiversity across the world due to climate change has proposed a new approach to managing vulnerable landscapes, focusing on sites that are least ...

Unravelling an Ancient European Extinction Mystery: Disappearance of Dwarf Megafauna on Palaeolithic Cyprus

Sep. 17, 2024 — Scientists have unravelled a mystery about the disappearance of dwarf hippos and elephants that once roamed the picturesque landscape on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus before palaeolithic humans ...

Highly-Sensitive Beaks Could Help Albatrosses and Penguins Find Their Food

Sep. 17, 2024 — Researchers have discovered that seabirds, including penguins and albatrosses, have highly-sensitive regions in their beaks that could be used to help them find food. This is the first time this ...

New 'Grumpy' Fish Species Discovered in the Red Sea

Sep. 16, 2024 — Scientists have discovered a new species of fish, the 'grumpy dwarfgoby'. Found among coral reefs in the Red Sea, it has large canines and a fierce expression, even though it is only 2 cm ...

How El Nino and Mega Ocean Warming Caused the Greatest-Ever Mass Extinction

Sep. 12, 2024 — Mega ocean warming El Nino events were key in driving the largest extinction of life on planet Earth some 252 million years ago, according to new research. The study has shed new light on why the ...

Flightless Parrot in New Zealand Developed Different Feather Colors to Evade Predatory Birds

Sep. 10, 2024 — Aotearoa New Zealand's flightless parrot, the k k p , evolved two different color types to potentially help them avoid detection by a now-extinct apex predator, researchers ...

Grim Statistics on Koala Survival Odds

Sep. 9, 2024 — Records of koala admissions to veterinary hospitals in South East Queensland shows euthanasia was the most common ...

Protecting Just 0.7% of World's Land Could Help Save a Third of Most Unique and Endangered Species

Sep. 6, 2024 — Conservation efforts directed towards just 0.7% of the world's land mass could help protect one third of the world's threatened and unique tetrapod (four-limbed vertebrate) ...

Infertility Challenges Amongst Endangered Wild Songbird Population Revealed in New Study

Sep. 3, 2024 — A groundbreaking study has provided the most comprehensive estimate to date of infertility rates in a threatened wild animal ...

Number of Fish Species at Risk of Extinction Fivefold Higher Than Previous Estimates, According to a New Prediction

Aug. 29, 2024 — Researchers predict that 12.7% of marine teleost fish species are at risk of extinction, up fivefold from the International Union for Conservation of Nature's prior estimate of 2.5%. Their ...

Rain or Shine? How Rainfall Impacts Size of Sea Turtle Hatchlings

Aug. 28, 2024 — An internationally collaborative study delves into how fluctuating rainfall impacts the development of sea turtle hatchlings, revealing that it has a more profound effect than changes in air ...