Extinction News

November 12, 2024

Top Headlines

Algae Research Provides Insight on Immune Health

Oct. 30, 2024 — Marine animals like jellyfish, corals and sea anemones often live with algae inside their cells in a symbiotic relationship. The animals give the algae nutrients and a place to live; in return, algae give the animals some of the food they make from ...

Dinosaurs Thrived After Ice, Not Fire, Says a New Study of Ancient Volcanism

Oct. 28, 2024 — The Triassic-Jurassic Extinction, 201.6 million years ago, has been considered by some to have been a fairly slow-burn event, driven by rising temperatures and ocean acidification. A new study says ...

Why Langurs Drink Salt Water

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 ...

Latest Headlines

updated 6:18pm EST

More Than One Third of Vietnam's Mammal Species Are at Risk of Extinction, Study Finds

Nov. 12, 2024 — A recent study highlights that over one-third of Vietnam's 329 mammal species are threatened with ...

Large Herbivores Have Lived in Yellowstone National Park for More Than 2,000 Years

Oct. 30, 2024 — Large herbivores like bison or elk have continuously lived in the Yellowstone National Park region for about 2,300 years, according to a new analysis ...

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: ...

How Mammals Got Their Stride

Oct. 25, 2024 — Researchers reveal new insights into the complex evolutionary history behind the distinctive upright posture of modern placental and marsupial mammals, showing the transition was surprisingly complex ...

New Mapping Techniques Empower Bird Conservation in Colombia

Oct. 24, 2024 — Researchers have introduced a transformative approach to mapping bird species distribution across Colombia, harnessing community science data and innovative modeling ...

Human Actions Likely Cause Insect Color Change

Oct. 24, 2024 — New Zealand's native stoneflies have changed colour in response to human-driven environmental changes, new research shows. The study provides arguably the world's most clear-cut case of animal ...

Will Tropical Biodiversity Run Dry Under Climate Change? Two Visions for the Future

Oct. 22, 2024 — Changing precipitation patterns in the Neotropics, one of Earth's most biodiverse regions, could threaten two-thirds of the area's bird species by ...

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 ...

Turtle Genome Provides New Clues on the Evolution of Vertebrates

Oct. 21, 2024 — Scientists have generated the genome assemblies of two hidden-neck turtles, unpublished until now. The results, which revealed a new three-dimensional structure of the genome within the phylogenetic ...

Better Ocean Connectivity Boosts Reef Fish Populations

Oct. 18, 2024 — A new study has found that oceanographic connectivity (the movement and exchange of water between different parts of the ocean) is a key influence for fish abundance across the Western Indian Ocean ...

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 ...

New Temperatures in Two Thirds of Key Tropical Forest

Oct. 15, 2024 — Two thirds of Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) in tropical forests are experiencing new temperature conditions as our climate changes, research ...

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 ...

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, particularly severe winter ...

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 ...

Severe Cold-Water Bleaching and Mortality of Deep-Water Reef Observed in the Eastern Tropical Pacific

Oct. 11, 2024 — New study documents a severe coral bleaching event occurring in a deep coral reef that resulted in high rates of coral mortality. Unlike many bleaching events, this was driven by the presence of ...

Newly Discovered Late Cretaceous Birds May Have Carried Heavy Prey Like Extant Raptors

Oct. 9, 2024 — Newly discovered birds from Late Cretaceous North America were hawk-sized and had powerful raptor-like feet, according to a new ...

Plenty More Fish in the Sea? Environmental Protections Account for Around 10 Percent of Fish Stocks on Coral Reefs

Oct. 7, 2024 — New research shows that international conservation efforts account for approximately 10 percent of fish stocks on coral ...

Ant Agriculture Began 66 Million Years Ago in the Aftermath of the Asteroid That Doomed the Dinosaurs

Oct. 3, 2024 — According to a new study, colonies of ants began farming fungi when an asteroid struck Earth 66 million years ago. This asteroid impact caused a global mass extinction but also created ideal ...

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 diversity -- a measure of the range of different roles ...

Oyster Reefs Once Thrived Along Europe's Coasts -- Now They're Gone

Oct. 3, 2024 — Oysters once formed extensive reefs along much of Europe's coastline -- but these complex ecosystems were destroyed over a century ago, new research ...

New Findings Supply Corrective to Evolutionary Hypothesis

Oct. 3, 2024 — The study blends math, statistics and biology to show that this long-held hyperbolic pattern is an anomaly because it doesn't account for the fact that all species on earth are defined as much ...

Study of Monkey Fossils Found in Cave Sheds Light on the Animals' Extinction Centuries Ago

Oct. 2, 2024 — By studying rare fossils of jaws and other skull parts of a long-extinct Caribbean monkey, a team of researchers says it has uncovered new evidence documenting the anatomy and ecology of an extinct ...

The Rate of Climate Change Threatens to Exceed the Adaptive Capacity of Species

Oct. 2, 2024 — A recent study focusing on the Arctic Siberian primrose underscores the critical need to curb climate change to allow species time to adapt through ...

Coral Reef Destruction a Threat to Human Rights

Sep. 30, 2024 — A human rights-based approach to coral reef protection could ensure governments are held to account for safeguarding marine ...

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 ...

Dead Coral Skeletons Hinder Reef Regeneration by Sheltering Seaweed

Sep. 26, 2024 — The structural complexity of coral reefs creates a vibrant underwater city populated by a diverse assortment of characters. Ironically, this same complexity can impede coral recovery after ...

Ancient Reef-Builders Dodged Extinction -- At Least Temporarily

Sep. 25, 2024 — Scientists discovered that ancient reef-building stromatoporoids survived the Late Devonian extinction, contrary to previous beliefs, and continued to thrive. The findings reveal how these organisms ...