Extinction News

December 24, 2024

Top Headlines

Individual Leopards Can Be Identified by Their Roars

Dec. 23, 2024 — In the first large-scale paired camera trap and autonomous recording survey for large African carnivores, researchers were able to identify individual leopards by their vocalizations with 93% ...

New Study Highlights the Correlation Between Live Corals and Fishing Yields

Dec. 19, 2024 — A new study examines the correlation between fish yield and live coral habitats. Researchers analyzed the yields of nine fisheries dependent on Australia's Great Barrier Reef from 2016 to 2020. Results show that substantial losses could occur if the ...

Researchers Identify a Mysterious Fossil Seed to Reveal New Chapters in Climate History of Los Angeles

Dec. 19, 2024 — Scientists have successfully identified a previously unknown species to Southern California from fossilized seeds, revealing a drought-fueled dance between two species of juniper with lessons for the ...

Chart of Life Extended by Nearly 1.5 Billion Years

Dec. 19, 2024 — Fossilized skeletons and shells clearly show how evolution and extinction unfolded over the past half a billion years, but a new analysis extends the chart of life to nearly 2 billion years ago. The chart shows the relative ups and downs in species ...

Latest Headlines

updated 8:17pm EST

Massive Volcanic Eruptions Did Not Cause the Extinction of Dinosaurs

Dec. 18, 2024 — While volcanism caused a temporary cold period, the effects had already worn off thousands of years before the meteorite, the ultimate cause of the dinosaur extinction event, ...

Threat of Abrupt Mortality Events Keeps Endangered Monkey Population at Risk, Despite Decades of Growth

Dec. 16, 2024 — Despite the population being almost four times larger than it was in 1982, a new study published in the journal Ecology suggests the northern muriqui ...

New Research About Drought Impacts on Wildlife Can Inform Conservation Strategies

Dec. 16, 2024 — New research shows that many wildlife species in the U.S., like the endangered giant kangaroo rat, will face much more frequent and severe droughts ...

Botanists Name Beautiful New Species of 'Lipstick Vine' from the Philippine Rainforest

Dec. 12, 2024 — Scientists have today announced the discovery of a species of lipstick vine completely new to science, from the depths of the Philippine rainforest. ...

Hippos 'Vulnerable' as Gaps in Data Hinder Conservation Efforts

Dec. 13, 2024 — A new database of African hippo populations has revealed huge gaps in our knowledge of where the megaherbivores live and thrive, with populations fragmented and reliant on protected ...

Overfishing Has Halved Shark and Ray Populations Since 1970

Dec. 12, 2024 — A new analysis reveals that overfishing has caused populations of chondrichthyan fishes -- sharks, rays, and chimaeras -- to decline by more than 50 per cent since 1970. To determine the ...

Australia's Extinction Tally Is Worse Than We Thought

Dec. 11, 2024 — A new study estimates that more than 9000 insects and other native invertebrates have become extinct in Australia since European arrival in 1788 and between 1-3 additional species become extinct ...

Well-Meaning Dogs Led Astray by Rule-Defying Owners

Dec. 11, 2024 — While good dogs never mean harm, they are often directed to remain on-lead in nature reserves to protect wildlife. Research has found that whether dog owners follow this rule is mostly driven by ...

Human Disruption Is Driving 'Winner' and 'Loser' Tree Species Shifts Across Brazilian Forests

Dec. 10, 2024 — Fast-growing and small-seeded tree species are dominating Brazilian forests in regions with high levels of deforestation and degradation, a new study ...

Biodiversity at Risk in Most Rainforests

Dec. 9, 2024 — New research has revealed less than a quarter of the remaining tropical rainforests around the globe can safeguard thousands of threatened species from ...

Conservation Paradox: Invasive Species Are Often Threatened in Their Native Range

Dec. 6, 2024 — Non-native species introduced by humans are among the main causes of global species decline -- they were partly responsible for 60 percent of the species that have become extinct worldwide in recent ...

Deforestation Reduces Malaria Bed Nets' Effectiveness

Dec. 5, 2024 — When a forest is lost to development, some effects are obvious. Stumps and mud puddles across the landscape, a plowed field or houses a year after that. But deforestation isn't just a loss of ...

Lifesaver for Wild Bees: The Importance of Quarries

Dec. 4, 2024 — A research team has investigated the importance of limestone quarries for wild bee conservation. Diverse landscapes with good connectivity between quarries and calcareous grasslands proved to be ...

Mammoth as Key Food Source for Ancient Americans

Dec. 4, 2024 — Scientists have uncovered the first direct evidence that ancient Americans relied primarily on mammoth and other large animals for food. Their research sheds new light on both the rapid expansion of ...

Island Biodiversity Rides on the Wings of Birds

Dec. 3, 2024 — Bird wing shape -- a proxy for long-distance flying ability, or dispersal -- is a trait that influences biodiversity patterns on islands around the world, according to ...

In 'World's Bonobo Stronghold' Rangers and Pristine Forest Sustain a Stable Population

Dec. 2, 2024 — Scientists now know how many bonobos live in one of the largest pristine tropical forests, a place believed to be the world's stronghold for the endangered species. The research estimates that ...

Fossil Dung Reveals Clues to Dinosaur Success Story

Nov. 29, 2024 — Researchers have been able to identify undigested food remains, plants and prey in the fossilized feces of dinosaurs. These analyses of hundreds of samples provide clues about the role dinosaurs ...

Coral Adaptation Unlikely to Keep Pace With Global Warming

Nov. 28, 2024 — Coral adaptation to ocean warming and marine heatwaves will likely be overwhelmed without rapid reductions of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to an international team of ...

Discovering the Traits of Extinct Birds

Nov. 27, 2024 — Analysis of 216 extinct species by biologists found birds endemic to islands, occupied ecologically specific niche, lacking flight, with large bodies and sharply angled wings were the ones likely to ...

Vultures and Artificial Intelligence(s) as Death Detectors: High-Tech Approach for Wildlife Research and Conservation

Nov. 19, 2024 — In order to use remote locations to record and assess the behavior of wildlife and environmental conditions, the GAIA Initiative developed an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm that reliably and ...

New Model Can Help Understand Coexistence in Nature

Nov. 18, 2024 — Different species of seabirds can coexist on small, isolated islands despite eating the same kind of fish. A researcher has been involved in developing a mathematical model that can be used to better ...

One or Many? Exploring the Population Groups of the Largest Animal on Earth

Nov. 15, 2024 — Hunted nearly to extinction during 20th century whaling, the Antarctic blue whale, the world's largest animal, went from a population size of roughly 200,000 to little more than 300. The most ...

Frog Populations Once Decimated by Disease Mount a Major Comeback

Nov. 14, 2024 — Thanks to the consistent and focused efforts of researchers and conservationists to save, then reintroduce, mountain yellow-legged frogs to lakes in Yosemite National Park, their populations are ...

Climate Change Threatens Key Ocean Plankton Groups

Nov. 13, 2024 — Planktonic foraminifera are tiny marine organisms, which are essential to the ocean's carbon cycle. A recent study reveals that these populations are shrinking at an alarming rate due to ocean ...

Bird Brain from the Age of Dinosaurs Reveals Roots of Avian Intelligence

Nov. 13, 2024 — A 'one of a kind' fossil discovery could transform our understanding of how the unique brains and intelligence of modern birds evolved, one of the most enduring mysteries of vertebrate ...

Pioneering Research Shows Sea Life Will Struggle to Survive Future Global Warming

Nov. 13, 2024 — A new study highlights how some marine life could face extinction over the next century, if human-induced global warming ...

Young Coral Use Metabolic Tricks to Resist Bleaching

Nov. 12, 2024 — Coral larvae reduce their metabolism and increase nitrogen uptake to resist bleaching in high temperatures, according to a new ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 of chemicals preserved in lake ...