extinction

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Western Black Rhino Extinct
 Western Black Rhino Extinct 
Nov 10, 2011 3:36 AM CST

Western Black Rhino Extinct

Another rhino species at the point of no return, IUCN says

(Newser) - The western black rhino, one of four subspecies of black rhino, is now a thing of the past, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature's "Red List." The group has declared the black rhino species native to West Africa extinct and says another rhino species,...

New Bird Found in US for First Time Since '70s, But...

Species might already be extinct

(Newser) - It's the ultimate in good news/bad news for a little Hawaiian seabird: Ornithologists have declared the discovery of a new bird species in the US for the first time since 1974, reports Scientific American . But the species—dubbed Bryan’s shearwater—might already be extinct. It seems the bird...

Fossil Shows Meteor Wiped Out Dinosaurs

How a single horn could cement a theory

(Newser) - It’s just one horn, not quite a foot and a half long, but scientists say a newly discovered fossil could clinch the theory that a falling asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs. Skeptics of the scenario have always pointed out that we’ve found no dinosaur fossils dated within the...

Arabian 'Unicorn' Makes a Comeback

Roughly 1K Arabian Oryx living in the wild thanks to captive breeding

(Newser) - The Arabian Oryx, whose distinctive horns are widely believed to have given rise to the unicorn legend, is back from the brink of extinction in the deserts of the Arabian peninsula. About 1,000 of the creatures now exist owing to nearly three decades of successful breeding, a Swiss-based conservation...

Humans Wiped Out Hawaii Land Crab

They vanished about the time people arrived

(Newser) - Hawaii used to have land crabs that lived high up in the hills and wandered down to the ocean now and then—until humans came along and wrecked the party. Newly discovered fossils show that the creatures, which lived farther inland than most crabs and dined on insects and small...

Rare Galapagos Pinta Tortoise, Lonesome George, Seeks Mate
 Last Tortoise of His 
 Kind Needs a Date 
lonesome george
May 10, 2011 3:20 PM CDT

Last Tortoise of His Kind Needs a Date

Scientists struggle to find mate for 'Lonesome George'

(Newser) - When you’re the only known member of your species, romance is hard to find. Such is the case for Lonesome George, the last Pinta tortoise in the Galapagos. Since George’s discovery in 1971—at a time when his species was believed to be extinct—scientists have searched far...

Aussies Warm to Snarling, Vanishing Tasmanian Devil

Once-reviled creature in trouble

(Newser) - The Tasmanian devil is nobody’s idea of lovable. The combative screeching marsupial was once the most reviled animal in Australia. But now that the creature is on the brink of extinction , Australians have found a well of sympathy for the little devil, the LA Times reports. The devil’s...

Next Mass Extinction Looms
 Next Mass Extinction Looms 
study says
Mar 3, 2011 10:00 AM CST

Next Mass Extinction Looms

But it's in early stages, so there is hope, new paper says

(Newser) - Some conservationists have been using the term "the sixth extinction" for a few years now—referring to the possibility that more than 75% of existing species could disappear for the sixth time in the planet's history—but there's been little factual proof to back up the frightening prediction. Until...

20% of Species Risk Extinction

Amphibians in special danger

(Newser) - A whopping 20% of the world’s species are on the brink of extinction, according to a new study unveiled at the UN Biodiversity Summit in Japan. The Red List of Threatened Species now includes a staggering 41% of amphibians, with the heaviest losses coming from Southeast Asia, where habitats...

Rumors of My Extinction Have Been Exaggerated

One third of species thought extinct have resurfaced

(Newser) - The Guadalupe fur seal was declared extinct in 1882, but these days, you can find thousands of them swimming off the coast of Mexico. A small handful of the scrappy creatures had clung to life, hiding in island caves and evading human detection for decades. And it’s not the...

Thousands-of-Years-Long Meteor Shower Killed Dinos

Study: There were many meteor strikes, not one

(Newser) - Some scientists believe a single meteor strike in the Gulf of Mexico doomed the dinosaurs, but new research suggests that the dinosaurs may have been wiped out by a meteor shower that lasted thousands of years, finds the Telegraph . A recent study of a crater in Ukraine, which dates much,...

Snakes Headed the Way of the Dinosaur?
 Snakes Headed the 
 Way of the Dinosaur? 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Jun 13, 2010 2:30 PM CDT

Snakes Headed the Way of the Dinosaur?

Snakes may face fate similar to that of frogs and fish

(Newser) - After more than 150 million years on earth, snakes may be slithering toward extinction. A new study shows snake populations plummeting around the world, with an especially sharp and mysterious drop in 1998. Researchers who tracked 17 snake populations in Africa, Europe, and Australia were "alarmed" to find 11...

Aussies Find 'Extinct' Bell Frog
 Aussies Find 'Extinct' Bell Frog 
UN-CROAKED
Mar 4, 2010 12:33 PM CST

Aussies Find 'Extinct' Bell Frog

Amphibian was thought to be wiped out in 1970s by fungus

(Newser) - The yellow-spotted bell frog was thought to be wiped out in the 1970s when a deadly fungus invaded its native Australian habitat—until now. That’s right—the “extinct” species has been discovered in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, alive and well. “It was quite amazing,...

How Birds, Crocs Escaped Prehistoric Extinction

One-way breathing pattern points to common ancestor

(Newser) - In the midst of the planet's worst-ever wave of extinction some 250 million years ago, the ancestors of birds and alligators managed to survive thanks to a shared breathing mechanism that enabled them to weather low oxygen levels. New research shows that when birds and alligators breathe, air flows in...

'Extinct' Species That Are Still Kicking

Scientists find a plethora of animals presumed dead

(Newser) - Some 17,291 species are on the brink of extinction, but every so often a creature appears that scientists had already given up on. Above, a bunch of critters that, to quote Monty Python, think they might go for a walk.

Koalas Face Extinction by Climate, Chlamydia?

Changing world strips diet-staple eucalyptus of nutrients

(Newser) - Australia's koalas face extinction as their population has been decimated by climate change and the loss of trees due to development and wildfires. Six years ago, they were thought to number more than 100,000; today, their count is as low as 43,000. Threats to their diet of eucalyptus...

Sore Throat May Have Axed T Rex

Trichomonosis still affects modern birds and makes eating almost impossible

(Newser) - Tyrannosaurus rex could have been laid low not by a planetwide dinosaur holocaust or vicious infighting, but by a parasite that still affects modern birds. Researchers have taken a close look at lesions on T. rex fossils once presumed to be battle scars and concluded that they are the work...

Climate Change, Not Humans, Killed Mammoths

New tests suggest humans aren't to blame for extinction of prehistoric pachyderms

(Newser) - British scientists believe climate change did more than spear-wielding humans to wipe out the woolly mammoth in Europe, the Guardian reports. New tests have revealed that the mammoths roamed northern Europe until 14,000 years ago, much later than had been thought. Researchers believe the animals died out as the...

Baby Mammoth Gives Up Secrets

(Newser) - A nearly perfectly preserved 37,000-year-old baby mammoth is giving up tantalizing secrets about her species, scientists report. The creature, dubbed Lyuba by researchers, still sports clumps of hair and eyelashes, according to the Telegraph. Scientists have been able to examine stomach contents and the mineral makeup of the bones...

Dinos Survived in the Arctic

(Newser) - A meteor strikes Earth, dust clouds block the sun, and shivering dinosaurs die off in the cold—right? Not so, say researchers who have dug up dinosaur fossils well above the Arctic Circle in Russia. Because the find includes fossilized dino eggshells, they say, dinosaurs settled up there and withstood...

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