http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/plants_animals/extinction/ Extinction of animals and plants. Read scientific research on the dinosaur extinction, future mass extinctions, and endangered species. What can be done? en-us Sat, 11 Jul 2009 18:05:01 EDT Sat, 11 Jul 2009 18:05:01 EDT 60 http://www.sciencedaily.com/images/logosmall.gif http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/plants_animals/extinction/ For more science articles, visit ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090710205357.htm The same paleontologist who made the Montana discovery of the first known dinosaur burrow has now found the trace fossil of a burrow in Australia almost identical to the one he identified in the US. His growing evidence of dinosaur burrows provides clues to climate change and how dinosaurs may have survived extreme environments -- throwing a wrench in some extinction theories. Sat, 11 Jul 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090710205357.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090709110836.htm The bottom-line message from a decades-long study of monkeys on a restricted diet is simple: Consuming fewer calories leads to a longer, healthier life. Researchers report that a nutritious but reduced-calorie diet blunts aging and significantly delays the onset of such age-related disorders as cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and brain atrophy. Fri, 10 Jul 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090709110836.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090709201849.htm Southern elephant seals responded rapidly to climate and habitat change and established a new breeding site thousands of kilometers from existing breeding grounds, according to new research. Scientists found that when the Antarctic ice sheets of the Ross Sea Embayment retreated in the Holocene period 8,000 years ago, elephant seals, Mirounga leonina, adopted the emergent habitat and established a new population which flourished. Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090709201849.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090709174751.htm The Census Bureau is good at profiling the US population by sampling small groups of people. Biologists, however, lack a good theory of how to estimate the richness of life in large areas like the Amazon from small-plot studies. Ecologists have applied information theory to develop a new and robust theory that does a much better job predicting biodiversity in large biomes and could be a boon to conservation biologists. Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090709174751.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090701082905.htm Extinction looms for amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds restricted to declining mangrove forests. Substantial numbers of terrestrial vertebrates are restricted to mangrove forests. Many of these specialized species are listed as threatened by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Prospects for mangrove-restricted animals are bleak, because more than two percent of mangrove forests are lost each year. Tue, 07 Jul 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090701082905.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090707093744.htm Scientists have studied the coralline algae fossils that lived on the last coral reefs of the Mediterranean Sea between 7.24 and 5.3 million years ago. Mediterranean algae and coral reefs began to resemble present day reefs following the isolation of the Mediterranean from the Indian Ocean and global cooling 15 and 20 million years ago respectively. Tue, 07 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090707093744.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090618124940.htm Slow-flying, woodland bats -- which tend to be at greater risk from extinction than their speedier kin -- really don't like street lights, according to a new study. Lesser horseshoe bats will stray from their usual flight routes to steer clear of the artificial glow from lights that are similar to everyday street lights, the new report shows. Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090618124940.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090629200630.htm An international team of scientists warns that accelerating losses of seagrasses across the globe threaten the immediate health and long-term sustainability of coastal ecosystems. The team has compiled and analyzed the first comprehensive global assessment of seagrass observations and found that 58 percent of world's seagrass meadows are currently declining. Mon, 06 Jul 2009 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090629200630.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090706171542.htm What's so great about sex? From an evolutionary perspective, the answer is not as obvious as one might think. A new article suggests that sex may have evolved in part as a defense against parasites. Mon, 06 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090706171542.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090706141006.htm Leading ocean scientists and climate change experts agreed on a new level of atmospheric carbon dioxide that would need to be achieved to ensure the survival of coral reefs. Mon, 06 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090706141006.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090629200641.htm The current H1N1 swine flu strain has genetic roots in an illness that sickened pigs at the 1918 Cedar Rapids Swine Show in Iowa, report experts. Their paper describes H1N1's nearly century-long and often convoluted journey, which may include the accidental resurrection of an extinct strain. Sun, 05 Jul 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090629200641.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090702170131.htm Intelligent countryside management could improve the survival chances of animal and plant species threatened by climate change. The creation of small heat-shielded habitats and better links between habitats would counteract a moderate temperature increase, and give threatened species more time to adapt better and/or to migrate to cooler regions. Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090702170131.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090630215938.htm Scientists have performed the first DNA-based reconstruction of the giant extinct moa bird, using prehistoric feathers recovered from caves and rock shelters in New Zealand. Thu, 02 Jul 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090630215938.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090629200632.htm Microscopic analysis of scratches on dinosaur teeth has helped scientists unravel an ancient riddle of what a major group of dinosaurs ate -- and exactly how they did it! Now for the first time, a study led by the University of Leicester, has found evidence that the duck-billed dinosaurs -- the Hadrosaurs -- in fact had a unique way of eating, unlike any living creature today. Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090629200632.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090623120846.htm Scientists are warning that a new form of unregulated whaling has emerged along the coastlines of Japan and South Korea, where the commercial sale of whales killed as fisheries "bycatch" is threatening coastal stocks of minke whales and other protected species. Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090623120846.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090626084636.htm New DNA analysis reveals that corals in one locality are more closely related than previously thought; results have significant implications for coral conservation. Sat, 27 Jun 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090626084636.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090624102255.htm While cancer touches the lives of many humans, it is also a major threat to wild animal populations as well, according to a recent study. A new article compiles information on cancer in wildlife and suggests that cancer poses a conservation threat to certain species. Wed, 24 Jun 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090624102255.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090611120746.htm Failing to see the forest for the trees may be causing us to overlook the declining health of Wisconsin's forest ecosystems. Tue, 23 Jun 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090611120746.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090622171359.htm Researchers have developed the first detailed images of a primitive primate brain, unexpectedly revealing that cousins of our earliest ancestors relied on smell more than sight. Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090622171359.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090621195620.htm The largest animals ever to have walked the face of the earth may not have been as big as previously thought, according to a new article. Mon, 22 Jun 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090621195620.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090623112119.htm As global warming whips up more powerful and frequent hurricanes and storms, the world's coral reefs face increased disruption to their ability to breed and recover from damage. "We have found clear evidence that coral recruitment -- the regrowth of young corals -- drops sharply in the wake of a major bleaching event or a hurricane," says the lead author of the study. Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090623112119.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090617154405.htm Banning or restricting the use of certain types of fishing gear could help the world's coral reefs and their fish populations survive the onslaughts of climate change, experts say. Sun, 21 Jun 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090617154405.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090609215924.htm Coral reefs throughout the Caribbean have been comprehensively "flattened" over the last 40 years, according to a disturbing new study. Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090609215924.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090618161150.htm Scientists have unearthed striking evidence for a sudden ancient collapse in plant biodiversity. A trove of 200 million-year-old fossil leaves collected in East Greenland tells the story, carrying its message across time to us today. Fri, 19 Jun 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090618161150.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090618195804.htm The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has released reports documenting the status of polar bears and Pacific walrus in Alaska. The reports confirm that polar bears in Alaska are declining and that Pacific walrus are under threat. Both species are imperiled due to the loss of their sea-ice habitat due to global warming, oil and gas development, and unsustainable harvest. Fri, 19 Jun 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090618195804.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090617201758.htm Research finally proves that bones found in Shropshire, England, provide the most geologically recent evidence of woolly mammoths in Northwestern Europe. Analysis of both the bones and the surrounding environment suggests that some mammoths remained part of British wildlife long after they are conventionally believed to have become extinct. Thu, 18 Jun 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090617201758.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090615185420.htm On the 25th anniversary of the project that brought the large blue butterfly back from near extinction in the United Kingdom, ecologists are for the first time publishing the decades of research that helped them rescue this spectacular butterfly. The study shows how the large blue's extreme dependence on a single ant species led to the butterflies' demise, as their habitat became overgrown, causing soil temperatures to drop and ant numbers to diminish. Before this discovery, butterfly collectors were generally blamed for the decline of this butterfly, also known as Maculinea arion. Thu, 18 Jun 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090615185420.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090615203056.htm Biologists provide evidence that maximum body size in birds is constrained by the amount of time it takes to replace the flight feathers during molt. Tue, 16 Jun 2009 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090615203056.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090609132412.htm Using a system of underwater hydrophones that can record sounds from hundreds of miles away, scientists have documented the presence of endangered North Atlantic right whales in an area they were thought to be locally extinct. Sat, 13 Jun 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090609132412.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090610091224.htm Steelhead trout that are originally bred in hatcheries are so genetically impaired that, even if they survive and reproduce in the wild, their offspring will also be significantly less successful at reproducing, according to a new study. Sat, 13 Jun 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090610091224.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090611111008.htm Caribou and reindeer numbers worldwide have plunged almost 60 percent in the last three decades. The dramatic revelation came out of the first ever comprehensive census analysis of this iconic species. Fri, 12 Jun 2009 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090611111008.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090608182419.htm The woolly mammoth died out several thousand years ago, but the genetic material they left behind is yielding new clues about the evolution of mammals. Scientists have now analyzed the mammoth genome looking for mobile DNA elements, revealing new insights into how some of these elements arose in mammals and shaped the genome of an animal headed for extinction. Tue, 09 Jun 2009 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090608182419.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090605110420.htm The skeleton of a whale that died around 10,000 years ago has been found in connection with the extension of the E6 motorway in Strömstad. The whale bones are now being examined by researchers who, among other things, want to ascertain whether the find is the mystical "Swedenborg whale". Mon, 08 Jun 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090605110420.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090604181251.htm A new report provides compelling evidence that paying to conserve billions of tons of carbon stored in tropical forests could also protect orangutans, pygmy elephants, and other wildlife at risk of extinction. The study is one of the first to offer quantitative evidence linking the drive to reduce carbon emissions from forests with the push to preserve threatened mammal biodiversity. Fri, 05 Jun 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090604181251.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090601151225.htm Hands wring and teeth gnash over the loss of endangered species like the panda or the polar bear. But what happens to the parasites hosted by endangered species? And although most people would side with the panda over the parasite, which group should we worry about more? Thu, 04 Jun 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090601151225.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090601111932.htm There's little doubt that coral reefs the world over face threats on many fronts: pollution, diseases, destructive fishing practices and warming oceans. But reefs appear to be more resistant to one potential menace -- seaweed -- than previously thought, according to marine scientists. Wed, 03 Jun 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090601111932.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090529112528.htm Climate change can have devastating effects on endangered species, but new mathematical models may be able to aid conservation of a population of bighorn sheep. Tue, 02 Jun 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090529112528.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090601102021.htm Mass migrations of herbivores like pronghorn, zebra, and wildebeest are in a world-wide decline because of human changes to the landscape. Mon, 01 Jun 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090601102021.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090531185145.htm The latest assessment of the status of all of the UK's 246 regularly occurring birds -- Birds of Conservation Concern 3 -- shows 52 are now of the highest conservation concern and have been placed on the 'red list'. Sun, 31 May 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090531185145.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090528142827.htm A previously unknown giant volcanic eruption that led to global mass extinction 260 million years ago has been uncovered. Sat, 30 May 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090528142827.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090529211633.htm For the very first time in New York coastal waters, the voices of singing blue whales have been positively identified. Acoustic experts confirmed that the voice of a singing blue whale was tracked about 70 miles off of Long Island and New York City on Jan. 10-11, 2009, as the whale swam slowly from east to west. At the same time, a second blue whale was heard singing offshore in the far distance. Sat, 30 May 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090529211633.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090528142819.htm An explosion of knowledge has been made in the last few years about the basic biology of corals, researchers say in a new report, helping to explain why coral reefs around the world are collapsing and what it will take for them to survive a gauntlet of climate change and ocean acidification. Fri, 29 May 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090528142819.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090527073030.htm A third species of an extinct group of large lemurs has just been uncovered in the northwest of Madagascar. Dubbed Palaeopropithecus kelyus, this new specimen is smaller than the two species of these 'large sloth lemurs' already known and its diet made up of harder-textured foodstuffs. This discovery supports the idea of a richer biodiversity in recent prehistory (late Pleistocene and beginning of the Holocene). Wed, 27 May 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090527073030.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090526140840.htm As climate change causes temperatures to increase in Hawaii's mountains, deadly non-native bird diseases will likely also creep up the mountains, invading most of the last disease-free refuges for honeycreepers -- a group of endangered and remarkable birds. Wed, 27 May 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090526140840.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090519075852.htm They are cursed the world over for contaminating food supplies and are a huge commercial pest, but the humble flour beetle is about to play a significant role in the management of endangered species. The flour beetle -- or Tribolium castaneum -- will be the model in a major new study into the consequences of inbreeding. Tue, 26 May 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090519075852.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090525173542.htm Scientists are, for the first time, objectively evaluating ways to help species adapt to rapid climate change and other environmental threats via strategies that were considered too radical for serious consideration as recently as five or 10 years ago. Among these radical strategies currently being considered is so-called "managed relocation." Managed relocation, which is also known as "assisted migration," involves manually moving species into more accommodating habitats where they are not currently found. Tue, 26 May 2009 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090525173542.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090520100515.htm Experts say that more than half of the world's coral reefs could disappear in the next 50 years, in large part because of higher ocean temperatures caused by climate change. But now scientists have found evidence that some coral reefs are adapting and may actually survive global warming. Fri, 22 May 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090520100515.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090518103229.htm Analyses of the fossilized remains of the jaws and teeth of a shrew discovered in Spain have shown this to be a new species. The extinct animal had red teeth, was large in size compared with mammals of the same family, and was more closely related to Asian than European shrews. Mon, 18 May 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090518103229.htm