Conservation biology

Colossal Biosciences, which calls itself “the world’s first de-extinction company,” has created stem cells it thinks will hasten the company’s marquee goal of resurrecting the woolly mammoth. The team’s research describing the accomplishment will be hosted on the preprint server bioRxiv.What Drew John Boyega Back Into Sci-Fi? | io9 InterviewThe cells are induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC), a type of cell that can be reprogrammed to develop into any other type of cell. The cells are especially useful in bioengineering,…

California officials have recently voted to permanently protect the otherworldly western Joshua tree, as the desert plant faces challenges caused by development and climate change.Drought and Christmas Trees | Extreme EarthThe iconic trees will be protected under the Western Joshua Tree Conservation Act that was passed this Tuesday, The Guardian reported. This was part of California’s budget agreement. The act prohibits the unauthorized removal and killing of these plants. Those who are caught doing so will be fined, and…

We know, we know. It’s not fauna. But this palm has an amazing story of rediscovery. The date species was originally domesticated during the Neolithic, some 7,000 years ago. The dates grown in the region of the Kingdom of Judah, known as Judean dates, were extolled by historians of the day. But by the 19th century, the plant had vanished. Over the past 50 years, however, excavations at the high-altitude Dead Sea site of Masada turned up 1,900-year-old seeds that researchers decided to plant.One of the seeds grew.…

The victims of extinction are countless and their are killers numerous—but, in recent centuries, there’s been one obvious, enduring culprit: Homo sapiens. A Mononykus Hunts In ‘Prehistoric Planet’As humankind has increased in numbers and technologized, more and more species have disappeared for good. Or have they really? Scientists may finally be on the verge of breakthroughs that can simulate some animals’ resurrection. But, despite what Jurassic Park led us to believe, simply having a creature’s DNA isn’t enough to…

Most city-building games play out the same way. You start with an empty stretch of land and slowly start filling it up with roads and houses. In no time, that blank canvas becomes a thriving metropolis filled with shops, skyscrapers, and power plants that are most assuredly doing a number on the atmosphere. It’s rare that we ever get to take a different approach, using that plot of land to create spaces that aren’t explicitly for humans. That’s where Terra Nil swoops in. Terra Nil - Reveal Trailer Developed by Free…

A Guam rail.Photo: Smithsonian InstituteGuam rails were once so rare that they were presumed extinct in the wild. Today, they’re only found on the adjacent islands of Rota and Cocos.Like the fate that befell the kingfisher, the Guam rail fell prey to brown tree snakes, which arrived via cargo ships. With no defenses to this foreign predator, the rail population plummeted from around 10,000 to just 21 in 1985. Breeding programs have improved the rails’ numbers, though there’s still plenty of ground to cover. A Guam…

An artist’s imagining of the dodo bird, which went extinct in the 17th century.Illustration: Colossal BiosciencesGenetic engineering company Colossal Biosciences said Tuesday that it will try to resurrect the extinct dodo bird, and it’s received $150 million in new funding to support its “de-extinction” activities.The dodo was already part of Colossal’s plans by September 2022, but now the company has announced it with all the pomp, circumstance, and seed funding that suggests it will actually go after that goal. The $150…

Photo: Cameron Spencer (Getty Images)This story was originally published by Grist. You can subscribe to its weekly newsletter here.Nearly 200 nations reached a milestone agreement early Monday morning to protect biodiversity, pledging action on more than 20 targets spanning from land conservation to invasive species to pesticide use in an effort to stem the rapid deterioration of nature world-wide.The global accord, brokered at the latest United Nations’ biodiversity conference in Montreal, Canada, comes at a critical…

An endangered California condor in flight.Photo: David McNew (Getty Images)Next year, the Endangered Species Act will turn 50. But a team of researchers that analyzed the thousands of plants and animals protected by the act hasfound that a small fraction of those species actually recover.Since the legislation was passed in 1973, only 54 species have been delisted because their populations sufficiently recovered. 2,367 species are on the list today, per the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. The Endangered Species Act is a…

A Golden-winged Warbler.Image: Shutterstock (Shutterstock)America’s birds are having a rough go of things, a new report from the North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI) this week has found. The findings show that many bird species in the U.S. are in decline, with nearly a hundred species losing more than half of their population since the 1970s. Without more concerted conservation efforts, the authors warn, these birds are on track to dwindle even further over the next several decades.The report is the latest…