extinction

Researchers analyzed zinc isotopes in teeth and discovered that great white sharks make have contributed to the extinction of megalodon.Scientists investigated the diet of megalodon, the largest shark to have ever lived, using zinc isotopes.In a new study, researchers compared how high up the food chain megalodon and great white sharks feed, by analyzing the zinc stable isotope ratios in their teeth. They found that there was likely overlap in the prey of both species, and therefore, dietary competition with great white…

In the dense jungles of Cameroon and nearby countries, the population of the iconic and critically endangered western lowland gorilla declined by nearly 20 percent between 2005 and 2013 to about 360,000 individuals—and their number is expected to plunge by another 80 percent over about the next 65 years. Raw materials extracted from their habitat and used for goods manufactured in China and then sold in the U.S. and elsewhere have contributed to that decline. This is just one of thousands of species the world stands to…

Potamites montanicola, classified as ‘Critically Endangered’ by automated the assessment method and as ‘Data Deficient’ by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Credit: Germán Chávez, Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY 3.0)Machine learning tool estimates extinction risk for species previously unprioritized for conservation.Species at risk of extinction are identified in the iconic Red List of Threatened Species, published by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). A new study presents a novel machine learning…

Fifty thousand years ago, Australia was populated by big birds—really big birds. One of them, known as mihirunga, or the “thunder bird,” was six times the size of a modern emu; it may have weighed in at 250 kilograms and stood more than 2 meters tall. But the giant Genyornis newtoni disappeared 45,000 years ago, and researchers have long puzzled over whether human hunters or climate change was the culprit. Now, a new analysis of ancient eggshells—the leftovers of a prehistoric…

Southern yellow-billed hornbill at study site. Credit: Nicholas PattinsonThe yellow-billed hornbill, cousins of fan-favorite Zazu from The Lion King, faces local extinction due to the climate crisis. Between 2008 and 2019, researchers investigated the effects of high air temperature and drought on the breeding success of southern yellow-billed hornbills in the Kalahari Desert in Southern Africa. This study is one of the first to research the impact of the climate crisis on population-level breeding success over a longer…

Thousands of wild bird species are growing ill or dying from habitat loss, climate change, and overexploitation, according to new research.A new estimate from researchers around the world has found 48 percent of living bird species are known or suspected to have declining populations.  That's more than 5,000 species that face a risky future. Among the species surveyed, only 6 percent showed increases in population."We are now witnessing the first signs of a new wave of extinctions of continentally distributed bird…

Princeton University researchers reported that unless greenhouse gas emissions are curbed, marine biodiversity could be on track to plummet to levels not seen since the extinction of the dinosaurs. The study authors modeled future marine biodiversity under projected climate scenarios and found that species such as dolphinfish (shown) would be imperiled as warming oceans decrease the ocean’s oxygen supply while increasing marine life’s metabolic demand…

More than one in five of the world’s reptile species are threatened with extinction, researchers have determined in a new paper that marks the culmination of more than 20 years of slow-going research. On top of facing human-caused threats to their survival, the scaled creatures have fallen victim to bias in conservation priorities. Conservationists with limited resources have had to play catch-up in their efforts to assess threats to turtles, crocodiles, lizards, snakes, and tuatara (the last in an ancient lineage of…