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+3 +1
New snake species in Europe named after a long-forgotten Iron Age kingdom
An international team of scientists identified the snake and its range, which includes Turkey, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Iraq, Iran, and Russia including a small region extending into the corner of Europe. Based on the genetic and morphological data, the researchers were able to say that the Blotched Rat Snake (Elaphe sauromates) is actually comprised of two different species and includes a cryptic species that has been named after the old kingdom of Urartu.
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+13 +1
Socialism or Extinction
A new report says that human action is driving one million plant and animal species to extinction. But it’s not just any human action: it’s the choices of a tiny minority of wealthy and powerful people.
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+3 +1
Business as Usual Threatens Thousands of Amazon Tree Species
Climate change and deforestation could also severely fragment much of the forest by 2050, a new model projects
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+13 +1
A Genetic Ghost Hunt: What Ancient Humans Live On In Our DNA?
When the Neanderthal genome was first sequenced in 2010 and compared with ours, scientists noticed that genes from Homo neanderthalensis also showed up in our own DNA. The conclusion was inescapable: Our ancestors mated and reproduced with another lineage of now-extinct humans who live on today in our genes.
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+36 +1
Once Nearly Dead As The Dodo, California Condor Comeback Reaches 1,000 Chicks
In the 1980s, there were fewer than two dozen California Condors left. Today, more than 500 exist in the world, thanks to the efforts of conservationists.
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+31 +1
New research uncovers compelling link between gut bacteria, obesity and the immune system
An impressive new study from scientists at the University of Utah has described how an impaired immune system can alter the composition of the gut microbiome resulting in metabolic disease and obesity. Demonstrated in mouse experiments, the research suggests certain species of gut bacteria can prevent the gut from absorbing fat, pointing to exciting potential future anti-obesity therapies.
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+29 +1
Elephant Extinction Will Raise Carbon Dioxide Levels in Atmosphere
One of the last remaining megaherbivores, forest elephants shape their environment by serving as seed dispersers and forest bulldozers as they eat over a hundred species of fruit, trample bushes, knock over trees and create trails and clearings. Their ecological impact also affects tree populations and carbon levels in the forest, researchers report, with significant implications for climate and conservation policies.
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+21 +1
Many Animals Can’t Adapt to Climate Change Fast Enough
Climate change has thrown our beautifully balanced planet into chaos. As oceans and forests transform and ecosystems go into shock, perhaps a million species teeter on the edge of extinction. But there may still be hope for these organisms. Some will change their behaviors in response to soaring global temperatures; they might, say, reproduce earlier in the year, when it’s cooler. Others may even evolve to cope—perhaps by shrinking, because smaller frames lose heat more quickly.
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+3 +1
'Days or months left' for porpoise species Vaquita as it nears extinction
The Vaquita species was only discovered in 1958, but within a few decades numbers have hit critical levels.
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+12 +1
Manta rays like hanging out with their mates
A five-year study in Indonesian waters has confirmed that wild-roaming reef manta rays (Manta alfredi) form selective bonds with other rays, providing evidence of structured social relationships. Dwarfing humans who are lucky enough to swim near them, mantas are the largest rays in the ocean, with two recognised species – the reef manta and the giant manta (Manta birostris).
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+14 +1
What if we paid countries to protect biodiversity?
Researchers from Sweden, Germany, Brazil and the U.S. have developed a financial mechanism to support the protection of the world's natural heritage. In a recent study, they developed three different design options for an intergovernmental biodiversity financing mechanism. Asking what would happen if money was given to countries for providing protected areas, they simulated where the money would flow, what type of incentives this would create—and how these incentives would align with international conservation goals.
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+14 +1
Trump administration faces suit for failure to protect endangered species
The Trump administration is facing a lawsuit for failing to protect 23 endangered species found in Micronesia. The Center for Biological Diversity filed a notice of intent to sue the Trump administration for failing to protect endangered species in the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, the Republic of Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia. The wildlife involved includes 14 plants and nine animals, a release from the nonprofit stated.
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+4 +1
Should the Clearly Extinct Woolly Mammoth Be Reclassified as Endangered?
IF YOU SHAVED THE WOOLINESS from a woolly mammoth, from trunk to tail, it would still be easy to see its relationship to its extant cousins, the elephants. There’s the overall size and shape, and the prominent head ridge and of course the trunk, and also the tusks—though those actually help distinguish a mammoth from an elephant, since they’re so massive and audaciously curved. But ivory is ivory, and both pachyderms’ tusks sell for a pretty penny, though only mammoth ivory is legal in many markets.
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+3 +1
Birds Are Vanishing From North America
The number of birds in the United States and Canada has declined by 3 billion, or 29 percent, over the past half-century, scientists find.
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+21 +1
Three billion North American birds have vanished since 1970, surveys show
North America's birds are disappearing from the skies at a rate that's shocking even to ornithologists. Since the 1970s, the continent has lost 3 billion birds, nearly 30% of the total, and even common birds such as sparrows and blackbirds are in decline, U.S. and Canadian researchers report this week online in Science. "It's staggering," says first author Ken Rosenberg, a conservation scientist at the Cornell University Laboratory of Ornithology.
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+4 +1
Dinosaur mass extinction event ‘disrupted world's oceans for millions of years’
The mass extinction event that killed the dinosaurs led to the world’s oceans being disrupted for millions of years, according to new research. Scientists who examined fossil records spanning 13 million years found that global species of plankton at the base of the ocean ecosystem were disrupted for 2 million years after a massive asteroid strike on Earth.
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+16 +1
As the Arctic heats up, what’s in store for its food webs?
The view from Kongsfjorden, Svalbard, is endless snow-covered mountains and glassy, frigid water. You need to travel roughly 400 miles west from the remote Norwegian archipelago to reach the northeast coast of Greenland.
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+17 +1
Scientists Demand 'Paradigm Shift' After Study Shows 'Frightening' Decline of Insects and Spiders
"A decline on that scale over a period of just 10 years came as a complete surprise to us," said one researcher, "but fits the picture presented in a growing number of studies."
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+15 +1
Striped bass were once extinct in the St. Lawrence. Now they're back
With federally backed efforts to restore the St. Lawrence River taking effect, stripers — a popular trophy fish — are making a resurgence. Now Quebec and a provincial fishing organization are asking Ottawa to reassess the fish's endangered status.
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+15 +1
Humans May Be Solely to Blame for the Great Auk’s Extinction
The great auk, a large, flightless bird with a black back and a white belly, once lived across the North Atlantic—from Scandinavia to the eastern coast of Canada. Since prehistoric times, humans hunted these great animals, which could reach two-and-a-half feet in height, for their meat and eggs. But around the early 16th century, when European seaman discovered the large auk populations of Newfoundland, the killing of the birds reached rapacious levels.
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