Wrongly ID’d since ’74, Only Three Specimens Known
Collectors found the first two specimens of the prickly plant in 1974 and 1990 in west Texas. Then, for two decades, the 14-inch-tall plant was identified wrongly as one species, then another and then a third. (more…)
A new study has found that 42 countries or territories around the world permit the harvest of marine turtles – and estimates that more than 42,000 turtles are caught each year by these fisheries.
The research, carried out by Blue Ventures Conservation and staff at the University of Exeter’s Centre for Ecology and Conservation, is the first to comprehensively review the number of turtles currently taken within the law and assess how this compares to other global threats to the creatures. (more…)
ANN ARBOR, Mich.— One-fifth of the world’s vertebrate species are threatened with extinction, but the situation would be worse if not for current global conservation efforts, a new study finds.
University of Michigan biologist Ronald Nussbaum is one of 174 researchers from 115 institutions and 38 countries who authored the study published this week in Science Express.
The study used data for 25,000 species from the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species to investigate the status of the world’s vertebrates (mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fishes) and how this status has changed over time. The results show that, on average, 50 species of mammal, bird and amphibian move closer to extinction each year due to the impacts of agricultural expansion, logging, over-exploitation, and invasive alien species. (more…)
