Endangered Species
grrlscientist | July 16, 2007tags: Attenborough's long-beaked echidna, Zaglossus attenboroughi, monotreme, endangered animals, New Guinea, Irian Jaya, Cyclops mountain range
Attenborough's long-beaked echidna, Zaglossus attenboroughi,
the only specimen known to exist in museum collections.
Prepared as a shmoo (a flat skin lacking most bones).
Image: Natural Museum of Natural History in the Netherlands (NMNH) [larger]
In May of this year, a team of experts from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) went on a one-month preliminary research expedition to the Cyclops mountain range in Papua on the island of New Guinea.…
grrlscientist | July 9, 2007tags: pygmy hippo, hippopotamus, Choeropsis liberiensis, endangered species
A rare pygmy hippopotamus,Choeropsis liberiensis, was born in a zoo near Paris on 5 June 2007. Named Aldo, this pygmy hippo is approximately the size of a human baby. He is one of only a few dozen born in Europe, bred by a special program to increase the numbers of the rare species. [larger].
A rare pygmy hippopotamus,Choeropsis liberiensis, was born in a Paris zoo on 5 June 2007 after a 199-day gestation period. Named Aldo, this pygmy hippo is approximately the size of a human baby at 53 centimeters (21 inches)…
grrlscientist | July 8, 2007tags: recurve-billed bushbird, Clytoctantes alixii, ornithology, birds, avian, endangered species
This male Recurve-billed Bushbird, Clytoctantes alixii, was recently photographed by ProAves staff, Adriana Tovar and Luis Eduardo Uruena. This is the first time this globally endangered species has been captured on film. [larger].
[listen to this species' song]
For the first time ever, an elusive recurve-billed bushbird, Clytoctantes alixii, has been photographed in the wild. The bird, recently rediscovered by scientists in Colombia a Colombian ornithologist named Oscar Laverde after a 40-…
zooillogix | June 25, 2007A Maclaud's horseshoe bat (being held in a glove) poses for the ladies...
For the first time, scientists photographed a Maclaud's horseshoe bat in the forests of Guinea in West Africa. These bats had not been seen in the wild in over 40 years. The featured photo was snapped by German biologist Natalie Webber, who found 16 horseshoe bats living in a remote cave complex. "Our rediscovery is good news insofar as the species is still there and as we have shown that the distribution range appears to be somewhat larger than previously known," said Jakob Fahr, a German ecologist who headed up the…
grrlscientist | June 15, 2007tags: researchblogging.org, global warming, climate change, ornithology, birds, avian biodiversity, habitat destruction
White-crested hornbill, Tropicranus albocristatus, also confined to African rainforests, may see more than half of its geographic range lost by 2100.
Image: Walter Jetz, UCSD. [larger]
Thanks to the combined effects of global warming and habitat destruction, bird populations will experience significant declines and extinctions over the next century, according to a study conducted by ecologists at the University of California, San Diego and Princeton University. This…
zooillogix | June 11, 2007Tuatara, Sphenodon punctatus
A robotic tuatara has been put to work in Stephens Island, New Zealand, helping researchers to better understand the mating habits of its biological brethren.
Tuataras are one of the oldest reptile species on Earth, dating back 200 million years. The researchers are hoping that the data obtained by using "Robo-Ollie" will help them in relocating the reptiles when necessary and in captive breeding programs.
Robo-Ollie was built by Weta Workshops, a company that designed many robotic creatures for the Lord of the Rings movies. Though the robot is not rigged to move…
grrlscientist | June 8, 2007tags: slow loris, endangered species, conservation, CITES
The Slow Loris, from the genus Nycticebus, is a nocturnal animal endemic to Asia.
This animal's cuteness could very well be its undoing.
Image: Anna Nekaris, Oxford Brookes University, UK.
Aww, isn't this cuddly little creature simply adorable??
Apparently thousands of people from around the world agree with you because the slow loris, a small nocturnal and arboreal animal that is endemic to much of Asia, is experiencing population declines due to habitat destruction and trapping for the pet trade.
They certainly make ideal pets…
zooillogix | June 8, 2007Primitive primates indigenous to Southeast Asia, Slow Lorises are endangered and absurdly adorable. Most importantly, they just so happen to be this editor,Aeos favorite animal since early childhood. However, it wouldn,Aeot take a childhood obsession to be appalled at the horrors of the illegal loris trade.
Prized for their cuddliness, slow lorises are sold in Japan as impulse-buy pets like puppies. But the process of getting them to Japan is fraught with misery for the animals. Baby lorises are the most valuable, but unable to care for themselves. They cannot defecate without assistance from…
grrlscientist | June 6, 2007tags: purple frog, Suriname, amphibians, Atelopus
A purple fluorescent frog of the genus Atelopus was discovered during a follow-up survey of the Nassau plateau in mid 2006 by Surinamese scientists Paul Ouboter and Jan Mol. The frog is one of 24 new species found in the South American highlands of Suriname, conservationists reported on June 4, 2007, warning that these creatures are threatened by illegal gold mining.
Image: Paul Ouboter
When scientists investigate new areas of the wilderness, they often discover insect species that are new to science, but last year, a group of researchers…
zooillogix | June 5, 2007A species of endangered sea lion has suddenly acquired a taste for a rare penguin in New Zealand, causing heated debate amongst Kiwi conservationists and scientists. Sea lions breeding on the Otago Peninsula have taken to devouring yellow-eyed penguins. The good news is that male sea lions do not seem to have a pallet for the birds. The bad news is that female sea lions may eat up to thirty yellow-eyed penguins per year a piece.
Scientists from the New Zealand Department of Conservation are trying to set up a breeding ground for the sea lions on the Otago Peninsula. Succeeding means having…
grrlscientist | June 4, 2007tags: northern spotted owl, barred owl, old growth forests, logging
Nothern Spotted Owl, Strix occidentalis caurina.
Image: HRF [larger]
Despite the fact that President Clinton set aside 7 million acres of forest for owl habitat, the northern spotted owl population is still peril. So the government is using another, very controversial, approach to save this icon of the Pacific Northwest: shooting its cousins, the larger and more aggressive barred owls.
Basically, barred owls push the mild-mannered spotted owls from their habitat and they also eat them -- or, very rarely, according to…
grrlscientist | May 30, 2007tags: cheetahs, evolution
Researchers studied 47 litters of cheetah cubs over nine years. Nearly half contained cubs from multiple fathers.
Image: Sarah Durant [larger]
DNA technology has revealed that female cheetahs, Acinonyx jubatus, often produce litters that are comprised of cubs sired by multiple fathers. This research, recently published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, studied cheetahs found on that part of the Seregeti in the African nation, Tanzania.
"If the cubs are genetically more variable it may allow them to adapt and evolve to different circumstances," Dada…
grrlscientist | May 18, 2007tags: endangered species day, conservation
The U.S. Senate unanimously passed a resolution supporting the establishment of Endangered Species Day on 18 May. Endangered Species Day is a national celebration of America's commitment to protecting and recovering our nation's endangered species .. species such as the American bald eagle, peregrine falcon, gray wolf, grizzly bear, humpback whale and many others of our nation's wildlife, fish and plants.
The goal of Endangered Species Day is simple -- to educate people about the importance of protecting endangered species. With over 1,800…
grrlscientist | May 18, 2007tags: parrot, Lories, Lorikeet, Loriinae, Loriidae, Rimatara Lorikeet, Kuhl's Lory, Vini kuhlii, conservation, ornithology, South Pacific Islands
Endangered Rimatara lorikeet or Kuhl's lory, Vini kuhlii, feeding on nectar.
Image: G McCormack, Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust (CINHT). [larger image]
My life's passion is the birds of the South Pacific, particularly the Loriinae, which are parrots commonly known as the lories and lorikeets. I study them professionally and I have lived with them and bred them for most of my life. So it was exciting to me when I learned that one of my…
grrlscientist | May 16, 2007tags: ferret, black-footed ferret, endangered species
Today, I received an email from Jenna Bowles, who is the head of distribution for The Futures Channel. They produce "micro-documentaries" that feature industries and professions that are both innovative and inspiring. One of their newly launched videos focuses on the endangered black-footed ferret recovery program. Basically, 25 years ago, a dog discovered one lone black-footed ferret in a hole -- the last one known to exist in the wild. Since then, the recovery effort has become one of the most successful conservation programs conducted…
grrlscientist | May 16, 2007tags: turtle, Cantor's giant softshell turtle, Pelochelys cantorii, endangered species, herpetology, reptiles
This photo released by Conservation International, shows two rare Cantor's giant
softshell turtles, Pelochelys cantorii, thought to be on the brink of extinction.
Conservation International and the World Wildlife Fund announced today, 16 May 2007,
that scientists discovered the rare species in Cambodia in a former stronghold of the
Khmer Rouge in March.
A rare soft-shell turtle has been found in Cambodia's Mekong River, raising hopes that the threatened species can be saved from…
grrlscientist | May 3, 2007tags: parrot, birds, illegal trade, endangered species, Mexico
The Defenders of Wildlife have published their 121 page report on The Illegal Parrot Trade in Mexico by Juan Carlos CantuÌ GuzmaÌn for you to download for free. I just downloaded a copy myself so will not be ready to discuss it with you for a few days, but I am interested to learn what you have to think about it so I will likely write something in the near future about my reactions to it. [PDF].
zooillogix | May 1, 2007Coral growing at the Mote Marine Laboratory in Florida or the inside of my refrigerator in college?
25% of the world's coral reefs has died in the past 25 years, and 25% more is expected to die in the next two decades. With a lot of luck and a lot of hard work, however, a Floridian named Ken Nedimyer might be able to grow it back.
Nedimyer has teamed up with the Nature Conservancy, the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to study the feasibility of regrowing staghorn and elkhorn coral in the Florida Keys. Still, no one said it would…
grrlscientist | April 30, 2007
Eleven species of giant tortoise are found throughout the Galapagos Islands.
The (Lonesome George) Pinta tortoise is one of the smaller species.
Image: BBC News.
Do you remember "Lonesome George"; the male giant Galapagos tortoise from the island of Pinta? Well, it appears that he is not so lonesome afterall, since researchers discovered a first-generation hybrid between a Pinta tortoise and a tortoise from Isabela isle. This hybrid, which shares half of its genes with George, was discovered on Isabela.
Because of this hybrid's parentage, it is possible that a more thorough sampling of…
zooillogix | April 26, 2007A nearly extinct species of hummingbird has been captured on film for the first time demonstrating its spatula-crazed mating dance. The aptly named Marvelous Spatuletail lives in a single, isolated valley in northern Peru. There are only 350 - 1,000 thought left to exist. The video really is extraordinary.
Marvelous Spatuletail, Lodigesia mirabilis digg_url='http://zooillogix.blogspot.com/2007/04/marvelous-spatula-tale.html';