Extinction

Early humans hunted the largest available animals to extinction for 1.5 million years

Deadliest period in Earth's history was also the stinkiest

Map of transparent butterflies highlights biodiversity hotspot in the Andes Mountains

Early bloomers: Using citizen-science data to investigate unseasonal flowering in Joshua trees

Parrot thought to be extinct rediscovered 100 years ago. What came next is a tragedy we must not repeat

Deep-sea mining may wipe out species we have only just discovered

Almost two-thirds of species at deep-sea hydrothermal vents are at risk of extinction

Widespread plants displace rarer species across habitats

Study: Climate-only models likely underestimate species extinction

Wetlands destruction driving 'sensitive' dragonflies to brink

Volcanic fertilization of the oceans drove severe mass extinction, say scientists

More than 200 Australian birds are now threatened with extinction, and climate change is the biggest danger

The Norwegian wolf is extinct

'Volcanic winter' likely contributed to ecological catastrophe 250 million years ago: study

Humans hastened the extinction of the wooly mammoth

The 'Ringo Starr' of birds is now endangered: How to save our drum-playing palm cockatoos

Cheetahs fast running to extinction as cub trade thrives

More than half of surveyed crop varieties are under threat of extinction, according to study in India

More than 50 percent of all turtle species are threatened: New atlas of the turtles of the world published

Introduced birds are not replacing roles of human-caused extinct species: study

Rapidly evolving species more likely to go extinct, study suggests

Uncovering the secrets behind Earth's first major mass extinction

Humans did not cause woolly mammoths to go extinct—climate change did: study

Which plants and animals are affected by climate change? Some may surprise you

Humans are driving animals and plants to the edge, but are we really heading into a mass extinction?

Extinction and origination patterns change after mass extinctions

The climate-driven mass extinction no one had seen before now

Loved to death: Australian sandalwood is facing extinction in the wild

Endangered status proposed for Nevada flower at lithium mine

US says ivory-billed woodpecker, 22 other species extinct

Urgent action must be taken to save the critically endangered Sumatran rhino

If endangered primates disappear, so will their parasites. That's actually a problem

Revealing hidden extinction risk in Madagascar's rare plant species

Animals died in 'toxic soup' during Earth's worst mass extinction: A warning for today

Destroying vegetation along fences and roads could worsen our extinction crisis

Roadkill may accelerate local extinction of mammal populations

Mass extinction likely caused by lethal temperatures due to volcanic CO2 venting

Landmark global report: 1 in 3 tree species face extinction

Extinct Tasmanian tiger brought to life in color footage

A third of global tree species threatened with extinction

Has the wildlife 'Red List' let Africa's big cats down?

Pacific Island bats are utterly fascinating, yet under threat and overlooked

Since greater gliders were listed as 'vulnerable,' humans have destroyed more of their habitat

As cargo shipments boom, ship strikes imperil whales in California and worldwide

Humans behind extinction of hundreds of bird species over the last 50,000 years

Climate change 'double whammy' could kill off fish species

98% of emperor penguin colonies could be extinct by 2100. Can Endangered Species Act protection help them?

One of world's rarest chameleons found clinging to survival

New study finds emperor penguins increasingly threatened by climate change

Sierra Nevada red fox to be listed as federally endangered

Bird and mammal diversity is declining with biological invasions

Researchers find oxygen spike coincided with ancient global extinction

Dead, shriveled frogs are unexpectedly turning up across eastern Australia: We need your help to find out why

Breakthrough research examines the effects introduced animals had on Madagascar's extinct megafauna

In Spain, Iberian lynx claws back from brink of extinction

Dangerous attraction: Amorous pursuit imperils Cuban croc

Instead of braving the river, these endangered salmon take the highway

The impact of climate change on Kenya's Tana river basin

DNA from 93-year-old butterfly confirms the first US case of human-led insect extinction

Mexico announces new plan to protect near-extinct porpoise

Coastal landfills risk leaking long-banned toxic chemicals into the ocean

Loss of biodiversity in streams threatens vital biological process

Almost 60 coral species around Lizard Island are 'missing' – and a Great Barrier Reef extinction crisis could be next

Environmental laws in Canada fall short of addressing the ongoing biodiversity crisis

Bird deaths in Germany continue

Mission to rescue doomed trout at the Arroyo Seco fans Pasadena water war

Climate change is driving plant die-offs in Southern California, study finds

Geochemical study confirms cause of end-Permian mass extinction event

Jordan battles to save rare tiny Dead Sea carp

What factors put Philippine birds at risk of extinction?

He has celebrated deserts all his life. Now he's sounding the alarm

Yemen's unique 'dragon's blood' island under threat

Rhino anti-poaching research goes nuclear

Hundreds of Australian lizard species, barely known to science, may face extinction

Beautiful, rare 'purple cauliflower' coral off NSW coast may be extinct within 10 years

The 'great dying': the abrupt collapse of forest-mire (Glossopteris) ecosystems in high southern latitudes

Half of Guadeloupe's snakes and lizards went extinct after European colonization

High risk of conflict between humans and elephants and lions

Climate change might drive even widespread mammal species to extinction

Humanity taking 'colossal risk' with our future: Nobels

Time for a mass extinction metrics makeover

Gorilla among 200 endangered species threatened by conflict: conservationists

Ivory Coast sounds alarm over plunging elephant population

Neglected species: Who cares about Kyrgyzstan's threatened tulips?

Declining male fertility increases climate change vulnerability

Scientists use fossil records to understand the present, predict future ecosystems

'Dead clades walking': Fossil record provides new insights into mass extinctions

Earth's biggest mass extinction took ten times longer on land than in the water

Examining the impact of Earth's most devastating mass-extinction event on invertebrates

While species come and go, their ecosystems persist over millions of years

Neglected species: Sending out an SOS for a vanishingly rare primate

Megafauna extinction mystery unlocked

Marine life is fleeing the equator to cooler waters—this could trigger a mass extinction event

What can we learn from vanishing wildlife species: The case of the Pyrenean Ibex

Persisting endangered status of Serianthes nelsonii reveals need for adaptive management

How polar bears maintained highly specialized diets during periods of Arctic warming—until now

Groups urge pressure on Mexico to save tiny vaquita porpoise

Climate Change and Extinction Events

Coastal lupine faces specific extinction threat from climate change

Nearly 40 sharks and rays reclassified as threatened, including one species of ray already possibly extinct

Functional consequences of global biodiversity loss guide future nature conservation

Neglected species: 'Living fossil' sturgeon on the brink of extinction

Smaller amphibians have increased extinction risk due to fewer offspring

The impact of geopolitical boundaries on cycad conservation efforts

New study investigates how life on land recovered after 'The Great Dying'

Red wolves are battling high mortality, coyote inbreeding as agencies try to repopulate Outer Banks

Extinction cascading through ecosystems could spell trouble for humans

New study sheds light on Caribbean mammal extinctions, helps guide conservation strategies

Aussie love for animals leaves plants at risk of extinction

Venom-extraction and exotic pet trade may hasten the extinction of scorpions

Earth's position and orbit spurred ancient marine life extinction

Simulations suggest Earth's oxygen-rich atmosphere will last only another billion years

Were it not for humans, woolly mammoths would have lived for 4,000 more years, simulation shows

Warming seas could wipe out Snake River chinook by 2060, scientists predict

Farmers and scientists unite for pint-sized pygmies

Unique study of isolated bobcat population confirms accuracy of extinction model

Sawfish face global extinction unless overfishing is curbed

Rising water temperatures could be a death sentence for Pacific salmon

Alpine plants at risk of extinction following disappearing glaciers

Monarch butterfly population moves closer to extinction

Parrots pushed to extinction despite protection policies

Leaf fossils show severe end-Cretaceous plant extinction in southern Argentina

Race to save Bangladesh hound from extinction

Risk of extinction cascades from freshwater mussels to bitterling fish

Lake Washington sockeye hit record low, another signature Seattle fish at brink of extinction

A tropical fish evolved to endure rising temperatures – but it may not be fast enough to survive climate change

Global warming is faster than evolution

Mass extinctions of land-dwelling animals occur in 27-million-year cycle

Artificial intelligence finds surprising patterns in Earth's biological mass extinctions

Climate change spurring frog extinctions: conservationists

Study shows that Japanese bats urgently require conservation action

Remote Hawaiian island harbors last land snails of their kind

Flightless birds more common globally before human-driven extinctions

It's not too late to save 102 species at risk of extinction

Urgent action needed as 1 in 3 native mammals at risk of extinction in Wales

New placement for one of Earth's largest mass extinction events

Newly discovered primate in Myanmar 'already facing extinction'

Emerald ash borer puts trees on path to functional extinction

Native frogs had hard year, faced fires and harsh ecology

War in the time of Neanderthals: How our species battled for supremacy for over 100,000 years

Extinctions linked to new assemblages of species

Past tropical forest changes drove megafauna and hominin extinctions

The first human settlers on islands caused extinctions

Alien species to increase by 36% worldwide by 2050

Climate change threatens Komodo dragons

Discovery of a new mass extinction

Humans, not climate, have driven rapidly rising mammal extinction rate

Scientists name 20 Australian snakes and lizards on path to extinction

Mite extinctions are occurring at least 1,000 times the 'natural' rate

Warmer, acidifying ocean brings extinction for reef-building corals, renewal for relatives

Fossil pollen record suggests vulnerability to mass extinction ahead

Big mammals at higher risk of extinction in world's poorest countries, study reveals

22 Australian freshwater fish on path to extinction

Researchers assemble first comprehensive list of Panama's trees with geographic ranges

Herbivores, not predators, most at risk of extinction

Is humanity doomed because we can't plan for the long term? Three experts discuss

Giant panda conservation is failing to revive the wider ecosystem – new study

One-quarter of native mammals now at risk of extinction in Britain

US mulls endangered status for Nevada plant in mine fight

Giant, fruit-gulping pigeon eaten into extinction on Pacific islands

Nearly all Madagascar's lemur species 'face extinction'

Overharvesting threatens 'Himalayan Viagra' fungus: IUCN

Farewell smooth handfish: What can we learn from the world's first marine fish extinction?

Stopping koala extinction is agonizingly simple, but here's why I'm not optimistic

Global turtle study highlights extinction risk and roadmap to recovery

Permo-Triassic biodiversity patterns could offer a window into our climate future

Coal-burning in Siberia led to climate change 250 million years ago

New species extinction target proposed for global nature rescue plan

Loss of land-based vertebrates is accelerating, study finds

Study shows erosion of ozone layer responsible for mass extinction event

Over-harvesting could wipe out water frogs in parts of Turkey

Plan urgently needed to meet threats to human survival

While we fixate on coronavirus, Earth is hurtling towards a catastrophe worse than the dinosaur extinction

Lacustrine ecosystems needed 10 million years to recover after end-permian mass extinction

In Earth's largest extinction, land die-offs began long before ocean turnover

Eastern monarch butterfly population plunges below extinction threshold

Warming mountaintops put snake at risk of extinction

Reef-building coral exhibiting 'disaster traits' akin to the last major extinction event

Nations seek biodiversity accord to stave off mass extinction

New analysis sheds important light on an ancient mass extinction event

One-third of plant and animal species could be gone in 50 years, study says

Half-a-million insect species face extinction: scientists

Global warming and extinction risk

Why bumble bees are going extinct in time of 'climate chaos'

Lights out? Fireflies face extinction threats of habitat loss, light pollution, pesticides

Climate change pushing Australia's platypus towards extinction: researchers

Australia's bushfires could drive more than 700 animal species to extinction

Chinese paddlefish declared extinct

Bushfires have reshaped life on Earth before—they could do it again

Scientists re-counted Australia's extinct species, and the result is devastating

Were other humans the first victims of the sixth mass extinction?

What is a 'mass extinction' and are we in one now?

Emperor penguins could march to extinction if nations fail to halt climate change

Scientists studied the reasons for plant extinction in different world regions

Evidence that mercury from volcanoes contributed to end-Triassic mass extinction

Microscopic evidence sheds light on the disappearance of the world's largest mammals

Rare, endangered orchids slip across porous southern Chinese border

Report: 58% of Europe's native trees face extinction threat

Tale of two climate crises gives clues to the present

Scientific progress could result in human extinction

Researchers unearth 'new' extinction

Breakdown in coral spawning places species at risk of extinction

Scientists shed new light on demise of two extinct New Zealand songbirds

Oxygen depletion in ancient oceans caused major mass extinction

Ancient die-off greater than the dinosaur extinction

Shocking rate of plant extinctions in South Africa

Plants are going extinct up to 350 times faster than the historical norm

Why captive breeding will not save the wild tiger

Now endangered: The very act that protects wildlife

Trump overhauls endangered species protections

It would take 50 million years to recover New Zealand's lost bird species

Vaquita porpoise about to go extinct, researchers warn

Elephant extinction will raise carbon dioxide levels in atmosphere

Climate changes faster than animals adapt

Manmade ruin adds 7,000 species to endangered 'Red List'

Joshua trees facing extinction

World's island conifers threatened with extinction from climate change

Breaching a 'carbon threshold' could lead to mass extinction

Climate change and deforestation together push tropical species towards extinction

Whales targeted by Japan face extinction threat

California's mighty predator, the mountain lion, faces 'extinction vortex'

Troublesome trees: spread of forests contributed to ancient extinction

Undocumented plant extinctions are a big problem in Australia

Study shows recent plant extinctions much more extensive than thought

Leatherback sea turtles likely to go extinct under Trump administration policy, lawsuit argues

Many plant species at risk of extinction—and we're blind to danger this poses to life on Earth

Domino effect of species extinctions also damages biodiversity

Study predicts shift to smaller animals over next century

Many species could be even more likely to go extinct than we realise

Invasive species are Australia's number-one extinction threat

Domino effect of species extinctions also damages biodiversity

Here we go again: Earth's major 'mass extinctions'

One million species risk extinction due to humans

Ecologist dissects the science of de-extinction

Disappearing bumblebee species under threat of extinction

Climate change threatens endangered sparrows

New evidence suggests volcanoes caused biggest mass extinction ever

Humans are not off the hook for extinctions of large herbivores – then or now

Evolution imposes 'speed limit' on recovery after mass extinctions

Loss of habitat causes double damage to species richness

Tiger geckos in Vietnam could be the next species sold into extinction, shows a new survey

Last of the giants: What killed off Madagascar's megafauna a thousand years ago?

66-million-year-old deathbed linked to dinosaur-killing meteor

Landmarks to go dark for extinction awareness

Catastrophic failure of Earth's global systems led to the extinction of the dinosaurs – we may yet go the same way

In ancient oceans that resembled our own, oxygen loss triggered mass extinction

Many sharks closer to extinction than feared - Red List

Local extinction of Southern California mountain lions possible within 50 years

Adders are facing near extinction in Britain according to study of national adder population trends

Due to humans, extinction risk for 1,700 animal species to increase by 2070

How the dinosaurs went extinct - Asteroid collision triggered potentially deadly volcanic eruptions

Aussie rodent becomes first 'climate change extinction'

Newly discovered turtle species is facing extinction

It's fish on ice, as frozen zoos make a last-ditch attempt to prevent extinction

Humans' meat consumption pushing Earth's biggest fauna toward extinction

Earth's largest extinction event likely took plants first

Aussie plants facing extinction

How to send a finch extinct

Calls for emergency action plan as myrtle rust pushes plants to extinction

More animal species under threat of extinction, new method shows

Researchers race against extinction to uncover tree's cancer-fighting properties

60 percent of coffee varieties face 'extinction risk'

Central Texas salamanders, including newly identified species, at risk of extinction

Climate change - Effect on sperm could hold key to species extinction

Loss of forest intactness increases extinction risk in birds

Nations 'face extinction' without instant climate action

Biggest mass extinction caused by global warming leaving ocean animals gasping for breath

Climate change may cause mass extinctions, new report shows

Co-extinctions annihilate planetary life during extreme environmental change

Volcanic eruptions once caused mass extinctions in the oceans – could climate change do the same?

Extinction is forever—and ecosystem recovery takes a really, really long time

Mammals cannot evolve fast enough to escape current extinction crisis

PCB pollution threatens to wipe out killer whales

The extirpation of species outside protected areas

Scientists predict extinction risk for hard-to-track species

End-Permian extinction, which wiped out most of Earth's species, was instantaneous in geological time

Cascading extinctions and community collapse in model food webs

Mammal diversity will take millions of years to recover from the current biodiversity crisis

Rates of projected climate change dramatically exceed past rates of climatic niche evolution among vertebrate species