Thursday, May 04, 2006

New species - and species under threat

Two items in the same day on new species demonstrate how much we still have to learn about the diversity of this planet: and a report from the IUCN demonstrates how many species are at risk.

New species from the deep Atlantic (link in the title of this entry) include a new species of black dragonfish, 40 cm long with fearsome-looking fangs, and 10-20 even stranger invertebrates.

Meanwhile, eight new frog species have hopped out of Laos:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060504/ap_on_sc/new_frogs_2

And, according to the IUCN's 2006 Red List, the number of known species under threat keeps growing.
http://www.iucnredlist.org/
The list includes list includes a third of the known amphibians, a quarter of the mammals, and one out of every eight bird species.
Links from the IUCN site show the entire list of threatened taxa maintained in a searchable database by the SSC Red List Programme as part of the SSC's Species Information Service (SIS).

No comments: