Yangtze turtles may avoid extinction, but not this year

How Is a Lizard Like a Motorcycle?

Climate change threatens polar bears, hawks, and snakes

kavin submitted, created time 8 months 1 week (www.msnbc.msn.com)

There are several different views on the species which would face extinction. Some have preferred to call the polar bear a "special concern species," saying that the evidence isn't strong enough to recommend threatened or endangered status. Others think climate change is a threat to the survival of the polar bear. In the end, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada examined 31 various species and concluded the ferruginous hawk should be upgraded to threatened from special concern, while two populations of the eastern foxsnake in Ontario are now considered endangered.

2 comments | Blog It | Email It | Keywords: hawks snakes herpetology Canada global warming climate change ecology marine biology extinction polar bears endangered species

The rapid evolution of the tuatara

siemens submitted, created time 9 months 1 week (www.nature.com)

In a paper published this month in Trends in Genetics 1, the researchers show that the rate of molecular evolution in the reptile is among the fastest yet observed for any vertebrate.But the results contradict the theory that cold-blooded animals with slow metabolisms evolve more slowly than their warm-blooded counterparts.
Without question, there is much to learn about the rates of evolution from such studies.

6 comments | Blog It | Email It | Keywords: molecular evolution living fossils tuatara evolutionary biology speciation herpetology evolution warm-blooded animals reptiles cold-blooded animals

Modern Turtles Much Younger Than Thought?

Vincent submitted, created time 9 months 3 weeks (sciencenow.sciencemag.org)

As reptiles go, turtles are old--no question. They evolved before snakes and crocodiles and preceded dinosaurs. But establishing when the common ancestor of modern turtles first appeared has recently become controversial. Now a new fossil is backing the idea that modern turtles evolved more recently than previously thought.

5 comments | Blog It | Email It | Keywords: reptiles herpetology zoology evolutionary biology fossil record turtles