| Red List Misses Thousands of Species | 29 June 12 |
The International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) 2012 Red List has been released with almost 250 new additions. 63, 837 species have been assessed. Nearly all the world's mammals, thirteen percent of the world's birds, and a shocking 41% of all amphibians are threatened with extinction."Expanding both the number and diversity of species assessed on the IUCN Red List is imperative to have a clear understanding of our impact on the natural world," says Richard Edwards, Chief Executive of Wildscreen. Wildscreen is working with the IUCN Red List to raise awareness of endangered species. Further genetic analysis of shark species has lead to the discovery of 79 potential new species of shark. The IUCN has only assessed about half of the world's shark and ray species. A study out of the College of Charleston in South Carolina has done a DNA analysis of 4, 383 species of shark and ray and discovered hidden species. "This will have an impact on what is considered endangered and the fragility of different organisms," lead author Gavin Naylor with the College of Charleston in South Carolina. View June 28, 2012 Mongabay.com articleView June 6, 2012 Nature.com article View June 25, 2012 Scientific American View June 29, 2012 Nature.com article View IUCN Red List website |
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