A new study has revealed that the last surviving population of woolly mammoths on Wrangel Island, isolated for 6,000 years, did not go extinct due to genetic reasons. Instead, a sudden and unknown event likely wiped them out, leaving researchers with a new mystery to solve.
Encephalartos woodii, an ancient cycad species, is on the brink of extinction due to an existential crisis. Despite surviving dinosaurs and mass extinctions, this enigmatic plant faces a unique challenge: it has no known female partner. Scientists are racing against time to find a female specimen to save this living fossil and preserve its genetic legacy.
Scientists have unearthed the fossils of the world’s largest-ever cheetah species, a behemoth that roamed Eurasia over a million years ago. Weighing up to 420 pounds, this colossal predator was significantly heavier than modern cheetahs, comparable in size to tigers and lions. Its impressive 780,000-year-old fossils showcase distinctive skull and snout characteristics, indicating a unique lineage within the cheetah family. Despite its similarities to modern cheetahs, such as tooth arrangement and nasal anatomy, this giant cheetah succumbed to extinction around 500,000 years ago due to climate change during the Mid-Pleistocene Transition.
The discovery of a deceased mammal resembling a fisher near Kent State University in Ohio has sparked speculations that the species, once hunted to near extinction in the 19th century, may still exist in the region. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources is conducting an autopsy to determine the animal’s identity. If confirmed as a fisher, it would mark the westernmost sighting of the species in Ohio in over 200 years.
A Tenerife activist, Atterni Rivero Quintero, has raised concerns about the dwindling presence of native islanders due to the increasing influx of expats, particularly British tourists. Quintero warns that this overtourism and property acquisition by outsiders could lead to the extinction of the local population if left unchecked. The protests in Santa Cruz on April 20, with 120,000 participants, highlighted the frustration and anger among islanders over the negative impacts of tourism, including environmental degradation, poverty, and rising property prices. Quintero, a former resident of El Medano, was forced to leave her hometown due to the overwhelming presence of outsiders and the disruption it caused to her daily life.
