Estimating our chances of surviving in the absence of the extraordinary pollinator. Last week, there was more bad news regarding honeybees. According to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report, this year saw a 42 percent loss of honeybees in managed colonies, the kind that beekeepers rent to farmers. The majority of the headlines focused on that figure, but there was more … [Read more...] about A World Without Bees? What Will Happen If Bees Extinct?
extinct
93-Year-Old Butterfly Is The First US Insect To Go Extinct Because Of Humans
Last seen around 80 years ago, the Xerces blue butterfly has been presumed extinct ever since. Its extinction has been considered the first in an American insect species to have been directly caused by humans. But questions have always persisted as to whether it was ever actually its own species to begin with and whether it did in fact go extinct all those years ago. Now, new … [Read more...] about 93-Year-Old Butterfly Is The First US Insect To Go Extinct Because Of Humans
Neanderthals Became Extinct 40,000 Years Ago, Yet Their DNA Keeps Them Alive
There has never been more of their DNA on Earth. Since their discovery in 1856, Neanderthals have acted as a mirror of our own humanity. What we believe we know about them has been fashioned and molded to conform to cultural trends, societal conventions, and scientific standards. From ill specimens to primordial sub-human lumbering relatives to sophisticated humans, they … [Read more...] about Neanderthals Became Extinct 40,000 Years Ago, Yet Their DNA Keeps Them Alive
We may have discovered the cause of Australia’s enormous extinct “Demon Ducks of Doom”
Despite being possibly the largest birds of all time, the time it took them to reach maturity made them ill-equipped to handle human arrival. The Dromornis stirtoni, possibly the largest bird to have ever existed, went extinct 7 million years ago, but its bones have revealed the fatal flaw that doomed its descendants: they took too long to mate. Australia used to be home … [Read more...] about We may have discovered the cause of Australia’s enormous extinct “Demon Ducks of Doom”
Chinese Authorities Have Declared The Dugong “Sea Cows” That Gave Rise to The Mermaid Myth Extinct
Exhaustive surveys revealed that nobody has seen a dugong in Chinese waters since 2008. According to research conducted by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), dugongs are now practically extinct in China as there have been no sightings of the adored "sea cow" grazers since 2008. These gentle giants, whose numbers fell after the 1970s, are apparently losing the war … [Read more...] about Chinese Authorities Have Declared The Dugong “Sea Cows” That Gave Rise to The Mermaid Myth Extinct