Hi folks! The reading for this week is as follows:
Wilson AS, Taylor T, Ceruti MC, Chavez oA, Reinhard
J, Grimes V, Meier-Augenstein W, Cartmell L, Stern B, Richards MP et al. .
2007. Stable isotope and DNA evidence for ritual sequences in Inca child
sacrifice. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104(42):16456–16461.
For this week’s discussion, here are some questions
you may want to think about:
1) What
do you think about the author’s explanation for the oxygen and hydrogen
isotopic trends in the Llullaillaco children?
2) Look
carefully at the δ13C and δ15N
patterns for the children, do you notice any anomalies or incongruencies with
the authors’ explanations for the diet in the months prior to sacrifice?
3) How
could changing landscape through the children’s journey impact δ13C
and δ15N
values?
We did not go over sulphur in class and I don’t
expect you to understand it all from the article, but if you want a good
background in sulphur I suggest this article: http://email.eva.mpg.de/~richards/pdf/Richards_IJO_Sulphur.pdf
Happy Reading!
This was an interesting look on a cultural aspect, which raises more questions on the actual sacrificing ritual than the isotopic analysis. However, that is quite irrelevant so I digress. With the issue of not being able to tell the difference between LX and LM I will do the best I can in my correlations. I find it weird that out of the Llullaillaco samples found the Llullaillaco Boy and Maiden were the only ones with Nitrogen and Carbon spikes toward the last few months of their lives. I am curious why the lightning girl and Sarita were deprived of these nutrients. It would be understandable if the people found in the different mountain ranges would have different concentrations of things, considering the extreme difference in distance. The two week journey should have a less visible impact than the ten week journey.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the shorter journey should have a less visible and probably a less severe impact than a 10 week journey, particularly if the longer journey was over rougher terrain. Great points.
DeleteThe variation in nitrogen between the Llullaillaco children and the lightening girl and Sarita is a really intriguing point as well, it will be definitely fun to discuss!
DeleteI have some comments on the lecture on Tuesday.
ReplyDeleteI dont agree with a lot of what was pointed out and emphasized in relation to the Keeling curve. First of all in my opinion that might be the most important graph ever created! I think the whole importance of the graph was lost in the lecture. Yes, it is true that the Earth goes through cycles of CO2 ups and downs, but not on such short time scales. We learned about some of the important cycles last week, but none of them were even close to a 50 year cycle.
Another item that was mentioned which I dont agree with, it was stated that C3 plants will increase their productivity due to an increase in CO2. From the literature I have read that is not correct. Yes, C3 plants do "usually" increase their photosynthetic rates when induced with increased CO2. However, as we all know CO2 increase in the atmosphere is followed by temperature increase. Temperature increase causes greater water loss via vapor pressure deficit and transpiration water loss. This in turn reduces internal CO2 concentrations which reduce photosynthetic rates and productivity.
When the Keeling curve was shown it was mentioned that the CO2 level was not the troubling part or the temperature rise caused by the CO2. The troubling item was reduced agriculture. I beg to differ! What about the extermination of species? "Animals and plants are adapted to specific climate zones, and they can survive only when they are within those zones. Ecosystems are based on interdependencies between, for example, flower and pollinator, hunter and hunted, grazer and plant life-so the less mobile species have an impact on the survival of others. Now human made climate change, with an unnaturally rapid shifting of climatic zones, threatens to add a new overwhelming stress that could drive a large fraction of the species on the planet to extinction." (Storms of my Grandchildren, James Hansen)
Mike J
Mike,
DeleteFirst of all, I apologize we did not get to your question by the end of class on Tuesday. I definitely regret it since I think you bring up some very valid concerns that I think would be great to discuss further in Thursday's class!
With regard to the Keeling curve, you are absolutely correct that we have not previously observed such a drastic spike in CO2 (though, keep in mind, for a lot of history we also do not have such a fine scale for CO2 fluctuations as we do today and we do have some fairly rapid changes in CO2 on the order of a couple thousand years). I apologize, I am not trying to undermine the importance of the drastic rise in CO2 today and the extreme anthropogenic influence, just merely pointing out the resilience of the earth and its biota. However, this does not mean that it will not have a significant impact on our current world.
In response to your concerns regarding C3 plants, they do increase in efficiency when exposed to CO2 in the beginning (http://ddr.nal.usda.gov/bitstream/10113/26555/1/IND43650355.pdf). However, the amount of this increase in efficiency is contentious (http://ddr.nal.usda.gov/bitstream/10113/26790/1/IND43816516.pdf). I absolutely agree, as mentioned in class, that temperature plays a huge role in this story as well and, above a certain temp, C3 plants (and even water-efficient C4 plants!) will have reduced productivity! No argument there!
With regard to your final point, I agree that there are other concerns rather than agriculture, but I do think agriculture will be one of the biggest concerns in the near future. Yes, there will be a shifting dynamic between animal and plant species and species richness will definitely be impacted and extinction rate will increased (and has!) but, keep in mind, that even in our rapidly shifting environment we have seen animals adapt to new environment through altering their strategies. Additionally, new environments will foster opportunities for new species to fill new environments, it's the turnover of the world and it's happened many times in the past and I believe will happen many times in the future. I do not mean to sound dispassionate about extinction, but I do believe it will not be something that the earth will not recover from. Yes, reducing carbon emissions may help extant struggling species for now(especially those not adapted to rapidly shifting environments), but eventually, with or without our help, the world will change and those species will go extinct (but I agree it would be nice if we didn't expedite the process....I happened to be quite attached to some of those furry creatures). I mention agriculture because it is a very pressing problem and one that I think will be very important to address in the near future. However, you are definitely welcome to your own priorities, I mention mine because it has been on my mind but I am welcome to hear and discuss concerns that are pressing for other folks and their reasoning behind those concerns.
Should be a good discussion tomorrow! Thanks Mike!
Mike J
ReplyDeletePS I thought that was a very interesting article. I had no idea you can get that much information from isotopes and from simple strands of hair. The one hard part for me was the paragraph going into the poor little boy who soiled his clothes from th fear of being murdered.
You bring up a bunch of points worth commenting on, but I'll just stick with the Keeling plot. I agree that it is extremely important for a variety of reasons, perhaps the most important of which is the rate of CO2 rise - this is the key point that I hope will drive future political action. Never before (at least as far as science can tell) has global CO2 increased so much in such a short period of time. The cause seems to be debated by politicians, but the implications are clearly unpredictable (is that an oxymoron?) but in my opinion worth careful consideration. Sea level rise? Ecosystem shifts? As Katie said, the earth will be ok. But will we?
ReplyDeleteI thought it was very interesting. Looking forward to more details about the data. That is a lot of info retrieved.
ReplyDelete“Sarita” found at Vulcán Sara in Peru was 15yo and had carbon 14 levels consistent with maize consumption with increased meat (nitrogen increase) as her time of death neared. Some of the oxygen 18 increase is probably a result of the increase in altitude. The coca found in her mouth suggests she may have had altitude sickness or been given the drugs to inure her to her situation. The “Llullaillaco maiden” found at Volcán Llullaillaco in Argentina was also 15 yo and showed signs of having increased altitude and increased nitrogen as well as increase C14 values near the time of death consistent with better diet suggesting she was lower status and was fed a better diet before she was taken up the mountain and sacrificed. The “Llullaillaco boy” 7 yo was found in the same location as the older girl and showed a change in diet from mainly fish to increased meat consumption and increased maize consumption. The “Lightning girl” who was 6 yo at time of death was not eating maize suggesting she was a sacrificial victim in a time of famine and that her death was an offering to the god or gods of rain. The little boy had hallucinogenic substances in the diarrhea around him and in his stomach and intestine suggesting that he was sacrificed in the height of a vision ritual by wrapping him so tightly in cloth that his ribs were broken and his pelvis was dislocated. The oxygen and hydrogen analysis seemed good considering that the ancient people in question were unlikely to be drinking water from very far away unless they had to carry it across a desert. The only thing they did not account for was the increased altitude which would also change the O18 ratios.
ReplyDeleteThe mummy from Sara Peru showed much higher heavy oxygen isotopes than the others suggesting she was from a rainforest or other wet climate and then traveled to the dryer and higher altitude mountain some time before she died and before the final push to the top of the volcano happened. The boy and the maiden, however came from lower altitudes with less forest, more fish and higher amounts of C3 plants. The little girl was from a higher altitude and a closer location than the others and appears to have a dramatically better diet prior to death.
I really like the implications this article holds although I do not like the assumptions about differences in changing altitude and different environments having little or no impact on the children and their isotope uptake. There seems to be large changes associated particularly where animals resided in rainforests and it seems like the best way to approach the actual motions of the children and their diet should include some identification of isotopic variability depending on environments and droughts. The lightning girl should, for example, have O18 values consistent with a drought and should have isotopic markers from the environment she grew up in as well as a change when she moved location.
-Jayda
In regards to the research involving the Llullaillaco children:
ReplyDeleteC4 plants such a maize use Hatch-Slack pathway and are restricted to growing at elevations below 2,500 m. The L. boy already had C4 rich diet with some evidence for seasonal differences. The Aconcagua boy had C4 rich diet throughout the period of almost 2 yrs before death; although his N signature suggested protein depletion, suggesting a possible discrepancy. Although later in the paper it was noted there were increasing N levels over the time frame in the children. The authors of the paper noted another discrepancy in that months before their death there was a change in their C, H, and O isotope ratios, which is consistent with diet of maize; but water at higher altitude up to 5,000 m should have produced a reverse trend. Additionally, H and O isotopes showed little variation and then shifted rapidly before death. The rates of sulfur show little diachronic variation.
The authors argued that a small percentage of bound water in human hair keratin is biochemically and isotopically derived from drinking water; whereas bulk considered to be from water inherent in food. The authors further suggested rehydrating maize with local water or old snow would concentrate heavier oxygen and hydrogen isotopes in the keratin. However, they reported that as the children moved up into a higher altitude the hydrogen and oxygen isotopes shifted rapid before they died. As I suggested in class: given the probability that maize (from a lower elevation) was carried up the mountain that water similarly was carried. The authors did not suggest any explanation for the discrepancies, other than suggesting that mountain water or snow might have been used, but then the O and H levels should have reflected this use.
Some of you might find the White House's publication "National Action Plan Priorities for Managing Freshwater Resources in a Changing Climate" October 2011 by the Interagency Climate Change Adaptation Task Force of interest and a possible research source. An on-line pdf is available through NOAA. President Obama's release of this publication indicates his political courage. Here's one quote by Peter Gleick, Pacific Institute: "Extreme weather is influenced by climate change, and extreme weather events are now subject to human influence. The continued delay in taking action means we face rapidly worsening impacts, and unavoidable adaptation."
ReplyDeleteARE WE IN THE MIDDLE OF A SIXTH MASS EXTINCTION?
ReplyDeleteEarth's creatures are on the brink of a sixth mass extinction, comparable to the one that wiped out the dinosaurs. That's the conclusion of a new study, which calculates that three-quarters of today's animal species could vanish within 300 years. "This is really gloom-and-doom stuff," says the study's lead author, paleobiologist Anthony Barnosky of the University of California, Berkeley. "But the good news is we haven't come so far down the road that it's inevitable."
Species naturally come and go over long periods of time. But what sets a mass extinction apart is that three-quarters of all species vanish quickly. Earth has already endured five mass extinctions, including the asteroid that wiped out dinosaurs and other creatures 65 million years ago. Conservationists have warned for years that we are in the midst of a sixth, human-caused extinction, with species from frogs to birds to tigers threatened by climate change, disease, loss of habitat, and competition for resources with nonnative species. But how does this new mass extinction compare with the other five?
Barnosky and colleagues took on this challenge by looking to the past. First, they calculated the rate at which mammals, which are well represented in the fossil record, died off in the past 65 million years, finding an average extinction rate of less than two species per million years. But in the past 500 years, a minimum of 80 of 5570 species of mammals have gone extinct, according to biologists' conservative estimates—an extinction rate that is actually above documented rates for past mass extinctions, says Barnosky. All of this means that we're at the beginning of a mass extinction that will play out over hundreds or thousands of years, his team concludes online today in Nature.
The picture gets even grimmer when all mammals currently endangered or threatened are added to the count. If those all disappear within a century, then by 334 years from now, 75% of all mammal species will be gone, says Barnosky. "Look outside of your window. Imagine taking away three-quarters of the living things you see and ask yourself if you want to live in that world."
The team extended the same methods of analysis to amphibians, reptiles, birds, plants, mollusks, and other forms of life. They found fairly consistent patterns: From amphibians to birds to mammals, about 1% to 2% of species already are extinct today, and 20% to 50% are threatened—numbers that approach those of the great mass extinctions of the past. "Our best guess is that the current extinction rate is between three to 80 times too high" even without counting all threatened species, says Barnosky. "Assuming threatened species would actually go extinct—which is not inevitable—puts the extinction rate off the charts."
"There's been a lot of general talk on this issue, but attempts to draw more rigorously on the lessons of the fossil record have been rare," says paleobiologist David Jablonski of the University of Chicago in Illinois, who was not involved in the study. "It's really valuable to look at how current losses stack up against the past extinction events."
The silver lining in this dark cloud is that if humans work quickly to protect endangered and threatened species and their habitats now, the mass extinction can be prevented or at least delayed by thousands of years, says Barnosky. Adds Jablonski, "This approach provides a way to gauge progress in walking the world back from that brink [of a mass extinction]."
link to the NATURE article
ReplyDeletehttp://ehis.ebscohost.com.libproxy.unm.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=2&hid=6&sid=97f22606-6284-47c4-8eb5-ab949f4a86b2%40sessionmgr10
Today, rapidly changing atmospheric conditions and warming above typical interglacial temperatures as CO2 levels continue to rise, habitat fragmentation, pollution, overfishing and overhunting, invasive species and pathogens (like chytrid fungus), and expanding human biomass are all more extreme ecological stressors than most living species have previously experienced. Without concerted mitigation efforts, such stressors will
accelerate in the future and thus intensify extinction, especially given the feedbacks between individual stressors.
http://www.pnas.org/content/105/suppl.1/11466.short
ReplyDeleteAre we in the midst of the sixth mass extinction? A view from the world of amphibians
David B. Wake*† and Vance T. Vredenburg*‡
+ Author Affiliations
*Museum of Vertebrate Zoology and Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3160; and
‡Department of Biology, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA 94132-1722
Abstract
Many scientists argue that we are either entering or in the midst of the sixth great mass extinction. Intense human pressure, both direct and indirect, is having profound effects on natural environments. The amphibians—frogs, salamanders, and caecilians—may be the only major group currently at risk globally. A detailed worldwide assessment and subsequent updates show that one-third or more of the 6,300 species are threatened with extinction. This trend is likely to accelerate because most amphibians occur in the tropics and have small geographic ranges that make them susceptible to extinction. The increasing pressure from habitat destruction and climate change is likely to have major impacts on narrowly adapted and distributed species. We show that salamanders on tropical mountains are particularly at risk. A new and significant threat to amphibians is a virulent, emerging infectious disease, chytridiomycosis, which appears to be globally distributed, and its effects may be exacerbated by global warming. This disease, which is caused by a fungal pathogen and implicated in serious declines and extinctions of >200 species of amphibians, poses the greatest threat to biodiversity of any known disease. Our data for frogs in the Sierra Nevada of California show that the fungus is having a devastating impact on native species, already weakened by the effects of pollution and introduced predators. A general message from amphibians is that we may have little time to stave off a potential mass extinction.
Below is a quick list of journal articles concluding the mass extinction we are all part of and causing.
ReplyDeleteMomentum Drives the Crash: Mass Extinction in the Tropics1
BW Brook, CJA Bradshaw, LP Koh… - Biotropica, 2006
Mass extinctions and ocean acidification: biological constraints on geological dilemmas
[PDF] from osdir.com
JEN Veron - Coral Reefs, 2008
An updated assessment of the risks from climate change based on research published since the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report
[PDF] from pik-potsdam.de
HM Füssel - Climatic Change, 2009 - Springer
A long-term association between global temperature and biodiversity, origination and extinction in the fossil record
[HTML] from nih.gov
PJ Mayhew, GB Jenkins… - … of the Royal …, 2008
Biodiversity, Climate, and the Kyoto Protocol: Risks and Opportunities
Michael Totten, Sonal I. Pandya and Toby Janson-Smith
Page 262 of 262-270
The Current Biodiversity Extinction Event: Scenarios for Mitigation and RecoveryDetail Only Available
By: Novacek, Michael J.; Cleland, Elsa E.. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America; May 8, 2001, Vol. 98 Issue 10, p5466-5470, 5p.
The Current Biodiversity Extinction Event: Scenarios for Mitigation and RecoveryDetail Only Available
By: Novacek, Michael J.; Cleland, Elsa E.. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America; May 8, 2001, Vol. 98 Issue 10, p5466-5470, 5p.
Engineering a future for amphibians under climate change.Detail Only Available
By: Shoo, Luke P.; Olson, Deanna H.; McMenamin, Sarah K.; Murray, Kris A.; Van Sluys, Monique; Donnelly, Maureen A.; Stratford, Danial; Terhivuo, Juhani; Merino-Viteri, Andres; Herbert, Sarah M.; Bishop, Phillip J.; Corn, Paul Stephen; Dovey, Liz; Griffiths, Richard A.; Lowe, Katrin; Mahony, Michael; McCallum, Hamish; Shuker, Jonathan D.; Simpkins, Clay; Skerratt, Lee F.. Journal of Applied Ecology, Apr2011, Vol. 48 Issue 2, p487-492, 6p, 1 Black and White Photograph; DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2664.2010.01942.x
Re-assessing current extinction ratesDetail Only Available
Stork, NE. BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION; FEB, 2010; 19; 2; p357-p371
ALL CORAL REEF SPECIES FACE EXTINCTION BY END OF THIS CENTURY (CBS News-- 2010)
ReplyDeleteGlobal Picture of Death, Damage and Destruction (United Nations)
Grim Picture of Extinction (2003 World Parks Conference)
One Quarter Of All Mammal Species Face Extinction Soon (IUCN-- 2000)
HALF OF PRIMATE SPECIES THREATENED WITH EXTINCTION (U.K. Times/IUCN-- 2008)
Half of World's Primate Species In Danger of Extinction (International Primatological Society-- 2008)
One Quarter of Primates Will Be Extinct in 20 Years (London Times-- 2005)
Primates in Peril (IUCN-- 2007)
One Third of Primates Face Extinction (BBC-- 2002)
Many Primates Face Extinction (CNN-- 2000)
Gorillas, Bonobos, and Chimpanzees 10 Years From Extinction (U.K. Observer)
Gorillas May Be Extinct in Central Africa Within 10 Years (National Geographic-- 2010)
Monkeys, Apes Are Being Eaten to Extinction (Associated Press)
Primate Extinction Surge (ABC)
Primates in Peril (CNN)
70% Of Indonesian Primates In Danger of Extinction (BNO News-- 2011)
GREENHOUSE GAS EFFECTS ON OCEANS EVIDENCE OF APPROACHING "GREAT EXTINCTION EVENT" (Science-- 2010)
ALL WILD SEAFOOD WILL DISAPPEAR IN 50 YEARS (Science Magazine-- 2006)
World's Rivers in Crisis State (Nature-- 2010)
Earth's Edible Fish Face Extinction (Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences-- 2008)
More Than One-Third Of Freshwater Fish Species Threatened (IUCN-- 2011)
Freshwater Ecosystems Collapsing (U.K. Guardian-- 2009)
Mass Extinction of Freshwater Creatures Forecast (WWF Report)
World's Freshwater Systems in Peril (World Resources Institute)
90% OF ALL LARGE FISH GONE FROM WORLD'S OCEANS (Nature-- 2003)
PLANKTON DISAPPEARING FROM WORLD'S OCEANS (S.F. Chronicle-- 2003)
Sea Life in Peril: Plankton Vanishing (S.F. Chronicle-- 2005)
CO2 Acidification of Oceans Threatening Unprecedented Loss of Marine Life (U.K. Guardian-- 2009)
Rising Acidity of World's Oceans May Cause Marine Mass Extinction (London Times-- 2006)
Acidic Oceans Decimating Plankton and Coral (Washington Post-- 2006)
Oysters Disappearing Worldwide (BioScience-- 2010)
1,600 Marine Scientists Warn That The Sea Is In Peril (MCBI)
Entire North Atlantic Ocean on Verge of Collapse (New Scientist)
North Sea Undergoing Ecological Meltdown (U.K. Independent)
Last Chance For Southern Ocean (BBC)
Saltwater Species May Vanish (American Fisheries Society)
Most of California Native Fish Face Extinction (U.C. Davis-- 2008)
Ocean Dead Zones Pose Extinction Threat (American Chemical Society-- 2006)
Many Fish on Verge of Extinction (BBC)
WORLD'S AMPHIBIANS FACE EXTINCTION (Chicago Tribune-- 2006)
One Third of Amphibian Species Face Extinction (Washington Post-- 2004)
World Amphibian Populations Plummet Toward Extinction (AAAS)
Amphibians Declining Worldwide (Boston Globe)
40% of Amphibians in Americas Threatened (MSNBC-- 2005)
Amphibian and Reptile Populations Down 75% in Costa Rican Wildlife Reserve (U.K. Guardian-- 2007)
ReplyDeleteClimate Change Drives Widespread Amphibian Extinctions (National Science Foundation-- 2006)
Reptiles Vanishing Faster Than Amphibians (CNN)
20% of Reptiles and 25% of Amphibians in Europe Facing Extinction (U.K. Telegraph-- 2009)
One-Fifth of Lizard Species Facing Extinction (National Geographic-- 2010)
Migratory Birds and Animals Rapidly Dying Out (Environment News Service)
65% of European Wildlife Habitats Threatened and More Than 50% of Species Facing Extinction (European Union-- 2009)
Almost Half of Europe's Animal Species Threatened (European Union-- 2006)
Many Carnivore Species At Risk of Extinction (Science Daily)
HALF OF EARTH'S PLANT SPECIES FACE EXTINCTION (Science)
50% of Europe's Plants Threatened by Warming (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences-- 2005)
Forests Face Global Extinction (United Nations)
Trees on the Verge of Mass Extinction (World Conservation Monitoring Centre)
Worldwide Plant Crisis Accelerating (E/Environmental Magazine)
Plants: Heading for Extinction (ABC News)
Threatened Wild Food Crops: "Terrifying" (U.K. Guardian-- 2006)
Plant Species Losses Threaten World's Food Supplies (BBC)
29% of Plant Species in U.S. Threatened (Chicago Botanic Garden)
20% of British Wild Plants Threatened With Extinction (British Government-- 2005)
Europe's Plant Species Threatened (IUCN)
30% OF WORLD'S MEDICINAL PLANTS ON VERGE OF EXTINCTION (New Scientist-- 2009)
1000's Of Medicinal Plants Being Harvested to Extinction (Australian Broadcasting Co.)
25% Of World's Conifers Threatened With Extinction (IUCN)
Wild Fruit Trees Face Extinction (BBC-- 2009)
Half of Cycad Species (World's Oldest Seed Plants) Threatened (IUCN)
Many Palm Tree Species Threatened With Extinction (Smithsonian)
Half of World's Bamboo Species In Danger of Extinction (United Nations)
Frankincense Trees Facing Extinction (Boston Globe-- 2006)
Wild Banana Species Going Extinct (India Times-- 2006)
Half of Wild Magnolias Facing Extinction (National Geographic-- 2007)
20% of British Wildflowers Facing Extinction (U.K. Independent-- 2005)
Intensive Farming Threatens Britain's Wildflowers (The Scotsman-- 2003)
20% OF WORLD'S BIRD SPECIES THREATENED (CNN-- 2005)
World Bird Populations Plummeting (WorldWatch Institute-- 2003)
American Bird Populations Disappearing (Audubon Society-- 2007)
Half Of Europe's Bird Species Threatened (U.K. Guardian-- 2004)
One Third Of North American Bird Species in Decline (Christian Science Monitor)
Humans Are Driving Birds to Extinction (National Geographic)
Farming Threatens One-Third of Europe's Birds (BBC)
Quarter of Parrot Species on Brink of Extinction (BBC)
10% of Hummingbird Species Threatened With Extinction (The Hummingbird Society)
ReplyDeleteAll Crane Species Threatened With Extinction (Times of India-- 2011)
Asia Faces Bird Extinction Crisis (BirdLife International)
World's Wading Birds Vanishing Fast (National Geographic)
Spotted Owl Near Extinction in British Columbia (Toronto Globe and Mail-- 2007)
EVERY SPECIES OF GREAT APE ON VERGE OF EXTINCTION (United Nations-- 2003)
Ebola Threatens Extinction of Gorillas (N.Y. Times-- 2006)
Gorillas and Chimpanzees on Edge of Extinction (Nature-- 2003)
World's Great Apes Hurtling Toward Extinction (Associated Press)
Last Chance to Save Great Apes From Extinction (United Nations)
90 Percent of Great Ape Habitats Will Be Destroyed by 2030 (United Nations)
Apes on the Edge (Population Action International)
New Hunting Wave Takes Indonesian Orangutan to Brink of Extinction (U.K. Guardian-- 2011)
98% Of Orangutan Habitat Gone By 2022 (United Nations-- 2007)
Humans Causing Collapse of Orangutans-- Outlook for Survival Bleak (BBC-- 2006)
Population of Indonesian Orangutans Down 43% in 10 Years (Wildlife Conservation Society-- 2006)
Indonesian Fires Threaten Extinction of Orangutans (Voice of America-- 2006)
Orangutans On Brink of Extinction (National Geographic)
Orangutan Numbers Plummeting Worldwide (Wildlife Conservation Society)
Gorillas Face Extinction by 2050 (U.K. Independent-- 2006)
Gorillas Face Doom at Gunpoint (U.K. Guardian)
Lowland Gorillas In Drastic Decline (BBC)
Only 650 Mountain Gorillas Left in World (U.K. Telegraph)
Chimpanzees Will Soon Be Extinct (U.K. Guardian)
Western Chimpanzees in Danger of Extinction (BBC)
Uganda's Apes Face Extinction (The East African)
Congo's Great Apes on Brink of Extinction (South African Sunday Times)
Asia's Primates Face Extinction (MSNBC)
Gibbons Imperiled (N.Y. Times)
Madagascar's Lemurs Cling to Survival (Reuters)
Madagascar's "Flying Angels" Threatened by Hunting and Deforestation (Seattle Post-Intelligencer-- 2006)
Two-Thirds of World's Turtle Species Threatened (BBC)
Sea Turtle Hurtles Towards Extinction (U.K. Guardian)
Tide of Extinction Threatening Sea Turtles (The East African-- 2006)
U.S. Wild Freshwater Turtles Vanishing Into Extinction (Environment News Service-- 2009)
Seahorses on Path to Extinction (ABC News)
Mediterranean Shark Populations Plummet 97% (Washington Post-- 2008)
One Third of Shark Species Threatened (Washington Post-- 2006)
Sharks Face Extinction (ABC News)
Sharks Suffer Population Crash (Nature--2004)
Tigers Will Be Extinct in 15 Years (Bangladesh Daily Star-- 2009)
Tiger Habitats Down 40% in Past Ten Years (Environment News Service-- 2006)
Poachers Push Tigers Near Extinction (Enviroment News Service-- 2006)
Only 3,000 Wild Tigers Left on Earth (U.K. Independent-- 2006)
Extinction Stalks World's Tigers (World Wildlife Fund-- 1999)
Chinese Trade in Tiger Parts Could Lead to Extinction of All Tiger Species (Reuters-- 2005)
Skin Trade Threatens World's Few Surviving Tigers (Reuters)
India's Tigers on Verge of Extinction (Reuters-- 2005)
Indian Tigers' Last Habitat Being Destroyed (U.K. Guardian-- 2003)
Last Stand For Amur Tigers (BBC)
Sumatran Tiger Faces Extinction (U.K. Guardian)
Only 90 Chinese Tigers Left (Sydney Morning Herald)