extinct

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Cows Once as Big as Elephants May Soon Roam Europe

Welcome back the aurochs, or something like it

(Newser) - Standing nearly as tall as an elephant, the aurochs grazed for 250,000 years until its extinction in 1627. But its story may not end there: Scientists say they are close to resurrecting the "supercow," once the largest land mammal in Europe, reports CNN . In search of herbivores...

100-Year First: 'Extremely Rare' Dodo Skeleton Sold

It fetched $431K at auction in the UK

(Newser) - All that's left of the dodo bird is a smattering of bones—a nearly complete set of which has just sold for $431,000 at auction. This "extremely rare" version is one of the most complete with about 95% of bones present, reports the BBC . Only a portion...

Hawaii&#39;s Monk Seals Face New Threat: Cats
It's Cats vs. Monk Seals
in Hawaii
Oct 24, 2016 5:00 PM CDT

It's Cats vs. Monk Seals in Hawaii

Feline feces causes a real threat to endangered creature

(Newser) - The feral cat population has exploded in Hawaii, where they are not native and face no natural predators—and this could spell disaster for the endangered monk seal. That's because cat poop often contains a parasite called Toxoplasmosa gondii, and when sewage and polluted runoff carry the infected feces...

A Giant Secret in Queen's Garden: 2 'Extinct' Trees

Few knew how to identify rare Wentworth elms

(Newser) - Botanists were sure that the Wentworth elm had gone extinct as part of a mass die-off of elm trees in the UK in the 1970s. Soaring 100 feet in the air in the garden of none other than Queen Elizabeth was proof to the contrary. Two botanists say they've...

Scientists ID New Prehistoric Shark Species
'Remarkable'
New Find in
Shark World
NEW STUDY
Oct 4, 2016 11:16 AM CDT

'Remarkable' New Find in Shark World

Scientists awed that prehistoric Megalolamna paradoxodon escaped detection until now

(Newser) - It was all in the teeth. Scientists have identified an entirely new extinct shark based on the ancient species' chompers gathered in the US, Japan, and Peru, UPI reports. A study of the "elusive" sea swimmer published Monday in the Historical Biology journal describes the great white-like Megalolamna paradoxodon ...

This Is Likely the First Mammal Lost to Climate Change

Mosaic-tailed rat has vanished from Bramble Cay off Australia

(Newser) - Way to go, humanity. For the first time in history, human-induced climate change has been found "solely or primarily" responsible for the extinction of a mammal species, according to a new study . The Bramble Cay melomys , or mosaic-tailed rat, was found by Europeans on a tiny coral cay off...

Surprise: Dodos Were Actually Pretty Smart
 Surprise: Dodos Were 
 Actually Pretty Smart 
NEW STUDY
Feb 24, 2016 6:29 AM CST

Surprise: Dodos Were Actually Pretty Smart

They also had an unusually keen sense of smell

(Newser) - The poor dodo bird. It wasn't enough that the humans who happened upon the exotic creatures on the island of Mauritius in the late 1500s slaughtered them for food and brought about their extinction less than 100 years later, but we then started using their name to be synonymous...

Scientists Replay Call, Bird Last Seen in 1941 Surfaces

Jerdon's babbler spotted in Burma

(Newser) - Good news courtesy of the Wildlife Conservation Society: An apparently "extinct" bird last seen in Burma almost 75 years ago has flown back into view. The Jerdon's babbler, or Chrysomma altirostre, initially discovered in 1862, was spotted in grasslands near the town of Myitkyo in July 1941 but...

Near Extinction: Turtle That Breathes Through Its Butt

In the right conditions, the white-throated snapping turtle can live to 100

(Newser) - The days of the white-throated snapping turtle (Elseya albagula) appear to be numbered, according to the Australian government, which has recently declared them critically endangered. If that isn't attention-grabbing enough, consider that the animal prompted a biologist to talk like this: "These turtles breathe out of their ass,...

Ancient Giant Kangaroos Too Heavy to Hop

Their lumbering gait may have been their undoing

(Newser) - It isn't just recently that humans have hunted animals to extinction. It appears that 100,000 years ago a giant kangaroo lived in the Australian Outback, where it walked instead of hopped. But perhaps due to its slowness, the creature was an easy target for hunters who arrived somewhere...

Scientists Find Monkeys Thought to Be Extinct

And they weren't even looking for them

(Newser) - Scientists have stumbled upon a monkey many thought no longer existed. Seeking leopards and orangutans, the researchers placed camera traps in an Indonesian forest. When they checked the pictures, they were astonished to see images of large gray monkeys none had ever seen before, the AP reports. Photographs of the...

Next Mass Extinction Looms
 Next Mass Extinction Looms 
study says
Mar 3, 2011 10:00 AM CST

Next Mass Extinction Looms

But it's in early stages, so there is hope, new paper says

(Newser) - Some conservationists have been using the term "the sixth extinction" for a few years now—referring to the possibility that more than 75% of existing species could disappear for the sixth time in the planet's history—but there's been little factual proof to back up the frightening prediction. Until...

Eastern Cougar Is Extinct
 Eastern Cougar Is Extinct 
Mar 2, 2011 4:55 PM CST

Eastern Cougar Is Extinct

Federal agency makes it official

(Newser) - The eastern cougar is coming off the endangered species list, but for the worst possible reason: It's extinct. The big cat, also called the eastern puma, has likely been gone since the 1930s, but the official confirmation came today from the US Fish and Wildlife Service. It used to roam...

Woolly Mammoth Could Soon Be Resurrected
Woolly Mammoth
Could Soon Be Resurrected
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Jan 16, 2011 7:52 AM CST

Woolly Mammoth Could Soon Be Resurrected

Scientist says extinct beasts could be back within 4 years

(Newser) - Woolly mammoths could be walking the Earth again in as little as four years, according to a Japanese scientist. A technique pioneered in 2008 successfully cloned a mouse from the cells of a mouse frozen for 16 years, and the professor believes he can use the same technique to resurrect...

'Extinct' Whale Surfaces Again

Lost gray whale spotted off Spanish coast

(Newser) - Gray whales became extinct in the Atlantic centuries ago, so experts believe the one that was spotted off Spain's Mediterranean coast recently is either incredible evidence of a recolonization, or incredibly lost. The whale is likely the same one seen off the coast of Israel last month, but experts have...

Aussies Find 'Extinct' Bell Frog
 Aussies Find 'Extinct' Bell Frog 
UN-CROAKED
Mar 4, 2010 12:33 PM CST

Aussies Find 'Extinct' Bell Frog

Amphibian was thought to be wiped out in 1970s by fungus

(Newser) - The yellow-spotted bell frog was thought to be wiped out in the 1970s when a deadly fungus invaded its native Australian habitat—until now. That’s right—the “extinct” species has been discovered in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, alive and well. “It was quite amazing,...

Baby Mammoth Gives Up Secrets

(Newser) - A nearly perfectly preserved 37,000-year-old baby mammoth is giving up tantalizing secrets about her species, scientists report. The creature, dubbed Lyuba by researchers, still sports clumps of hair and eyelashes, according to the Telegraph. Scientists have been able to examine stomach contents and the mineral makeup of the bones...

River Dolphin Declared Extinct
River Dolphin Declared Extinct
Aug 8, 2007 5:54 AM CDT

River Dolphin Declared Extinct

Scientists failed to find species in expedition

(Newser) - Calling it a "shocking tragedy," a team of marine scientists have declared the Yangtze river dolphin "likely extinct" after their failure to find a single animal in a recent research expedition. The scientists blamed massive over fishing along the Yangtze as the primary cause of the species'...

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