Endangered Species
An endangered species is defined by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service as "an animal or plant species in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range." In the United States, these animals can be listed under and protected by the Endangered Species Act. Endangered Species in the United States include the black-footed ferret and the California red-legged frog. The International Union for Conservation of Nature also keeps a Red List of Threatened Species, the most widely recognized list of endangered and threatened species. On this list, for example, are all the surviving subspecies of tiger, which range from endangered to critically endangered.
Latest about endangered species
Smalltooth sawfish in Florida are spinning and beaching themselves in strange, mystery die-off
By Elise Poore published
Erratically thrashing and whirling smalltooth sawfish are stranding on beaches — and scientists don't know why they're behaving this way.
American burying beetle: The meat-eating insect that buries bodies for its babies to feast on
By Megan Shersby published
American burying beetle parents work together to find and bury a dead animal that its brood can consume after hatching.
Adorable but deadly little wildcat may be inbreeding at 'alarming' rates, study finds
By Jacklin Kwan published
Black footed cats are already a threatened species, and habitat fragmentation is now causing increased rates of interbreeding, placing them at higher risk of disease.
Hammerhead sharks are vanishing from their mountain homes in the Gulf of California, divers say
By Patrick Pester published
Scalloped hammerhead sharks used to seek refuge at two Mexican seamounts, but it appears fishing has killed them off.
Earless monitor lizards: The 'Holy Grail' of reptiles that looks like a mini dragon
By Patrick Pester published
Researchers are only beginning to understand the cryptic lives of the earless monitor lizards of Borneo.
10 times humans messed with nature and it backfired
By Sascha Pare published
History is peppered with times when our patchy knowledge of natural systems has led to questionable interventions with unintended — and sometimes disastrous — consequences.
Every year, dozens of female hammerhead sharks mysteriously convene in French Polynesia under the full moon
By Sascha Pare published
Every austral summer, Rangiroa and Tikehau atolls in French Polynesia host a mysterious assembly of female great hammerhead sharks — a critically endangered and typically solitary species.
Orcas rip rudder off boat and follow it all the way to port, in 1st known attack of its kind
By Sascha Pare published
Previous reported interactions between orcas and sailboats followed a clear pattern, with the animals losing interest and swimming away once they had broken the rudder.
Crocodiles and gharials are getting bizarre orange 'tans' in Nepal. Here's why.
By Sascha Pare published
Researchers think it could be down to where these crocs are hanging out.
Largest freshwater turtle species doomed to extinction after last female washes up dead
By Harry Baker published
The known population of the Yangtze giant softshell turtle is now just two males. Experts said that if the female had survived, she could have "laid a hundred eggs or more a year."
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