By Herp News Scientists have added 361 new bird species to the IUCN Red List following a major taxonomic review of non-passerine birds, i.e. non-perching or non-songbirds. Worryingly, 87 of these new birds are threatened with extinction, a percentage nearly double the overall threatened percentage for all birds, which currently sits at 13 percent. Go […]
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Jul 29
Jul 29
Don’t eat or touch bat bushmeat amid worsening Ebola outbreak, UN warns
By Herp News The world’s worst Ebola outbreak was likely begun by a hunter shooting a fruit bat for their dinner or the market, according to the UN. The outbreak has killed over 660 people in six months to date, and recently spread via plane to Nigeria. The disease is particularly deadly with a mortality […]
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Researchers turn up the heat on the chytrid fungus
As the organism that causes chytridiomycosis in amphibians threatens their existence worldwide, a study published in the journal Nature suggests that turning up the heat and the frogs’ own immune defenses may hold the key to beating the fungus. From the New York Times: To find out, the scientists swabbed Bd onto the bellies of […]
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