Michigan’s only rattlesnake is quietly losing ground. A new 15-year study shows that inbreeding among Eastern Massasauga rattlesnakes is reducing survival and reproductive success, raising alarm for the federally threatened species. The research, led by Michigan State University conservation biologists and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, traced family histories of … Read more
They dine where they defecate, swim where they hunt, and swallow prey crawling with parasites. North American river otters in Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay may not follow our hygiene rules, but their eating habits reveal a surprisingly important ecological role. In a new study published in Frontiers in Mammal Science, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center scientists offer … Read more
An international report has identified the 25 most imperiled primate species on Earth, highlighting the urgent need for conservation action across four continents. The 12th biennial listing reveals devastating population losses and shrinking habitats that threaten to eliminate some of our closest evolutionary relatives within decades. Critical Countdown: The Alarming State of Global Primate Conservation … Read more