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A newly-classified fossil gives clues to how life in the oceans recovered from a mass extinction about 250 million years ago

The reptile is Associate in Nursing early relative of the ichthyosaurs - a massive cluster of marine reptiles that swam at the time of the dinosaurs. With its tiny toothless head, the creature is something of a curiosity, say scientists. The specimen suggests marine reptiles evolved quickly after the event. Previous evidence has instructed it took a long time for animals within the seas to get better. Details of the specimen, Sclerocormus parviceps, are unveiled in Scientific Reports. Dr Nick Fraser, Keeper of Natural Sciences at National Museums Scotland, worked on the fossil alongside groups in the America and China. "Here's something that provides America a way of the biological process pathway," said Dr Fraser. "We've still got a long thanks to move to see where the ichthyosaurs came from, however it's a step within the right direction. "And it all points to a very speedy radiation once this mass extinction "Sclerocormus is on...

More than half of all tree species in the Amazon face extinction, warn international scientists

According to new data, up to 57% of all Amazonian trees may already fit the criteria of being globally threatened. If confirmed, the estimates would raise the number of threatened plant species on Earth by almost a quarter. Forest cover in the Amazon has been shrinking for decades, but little is known about the impact on individual plant species. The trees at risk include iconic species like the Brazil nut tree, food crops such as cacao, the source of chocolate, as well as rare trees that are almost unknown to science. The research, published in the journal, Science Advances, compared data from almost 1,500 forest plots with maps of current and predicted forest loss to estimate how many tree species have been lost and how many are likely to disappear by the middle of the century. It found that the Amazon - the world's most diverse forest - could be home to more than 15,000 tree species. Of these, between 36% and 57% are likely to qualify as being g...

UK's dung beetle species face extinction, according to scientists

The Dung Beetle UK Mapping Project (Dump) is still in the early stages of its research work, which has included examining beetle sites in Scotland. However, the team said it had already noted an "alarming trend" of decline of some species. Dung beetles play key roles in improving soils and controlling pests. Reasons for the decline in some beetle species include coming into contact with anthelmintics, a type of drug given to livestock to control intestinal worms that prevent the farm animals from thriving.Dump involves Darren Mann, who is head of life collections at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Steve Lane, Ceri Watkins and Sally-Ann Spence. The project is not funded and the team members have been doing their research in their spare time, while on family holidays and fitting it around their other work. The scientists have been examining well-documented dung beetle sites, including locations in the Cairngorms, and have also been looki...

Puffins are among four UK bird species at risk of extinction, global conservation database

Puffins Atlantic puffins, European turtle doves, Slavonian grebes and pochards are on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species for birds. This means the number of UK species on the critical list has doubled to eight. Puffins are vulnerable to pollution and declining food sources, ecologists say. Another 14 UK species are considered to be "near threatened". Martin Harper, conservation director with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), said the "global wave of extinction is now lapping at our shores". "The erosion of the UK's wildlife is staggering and this is reinforced when you talk about puffin and turtle dove now facing the same level of extinction threat as African elephant and lion, and being more endangered than the humpback whale," he said.Although the Atlantic puffin population is still in the millions, fewer young birds are surviving to breed. Turtle dove Reasons...

Scientists build 'frozen zoo' to save endangered species

Endangered big cats The University of Georgia's Regenerative Bioscience Center is building what's being called a "frozen zoo," a genetic storage center that their scientists believe will someday save endangered big cats (and eventually other species) from extinction. This ambitious vision comes from RBC Director Steven Stice and animal and dairy science assistant professor Franklin West. Here's how the pair say it will work: Cells from the skin of a sedated animal are extracted in a noninvasive procedure. Researchers convert those cells into stem cells by introducing a series of specialized reprogramming genes. And from there, those stem cells can be made into sperm or eggs. The RBC said sperm has already been created from pig stem cells. Stice and West are positive that big cats, which were chosen because scientists have a firm grasp on their biological makeup, won't be far behind. Working in conjunction with Zoo Atlanta, the team ha...