Extinction

Humans have increasingly determined the future of elephants over recent centuries.

The mountain chicken is teetering on the brink of extinction, but we may now have a way to save them.

Museum plant specialist Ana Claudia researches global biodiversity decline.

Rising temperatures are pushing many species to the brink, alongside disease, pollution and unsustainable fishing.

Artificial hotspots might be able to help frogs fight off chytridiomycosis.

Some of the world’s largest and most unusual fishes could be wiped out.

Amphibians are the most threatened group of vertebrates in the world.

Almost a third of Mauritius' native fruits are no longer being dispersed as no animals are big enough to swallow their seeds.

Hunting for meat is now a serious threat to the species' survival.

The illegal trade of European eels is worth up to £3.5 billion a year.

Climate change could bring an end to algae and seaweed.

A Critically Endangered species of albatross may be in more danger than previously thought. 

The passenger pigeon was once the most numerous bird in the world, but in just half a century, it had gone extinct.

Looking back at the story of the Tasmanian tiger, the echoes of colonialism and its impact on Australia’s wildlife today. 

Sometimes reminding ourselves of a conservation failure can be just as important as celebrating our successes.

This is the first mainland European bird declared extinct in 500 years.

Unusually for a modern mammal, we know little of it from a true natural history perspective.

The demise of the great auk is a lesson in what can happen when human greed runs rampant.

Avian palaeontologist Dr Julian Hume explains why we still have much to learn about the lifestyle of the dodo.

The spectacled cormorant went extinct almost 200 years ago – but almost nothing is known about its life.

Sixty-six million years ago dinosaurs had the ultimate bad day.

Were woolly mammoths a victim of hunting by humans or did their extinction have more to do with an apparent fondness for buttercups?

Fossil bones and antlers in the collection hold clues about the life and disappearance of Europe's biggest ever deer.

The iconic marine molluscs might be alive today had Earth not been struck by a meteorite.

A group of fossilised snails and clams are challenging suggestions that ocean acidification contributed to the largest extinction in history. 

Just how big was megalodon and could this giant predator still be lurking in the dark depths of the ocean?

Elephant ancestors diversified widely thanks to climate change and new habitats.

From touring spectacle to Museum star: hear the hidden history behind this ancient mammal skeleton.

Hundreds of species of fungi have now been added to the latest conservation Red List.

The ancient human species Homo luzonensis is one of the most recent branches to be added to the human evolutionary tree.

The passenger pigeon was once the most numerous bird in the world, but in just half a century, it had gone extinct.

This is the first mainland European bird declared extinct in 500 years.

Rising temperatures are pushing many species to the brink, alongside disease, pollution and unsustainable fishing.

The WWF’s Living Planet Report comes with a stark warning that we are reaching a point of no return for nature. 

Every species extinction is bad, but the impacts are worse when we consider the ecosystem functions that are also lost.

It took a controversial conservation tactic to prevent these giant vultures from going extinct. 

Fossils discovered in northern Australia mark the beginning of a 25-million-year-old family.

Despite their fame, astonishingly little is known about these large, flightless birds.

With wingspans that stretched a whopping 71 centimetres, these epic insects would have blocked out the Sun as they flew past.  

Ancient DNA has been reconstructed in three dimensions for the first time ever using a 52,000-year-old mammoth.

Some of the best three-dimensionally preserved fossil trilobites have been revealed from Morocco.

The iconic marine molluscs might be alive today had Earth not been struck by a meteorite.

Artificial hotspots might be able to help frogs fight off chytridiomycosis.

Amalophyllon miraculum reveals that the region’s biodiversity may not have suffered as badly as first feared.

After more than a century of searching, the head of one of the largest ever birds has been found.

Looking back at the story of the Tasmanian tiger, the echoes of colonialism and its impact on Australia’s wildlife today. 

A new project to kickstart conservation for some of the world’s rarest fishes is making a splash.

Every year thousands of elephants are still killed for their ivory.

The spectacled cormorant went extinct almost 200 years ago – but almost nothing is known about its life.

We now know more about the threats affecting birds than ever before.

Some of the world’s largest and most unusual fishes could be wiped out.

The first State of the World’s Migratory Species report found that countries aren’t doing enough to save threatened species.

Scientists have successfully managed to perform IVF on a rhino for the first time.

Our Evolution Garden shows how plant life has changed over time and includes lots of examples that dinosaurs would recognise.

Amphibians are the most threatened group of vertebrates in the world.

This ancient human was once thought to be the first to make stone tools, but is this true?

Only four confirmed specimens are known to science.

Almost 99% of all human ancestors may have been wiped out around 930,000 years ago, a new paper has claimed.

Bivalves have been touted as a food of the future – but wild populations might not last that long.

The Victorian grassland earless dragon was last seen in 1969, but recent surveys of its habitat have revealed new populations of the species.

A new fossil predator has offered an insight into the chaotic final years of the largest extinction of all time over 250 million years ago.

Bird populations in the UK continue to freefall as the government moves further away from achieving its own targets to protect nature.

A gradual decline in biodiversity may have led to a more devastating ecosystem collapse during the Permian-Triassic mass extinction.

Humans have increasingly determined the future of elephants over recent centuries.

Almost a third of Mauritius' native fruits are no longer being dispersed as no animals are big enough to swallow their seeds.

Of the almost 3,500 British plant species, non-native plants now outnumber native species by 51% to 49%.

While some argue de-extinction could help to restore damaged ecosystems, others believe it is an expensive distraction from the threats facing living species.

Though it may have gone extinct over 600 years ago, understanding more about Astrochelys rogerbouri could help to save its living relatives.