Environmental News Network - Turtle and Crocodile Species With Unique Characteristics Are More Likely to Go Extinct

Details: By University of Oxford; 28.Mar

Turtles and crocodiles are two of the world's most endangered animal groups, with approximately half of species globally threatened (International Union for Conservation of Nature, IUCN).

Cheryl Porter

Turtles and crocodiles are two of the world's most endangered animal groups, with approximately half of species globally threatened (International Union for Conservation of Nature, IUCN). Greater understanding on which species are most threatened and why is urgently needed to inform conservation efforts to save them.

In a new study led by researchers at the Department of Biology, University of Oxford, an international team examined the greatest risks to wild populations of turtles and crocodiles worldwide. The results demonstrate that the most endangered turtles and crocodile species are those that have evolved unique life strategies. These species typically carry out highly specific roles within their ecosystems that are unlikely to be taken up by other species if they disappeared.

The researchers used models to simulate extinctions as a result of human-led threats, assessing the impacts that would be seen for species with different life strategies. A life strategy is how an organism divides its resources and energy between its own survival, reproduction, and growth.

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Turtle and Crocodile Species With Unique Characteristics Are More Likely to Go Extinct