By Rhett Ayers Butler [( In 1991, botanists Calaway Dodson and Alwyn Gentry advanced a striking proposition. Surveying a rapidly deforested ridge in western Ecuador, they suggested that dozens of ...

WASHINGTON, Oct 4 (Reuters) - The Dodo, the famous flightless bird that inhabited the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, is a case study in extinction caused by humans. The Dodo, finely adapted to its ...

The term “de-extinction” often conjures images of Jurassic Park-style genetic manipulation, complete with ethical dilemmas and ecological chaos. But the reality of functional de-extinction—the ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about biodiversity and the hidden quirks of the natural world. More than 35 species of falcons roam the Earth’s skies at ...

From dire wolves to woolly mammoths, the idea of resurrecting extinct species has captured the public imagination. Colossal Biosciences, the Dallas-based biotech company leading the charge, has made ...

For most of human history, extinction has been understood as an immutable fact of nature—a one-way door that, once closed, could never be reopened. Species disappear, their genetic innovations vanish ...

If current extinction trends continue, global shark populations will lose much of their variety, thereby threatening ecosystems where specialized species serve vital roles, researchers have found. In ...

With wildlife populations globally 73% smaller on average than in 1970 and large mammals missing from much of the world, surely there’s never been a better time to “de-extinct” species? US biotech ...

New research finds that the fertility rate needed to sustain a population is much higher than once thought, especially when sex ratios or mortality rates shift. This raises important questions for ...