A new study by researchers at
Yale and George Washington University examines the human threats to the
amphibian family tree and calls for a rethinking of conservation priorities to
preserve species diversity and evolutionary heritage.
Amphibians represent an important
bellwether of global change, scientists say, due to their particularly high
sensitivity to disturbances in their environment. There are more than 7,000
amphibian species on
Earth, including frogs, toads, caecilians, newts, mudpuppies, and hellbenders.
"Amphibians are a globally
endangered group for which threats from global change are
outpacing our ability to safeguard species," said Walter Jetz, lead author
of a paper published online March 26 in the journal Nature Ecology &
Evolution. Jetz is an associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology
at Yale and director of the Yale Center for Biodiversity and Global Change.
Jetz and co-corresponding author
R. Alexander Pyron of George Washington constructed the first
comprehensive family
tree for
nearly all amphibious species alive today. The researchers used the data to
examine historical diversification patterns of amphibians as well as species'
level of isolation on the family tree, also called evolutionary distinctness.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment
You only need to enter your comment once! Comments will appear once they have been moderated. This is so as to stop the would-be comedian who has been spamming the comments here with inane and often offensive remarks. You know who you are!