Reptiles at risk of extinction – study
More than one in five species of reptiles worldwide are threatened with extinction, according to a comprehensive new assessment of thousands of species published in the journal Nature.
Of 10,196 species analysed, 21% were classified as endangered, critically endangered or vulnerable to extinction, including the iconic hooded snakes of South and Southeast Asia.
Similar prior assessments had been conducted for mammals, birds and amphibians, contributing to government decisions about how to draw the boundaries of national parks and allocate environmental funds. Work on the reptile study – which involved nearly 1000 scientists and 52 coauthors – started in 2005.
The Galapagos marine iguana, the world’s only lizard adapted to marine life, was classified as ‘‘vulnerable’’ to extinction, said study co-author Blair Hedges, a biologist at Temple University in Philadelphia.
It took 5 million years for the lizard to adapt to foraging in the sea, he said, lamenting ‘‘how much evolutionary history can be lost if this single species’’ goes extinct.
Six of the world’s species of sea turtles are threatened. The seventh is probably also in trouble, but scientists lack enough data to make a classification.
Worldwide, the greatest threat to reptile life is habitat destruction. Hunting, invasive species and climate change also posed threats, said study co-author Neil Cox, a manager at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s biodiversity assessment unit.
Reptiles that live in forest areas, such as the king cobra, are more likely to be threatened with extinction than desert dwellers, the study found.