Stories by John R. Platt

An Endangered Species Act Success: California's Santa Cruz Cypress

'Forest Giraffe' Now Endangered: Okapi Populations Drop 50 Percent in 18 Years

Better late than never? This week the International Union for Conservation of Natural Resources, which publishes the IUCN Red List of threatened species, listed the rare and iconic okapi (Okapia johnstoni) as endangered, something the organization acknowledges should have been done back in 2008...

Sunday Species Snapshot: Rothschild’s Giraffe

Fewer than 700 of these endangered giraffes remain in the wild. Species name: Rothschild’s giraffe, a.k.a. the Baringo or Ugandan giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis rothschildi), one as many as nine giraffe subspecies...

The Incredible Mr./Mrs. Limpet: The Endangered, Sex-Changing Sea Snail

Understanding how an endangered species breeds and reproduces can be one of the first steps toward learning how to save it from extinction.

The Good and Bad News about Frog Abnormalities

On average, amphibian deformities at U.S. national wildlife refuges are lower than expected. But in abnormality “hotspots,” rates can approach 40 percent

Conservation’s Holy Grail: ‘Asian Unicorn’ Sighted in Vietnam

One of the rarest creatures in Asia has been spotted in the wild for the first time in nearly 15 years. A camera trap in Vietnam has captured three fleeting images of a single saola (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis) walking next to a stream in the rainforests of the Annamite Mountains...

Sunday Species Snapshot: Jackass Penguin

These popular penguins have faced a lot of threats in recent years that have put them on a dangerous path. Species name: African penguin (Spheniscus demersus), a.k.a.

Jamaican Iguana Conservation Program Marks 20 Years of Success, Faces Worries about Next 20 Years

More than a million tourists visited Jamaica last year. The vast majority of them traveled to the famous hotels and beaches of Kingston, the country’s capital city.

How the Western Black Rhino Went Extinct

Oh what a difference a century makes. At the beginning of the 20th century, an estimated one million black rhinoceroses from four different subspecies roamed the savannas of Africa.

Sunday Species Snapshot: Sociable Lapwing

Why is the sociable lapwing critically endangered? Scientists don’t know for sure, and the birds aren’t talking. Species name: Sociable lapwing or sociable plover (Vanellus gregarius) Where found: As a migratory bird, the sociable lapwing has a fairly large range...

Beautiful but Rarely Seen Cat Species Photographed in Borneo [Video]

Every once in a while, scientists working in some remote corner of the globe catch sight of a creature so rare, so elusive and so amazing that you just need to sit up and say “whoa.” This is one of those times...

Sunday Species Snapshot: White-Cheeked Gibbon

These arboreal lesser apes evolved for life in the trees. But when people cut those trees down the gibbons had nowhere left to go. Species name: Northern white-cheeked gibbon (Nomascus leucogenys)...

How Much Did the U.S. Spend on the Endangered Species Act in 2012?

It cost a little bit more to protect endangered species in 2012 than it did in 2011. If you’re a regular Extinction Countdown reader, that probably doesn’t surprise you.

Halloween Scares: A Graveyard for Extinct Species

The veil between this world and the next feels much thinner at this time of year, with Halloween focusing attention on death: the friends, leaders, and loved ones we have lost and, perhaps, the species humans have driven into extinction...

Sunday Species Snapshot: Bali Myna

Birds don’t get much more beautiful than the Bali myna. Unfortunately, they also don’t get much rarer. Species name: Bali myna (Leucopsar rothschildi), a.k.a.

Squeaking By: Frog Species Rediscovered in Ghana, but Invasive Devil Weed Threatens Its Survival

It took four years, nine people and countless man-hours, but a team of scientists has finally rediscovered the “giant” Krokosua squeaker frog (Arthroleptis krokosua), a critically endangered species that has not been seen in its native Ghana since 2009...

Sunday Species Snapshot: Tasmanian Devil

And now the world’s cutest Tasmanian devil, who nonetheless is obviously bloody from battle. Because it’s been that kind of week.

Century-Old Egg Answers Mystery about Critically Endangered Bird

Few people have ever seen a Jerdon’s courser (Rhinoptilus bitorquatus), a critically endangered nocturnal bird that lives in a tiny scrub forest in southeastern India.

Soon the Only Place to See This Nearly Extinct Bird May Be on Samoan Currency

Science has a fairly bland name for the national bird of Samoa: the tooth-billed pigeon (Didunculus strigirostris). The bird’s name in the Samoan language, however, is much more colorful: manumea...

Hemlock Extinction Looms Over Tennessee Forests

The branches of the massive eastern hemlock loom more than 30 meters above us, but instead of craning our necks to look up Tennessee state botanist Todd Crabtree draws our attention closer to the ground and the thumbprint-sized dot of yellow paint near the base of the tree...