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Giant fossil kangaroos: scientists identify three new species of extinct megafauna

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Sunday, April 14, 2024

Supersized marsupials roamed the Australian continent for millennia. But until now the understanding of giant kangaroos – or Protemnodon – has been confined to isolated bones and difficult-to-distinguish species.Scientists have now identified three new species of the extinct giant kangaroo – Protemnodon viator, Protemnodon mamkurra and Protemnodon dawsonae, which lived from 5m to 40,000 years ago.The Protemnodon viator, scientists say, weighed up to 170kg – double the weight of the heaviest present-day red males.It was previously thought that most Protemnodon moved on all four legs but researchers now say this was only true of three or four species. Others moved like a quokka or potoroo, they believe, “bounding on four legs at times, and hopping on two legs at others”.Palaeontologist Isaac Kerr holds the fossil jaw of the extinct giant Protemnodon viator, alongside the smaller jaw of a red kangaroo. Photograph: Flinders UniversityIsaac Kerr, the paper’s lead author, said the classification of the species would allow for future research on how the giant kangaroos evolved and responded to environmental change.The Flinders University researchers took photographs and 3D scans of 900 specimens in 14 major museums in Australia, the UK, the US and Papua New Guinea.They found significant variation between the species, such as different hopping methods – which Kerr, then a PhD student at Flinders University, described as “very unusual”.skip past newsletter promotionSign up to Afternoon UpdateOur Australian afternoon update breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it mattersPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotionThe differences could be associated with adaptations to the vastly different environments they lived in – from arid central Australia to the forested mountains of Tasmania and Papua New Guinea.Kerr said while kangaroos might be Australia’s national animal, they are “just as New Guinean as they are Australian”.“New Guinea today has groups of kangaroos we don’t even have … they’ve got three species of giant echidna that eat worms,” he said.There is no clear explanation for why giant kangaroos went extinct while their close relatives, such as the grey kangaroo and wallaroo, did not, but Kerr suspects rapid environmental change spurred by human practices may have been a cause.Gilbert Price, a palaeontologist who was not involved in the study, said the research strengthened Australia’s patchy fossil record.“We don’t have massive fossil records [as seen overseas] … we’re not going to see frozen kangaroos or wombats,” he said.“People often think we have a pretty weird modern ecosystem in Australia … but our animals are comparatively non-freaky compared to things we used to have in the past.”

Protemnodon viator believed to have weighed up to 170kg – double the size of the largest species alive todaySupersized marsupials roamed the Australian continent for millennia. But until now the understanding of giant kangaroos – or Protemnodon – has been confined to isolated bones and difficult-to-distinguish species.Scientists have now identified three new species of the extinct giant kangaroo – Protemnodon viator, Protemnodon mamkurra and Protemnodon dawsonae, which lived from 5m to 40,000 years ago.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Continue reading...

Supersized marsupials roamed the Australian continent for millennia. But until now the understanding of giant kangaroos – or Protemnodon – has been confined to isolated bones and difficult-to-distinguish species.

Scientists have now identified three new species of the extinct giant kangaroo – Protemnodon viator, Protemnodon mamkurra and Protemnodon dawsonae, which lived from 5m to 40,000 years ago.

The Protemnodon viator, scientists say, weighed up to 170kg – double the weight of the heaviest present-day red males.

It was previously thought that most Protemnodon moved on all four legs but researchers now say this was only true of three or four species. Others moved like a quokka or potoroo, they believe, “bounding on four legs at times, and hopping on two legs at others”.

Palaeontologist Isaac Kerr holds the fossil jaw of the extinct giant Protemnodon viator, alongside the smaller jaw of a red kangaroo. Photograph: Flinders University

Isaac Kerr, the paper’s lead author, said the classification of the species would allow for future research on how the giant kangaroos evolved and responded to environmental change.

The Flinders University researchers took photographs and 3D scans of 900 specimens in 14 major museums in Australia, the UK, the US and Papua New Guinea.

They found significant variation between the species, such as different hopping methods – which Kerr, then a PhD student at Flinders University, described as “very unusual”.

skip past newsletter promotion

after newsletter promotion

The differences could be associated with adaptations to the vastly different environments they lived in – from arid central Australia to the forested mountains of Tasmania and Papua New Guinea.

Kerr said while kangaroos might be Australia’s national animal, they are “just as New Guinean as they are Australian”.

“New Guinea today has groups of kangaroos we don’t even have … they’ve got three species of giant echidna that eat worms,” he said.

There is no clear explanation for why giant kangaroos went extinct while their close relatives, such as the grey kangaroo and wallaroo, did not, but Kerr suspects rapid environmental change spurred by human practices may have been a cause.

Gilbert Price, a palaeontologist who was not involved in the study, said the research strengthened Australia’s patchy fossil record.

“We don’t have massive fossil records [as seen overseas] … we’re not going to see frozen kangaroos or wombats,” he said.

“People often think we have a pretty weird modern ecosystem in Australia … but our animals are comparatively non-freaky compared to things we used to have in the past.”

Read the full story here.
Photos courtesy of

Costa Rica Sharks Face Extinction as Scientists Race Against Time

Costa Rica is home to 93 species of sharks and rays, representing 8% of the global diversity of these marine animals. However, over half of these species (56%) are endangered. Locally, they face challenges such as high fishing pressure, lack of information, illegal fishing, and limited resources for monitoring and control. On Tuesday, December 3, […] The post Costa Rica Sharks Face Extinction as Scientists Race Against Time appeared first on The Tico Times | Costa Rica News | Travel | Real Estate.

Costa Rica is home to 93 species of sharks and rays, representing 8% of the global diversity of these marine animals. However, over half of these species (56%) are endangered. Locally, they face challenges such as high fishing pressure, lack of information, illegal fishing, and limited resources for monitoring and control. On Tuesday, December 3, 2024, LCI Veritas University, in collaboration with its BIOMOL Laboratory, hosted a scientific event to address shark conservation in Costa Rica. The event brought together leading experts, students, and the public, highlighting the urgent need to protect endangered shark species and safeguard marine biodiversity. Mario Espinoza, a biologist and researcher at the Center for Marine Sciences and Limnology Research of the University of Costa Rica (CIMAR UCR), presented an updated overview of the threats facing sharks in the region. He underscored the importance of sharks in maintaining healthy marine ecosystems and the critical need for regional cooperation to conserve migratory species that transcend borders. “It is essential to improve the conservation status of migratory species that transcend borders,” Espinoza emphasized, urging a shift from identifying problems to finding comprehensive solutions. He also stressed the importance of education, research, environmental awareness campaigns, and engaging decision-makers to influence policies effectively. Mariana Elizondo Sancho, a researcher at BIOMOL Laboratory, presented her study: “Population Structure and Genetic Connectivity of Hammerhead Sharks (Sphyrna lewini) in Breeding Areas of the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP).” Her findings reveal that hammerhead sharks have low genetic diversity, with pups in nursery areas more closely related than expected. This suggests that females may return to specific areas to reproduce, making the species more vulnerable to fishing activities. Similarly, marine biologist Allison Centeno, a master’s student at Florida Atlantic University, analyzed shark landing data from longline fishing in the Pacific between 2015 and 2021. She discovered that silky sharks were the most commonly caught species, and over 50% of the landings involved bycatch—species not targeted by fisheries. These findings highlight the need for collaboration among government agencies, fishing communities, and conservation organizations to ensure sustainable fishing practices. Juan Carlos Delgado, director of BIOMOL Laboratory, concluded the event with his research on “Identification of Species Composition from Shark Products in Costa Rica.” He demonstrated how molecular tools, such as DNA analysis, are revolutionizing marine research. “In our project to identify species from shark products marketed in Costa Rica, we have been able to use DNA to determine the species we consume when buying products labeled as bolillo, dogfish, or simply shark,” Delgado Carazo explained. The study revealed that 2.5% of fillets and chops sampled across the country were from hammerhead sharks, a species with special protection under a recent decree prohibiting its capture and commercialization. “Any incidental capture must be released and cannot be sold,” Delgado Carazo reminded attendees. The post Costa Rica Sharks Face Extinction as Scientists Race Against Time appeared first on The Tico Times | Costa Rica News | Travel | Real Estate.

Troubled waters: how to stop Australia’s freshwater fish species from going extinct

New research reveals a third of Australia’s freshwater fishes are at risk of extinction. That means 35 species should be added to the national list of 63 threatened species, bringing the total to 98.

The barred galaxias is already extinct across 95% of its former streams due to trout, bushfires and droughts. Steven KuiterThree-quarters of Australia’s freshwater fish species are found nowhere else on the planet. This makes us the sole custodians of remarkable creatures such as the ornate rainbowfish, the ancient Australian lungfish and the magnificently named longnose sooty grunter. So how are these national treasures faring? To find out, we undertook the first comprehensive assessment of Australia’s freshwater fish species. We examined extinction risks and drivers of decline, before reviewing existing conservation measures. Our results paint an alarming picture. More than one-third (37%) of our freshwater fish species are at risk of extinction, including 35 species not even listed as threatened. Dozens of species could become extinct before children born today even finish high school. The study also reveals Australia has been putting its eggs in the wrong basket for conservation by taking actions that don’t address immediate threats, such as pest species and changes in stream flows. Our research points to more effective solutions if governments are willing to step up their efforts. The Angalarri grunter is currently not on Australia’s threatened species list but is recommended for listing as endangered. It is declining due to degraded habitat and water quality caused by livestock and feral animals. Michael Hammer Identifying species at risk Recognising when species are in trouble is the first step in preventing their extinction. Before this study, the extinction risk of most freshwater fish species had never been assessed. The group had never been looked at overall. We evaluated the conservation risks of 241 species using globally recognised criteria (the IUCN Red List for Threatened Species). We began our assessments by gathering a team of 52 Australian freshwater fish experts for a five-day workshop in 2019. These experts came from universities, research organisations, museums, state government agencies, natural resource management, consultancies and non-government groups. Together, we used information from scientific publications, museum databases, Atlas of Living Australia records, government datasets, citizen science data, and our own knowledge of freshwater fish as it applied to the task. We identified dozens of freshwater fish species that were in trouble, but had not been recognised as threatened. This brings the proportion of our freshwater fishes at risk of extinction to a third. Some species have declined to the extent that they could disappear after a single disturbance, such as ash washed into streams after a bushfire or the arrival of an invasive non-native fish such as trout. We also found one New South Wales species, the Kangaroo River perch, is now extinct. Native fish enemy #1. A brown trout caught in NSW. Invasive fish such as brown and rainbow trout are the biggest driver of native fish loss. Lee Georgeson/iNaturalist, CC BY Get them on the list At present, 63 freshwater fish species are on Australia’s national list of species declared as threatened under federal environmental law. We identified 35 more species that should be listed, based on the available evidence. They include: ornate rainbowfish and longnosed sooty grunter (vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, the global list of threatened species) salamanderfish (endangered on the IUCN Red List) the slender carp, Drysdale and Barrow cave gudgeons in Western Australia (critically endangered on the IUCN Red List). The southwest ‘Vic’ blackfish is currently not on Australia’s threatened species list but is recommended for listing as endangered. Tarmo Raadik Maintaining an accurate threatened species list is important. When species are in trouble but not listed, they miss out on basic protections and are unlikely to receive any conservation attention. We also identified 17 already listed species that should be reassessed by the government as their risk categories need to be changed. For example, the remarkable freshwater sawfish, found in northern Australian rivers, is listed as vulnerable but all evidence indicates it’s now critically endangered. One sliver of good news is the fact that the Murray cod, a favoured sport fish across eastern Australia, is now doing better and could be assessed to be removed from Australia’s threatened species list. Mapping freshwater fish extinction risk reveals fish are in danger right around Australia. M. Lintermans, N. Whiterod and J. Dielenberg, CC BY-SA Address the causes of decline To prevent species extinctions, you need to address the causes of their declines. That might seem breathtakingly obvious, yet our review found a spectacular mismatch between the major threats to species at risk and the most common conservation actions. The top three drivers of decline are invasive fish (which threaten 92% of threatened freshwater fish species), modified stream flows and ecosystems (82%), and climate change and extreme weather (54%). For example, Australia has 40 galaxiid species, scaleless native fish shaped like slender sausages that grow to less than 15cm. But 31 of these are threatened with extinction – and rainbow and brown trout, two introduced predators, have been the biggest driver of their loss. Australia’s southern states are greatly adding to the problem by releasing millions of trout into waterways each year for recreational fishers. The endangered eastern freshwater cod has dwindled in part due to historic fish kills linked to dynamite blasting and pollution from mines and agriculture. It remains threatened by changes to river flows, removal of woody snags, and other damage to its habitat. The endangered blackstriped dwarf galaxias is being stressed by the changing climate in southwest WA. Warmer and drier conditions are resulting in lower water levels and warmer water. A waterfall has so far saved the critically endangered stocky galaxias from extinction by preventing trout from reaching its last refuge. Tarmo Raadik The other major threats facing native fish are agriculture and aquaculture (38%), pollution (38%), hunting and fishing (19%), energy production and mining (17%), and urban development (13%). For example, the endangered Utchee rainbowfish is struggling due to habitat loss and water pollution from farms surrounding the small number of north Queensland streams where it lives. In contrast, the most common conservation action was simply the fact that the species occurred in a protected area (88%) or conservation area (55%). Sadly, invasive species and climate change don’t recognise or stop at protected area boundaries. Prevention and control of invasive species has occurred for only 21% of affected threatened species, mostly in Tasmania. The Utchee rainbowfish is currently not on Australia’s threatened species list but is recommended for listing as endangered. It is struggling due to habitat loss and water pollution from agriculture surrounding the small number of streams where it occurs in north Queensland. ANGFA Qld A blueprint to end extinctions Without a major funding commitment to address the actual drivers of native fish losses, species will continue to decline, and extinctions will soon follow. The most important conservation actions for native freshwater fish are: update the national threatened species list to include all at-risk species tackle invasive species such as trout, gambusia and redfin perch identify, establish and protect additional invasive-fish-free refuge sites for species that currently occur only in a small number of locations and could be wiped out by a single event such as a bushfire halt ongoing habitat loss and improve habitats that have been damaged improve freshwater flows to maintain habitats such as wetlands and streams, improve water quality and give fish the natural cues they need to breed. In 2022, the Australian government made a commitment to end extinctions. Our study provides a blueprint for how to do that for our overlooked native freshwater fish. This waterfall in NSW has protected the native galaxias fish above it from trout. To prevent extinctions we need to find or create more invasive-fish-free refuges for native fish. Mark Lintermans Mark Lintermans was a member of the ACT Scientific Committee and the NSW Fisheries Scientific Committee, a previous convener of the Australian Society for Fish Biology Threatened Fishes Committee, and the Alien Fishes Committee. He now provides research, monitoring and advice for threatened freshwater fish management as director of a small consultancy company. He receives funding from New South Wales and national government departments for threatened fish projects. Jaana Dielenberg was employed by the now-ended Threatened Species Recovery Hub of the Australian Government's National Environmental Science Program, which led an earlier stage of this research. She is a Charles Darwin University Fellow and is employed by the University of Melbourne and the Biodiversity Council.Nick Whiterod works for the Goyder Institute for Water Research, Coorong, Lower Lakes and Murray Mouth Research Centre, which is funded by the national government to delivery research in the region. He is a member of the New South Wales Fisheries Scientific Committee.

Fourth Mass Coral Bleaching Prompts UN Emergency Session at Colombia Biodiversity Summit

Coral reefs are in the midst of an ecological crisis and are at risk of extinction, according to the United Nations Capital Development Fund

CALI, Colombia (AP) — The United Nations, scientists and governments made an urgent call Wednesday for increased funding to protect coral reefs under threat of extinction. Research this year shows that 77% of the world’s reefs are affected by bleaching, mainly due to warming ocean waters amid human-caused climate change. It's the largest and fourth mass global bleaching on record and is impacting both hemispheres, United Nations Capital Development Fund said. The findings prompted a U.N. special emergency session — typically called to address escalating conflicts or natural disasters — on corals to be convened on sidelines of the U.N. biodiversity summit, known as COP16, nearing its end after two weeks in Cali, Colombia. Coral reefs are vital ecosystems that support over 25% of marine life and nearly a billion people, many relying on reefs for food security, coastal protection and livelihoods, the U.N. development fund said. After the emergency session, the governments of New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Germany and France made new pledges totaling around $30 million to the U.N. fund for coral reefs established in 2020. By 2030, the fund seeks to leverage up to $3 billion in public and private finance to support coral reef conservation efforts. Around $225 million has been raised to date.“Protecting our ocean and its precious habitats is fundamental to life on earth," said U.K. Minister for Nature Mary Creagh. "But without urgent action, the world’s coral reefs face extinction from global heating, acidification, disease, and pollution; a vital ecosystem lost within our lifetime.” Next year, a U.N. ocean conference will take place in Nice, France, and countries are being urged beforehand to pledge more to the U.N. global fund for coral reefs with the aim of mobilizing an additional $150 million in donations by the conference. “In 2024, climate change and other human impacts triggered the fourth mass coral reef bleaching event, the most extensive and devastating on record," said Peter Thomson, the U.N. Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean. "With the window to protect these ecosystems closing rapidly, world leaders must act now." "We must secure a sustainable future for coral reefs and the countless lives that rely on them —before it’s too late,” Thomson said. The first mass bleaching happened in 1998, the second between 2011-2013, the third in 2016, said Kenyan marine ecologist David Obura, who heads Coastal Oceans Research and Development in the Indian Ocean East Africa.“They're lasting more than one year at a time, which is worrying,” Obura said at the U.N. emergency session at COP16.The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Photos You Should See - Sept. 2024

Large herbivores have been living in Yellowstone for 2,300 years: Study

Large herbivores, such as bison and elk, have lived continuously in Yellowstone National Park for more than two millennia, a new study has confirmed. Despite the near-extinction of bison in North American in the 19th and 20th centuries, these big plant-eaters and others have persisted in the park region since around 238 B.C., according to...

Large herbivores, such as bison and elk, have lived continuously in Yellowstone National Park for more than two millennia, a new study has confirmed. Despite the near-extinction of bison in North American in the 19th and 20th centuries, these big plant-eaters and others have persisted in the park region since around 238 B.C., according to the study, published on Wednesday in PLOS ONE. Since little was known about where and how these animals lived before European colonization, the researchers decided to figure out which large herbivores dominated the Yellowstone region. Understanding the population makeup, they explained, could provide insight into long-term ecosystem dynamics, past herbivore communities and environmental influences in this area and elsewhere. To paint a clearer picture of the park's past, researchers from multiple universities analyzed the steroids present in animal dung — unearthed from lake sediments that range from around 238 B.C. to the present day. Their first task in conducting this analysis was to identify which types of steroids occur in the feces of large herbivores, including bison, elk, moose, mule deer and pronghorn. Although they found that they recognize moose, pronghorn and mule deer based on steroids alone, the scientists saw that bison and elk were harder to differentiate from each other. Upon evaluating the steroids within different layers of lake sediments, they observed that either bison, elk or a combination of the two were the primary large plant-eaters that inhabited the watershed for the past 2,300 years. Steroid levels were particularly high during the 20th century, when hunting was banned and bison and elk were discouraged from migrating in the winter, according to the scientists, from Montana State University, Oklahoma State University and Ca' Foscari University of Venice. Based on plant pollen, microalgae and plankton detected in the dung, the researchers concluded that these expanded populations likely consumed local forage plants. In turn, their dung may have fertilized the growth of certain types of algae in the lake and thereby altered the local ecosystem. Stocks of winter hay provided by nearby park managers also kept the animals in the area longer and may have likewise caused changes in the watershed, the researchers noted. The scientists expressed optimism that their results could help wildlife managers and conservationists understand how communities of hoofed animals shift over time. Extending this approach of lake sediment analysis to other watershed could provide much-needed insight into past grazing habits of large herbivores in Yellowstone and elsewhere, per the study. "This information is critical for understanding long-term dynamics of ecologically and culturally important herbivores such as bison and elk," the authors added.

Rare and Elusive Australian Bird, Once Thought Extinct for 100 Years, Discovered by Indigenous Rangers and Scientists

Using sound recordings, the team identified the largest known population of the night parrot, a secretive species known as the "Holy Grail of birdwatching"

An illustration of night parrots by Elizabeth Gould, completed in 1890. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons The night parrot—a brilliantly colored, nocturnal bird—once thrived in Australia’s outback. The arrival of colonists and feral predators, however, brought about an almost catastrophic decline in the species’ population in the late 19th century. In fact, the vibrant, green parrots were believed to be extinct for roughly a century, until one of them was found in western Queensland in 1990. While that was heartening for scientists, there was one problem: The specimen was dead. Then, another dead night parrot was identified 16 years later. It wasn’t until 2013 that a naturalist found a small, living population in southwestern Queensland. Since then, the species’ known population has been in the tens of birds, and the night parrot remains one of the most elusive—and most endangered—birds on Earth. Now, however, a team of Indigenous rangers and scientists has discovered as many as 50 night parrots on land managed by the Ngururrpa people in Western Australia’s Great Sandy Desert. The new results from their project, which is supported with funding from Australia’s National Environmental Science Program’s Resilient Landscapes Hub, were published in the journal Wildlife Research on Monday. “We the Ngururrpa Rangers have been looking for night parrots since 2019. First, we thought they were only living in one area, on our neighbor’s country, but then we started checking in our area and ended up finding evidence that they are here,” Clifford Sunfly, a Ngururrpa ranger and co-author of the study, says in a statement. “We are still looking for them, to make sure they are safe, and we are still finding them.” Night parrots, once thought to be extinct for roughly 100 years, are among Australia's rarest and most elusive birds. Nicholas Leseberg Night parrots are generally difficult to detect—a fact that has been long recorded in Indigenous culture. The elusive species creates tunnels and nests in dense spinifex bushes and emerges at night to forage for seeds. Spotting such a creature has been called the “Holy Grail of birdwatching.” During their work, the rangers found physical evidence of night parrots, including feathers and nests with eggs, and they “knew it was a good sign,” Rudi Maxwell writes for NITV. A few years ago, they even captured a rare photograph of a night parrot—only the fourth image of the bird on record. This encounter put the team among the special group of fewer than 30 people who had seen a live night parrot in the last 100 years. The new breakthrough, though, came from sound data. Rangers used their knowledge of the environment to narrow down the parrot’s vast habitat to 31 potential roosting areas, where the team then placed sound recorders to listen for its distinctive calls, which include “whistles, croaks and bell-like sounds,” the team writes for the Conversation. “The acoustic data we gathered was then analyzed to extract any bird calls in the night parrot’s frequency range. Potential detections were verified using a reference library of known night parrot calls,” the scientists add in the Conversation. They successfully identified night parrot calls in 17 of the 31 sites they had chosen, ten of which were determined to be roost sites, since the calls sounded shortly after sunset and before sunrise. Four of the authors of the new night parrot paper—Angela Reid, Clifford Sunfly, Rachel Paltridge and Nicholas Leseberg—at the Ngururrpa Indigenous Protected Area Ngururrpa Rangers One of the night parrot’s diverse array of calls sounded like “didly dip, didly dip,” like a telephone, as study co-author Nick Leseberg, an ecologist at the University of Queensland, tells the Guardian’s Petra Stock. Another sounded like “dink dink,” resembling a bell. The team hypothesized the distribution of night parrots and the birds’ general population size by counting the number of different calls, because individuals are thought to have unique vocalizations. Researchers also took into account the volume of the call, which helps determine the location it came from. They then extrapolated these results across 58 potential habitats in the area and estimated up to 20 roosting sites may be active there, hosting a predicted total of between 40 and 50 birds. This makes the Ngururrpa Indigenous Protected Area population the largest known congregation of night parrots, since the known population in Queensland contains no more than 20 birds, per the Guardian. Having identified the night parrots by sound, the team moved on to studying threats to the endangered species using camera traps. They found that dingoes were the most present predators in the area—but the large, wild dogs were busy eating feral cats, which the team suspects are the real key predators of night parrots. So dingoes, they suggest, are actually protecting the night parrot population. A night parrot appears in a photograph captured by a camera trap. Ngururrpa Rangers Satellite imagery helped determine that lightning-caused bushfires pose a great threat to the parrots in the Great Sandy Desert. The rangers already conduct strategic land burning to manage that risk, but the new data could help them tailor their plan to protect roosting sites. Night parrots also benefit from a lack of human development in their environment, so the team argues remote habitats should be kept unindustrialized. In fact, the Great Sandy Desert “is probably one of the world’s most uninfluenced ecosystems when it comes to industrial-level footprints,” James Watson, a biogeographer at the University of Queensland who was not involved in the study, tells the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Peter de Kruijff. “It’s these large, intact places that allow species to adapt to a changing climate, because they’ve got big, healthy populations that can move through the landscape,” he adds. Urgent action is needed to protect the newly discovered night parrot population, the scientists write in the Conversation, and to “ensure the night parrot doesn’t go missing a second time, perhaps for good.” Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.

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