• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
  • WordPress
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
Science Update

Science Update

Sharing Science | Satisfying Curiosity | Debunking BS

  • Spotlights
  • Reality Check
  • Why Is It?
  • Radio Archives
  • Sciup @ School
Home » Radio Archive » Daily Show » Sizing Up Extinction

Sizing Up Extinction

September 20, 2017
https://podcast.scienceupdate.com/170920_sciup_size.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window

Extinction risks are greater for animals at the small and large ends of the scale. Oliver Day, Oregon State University
Extinction risks are greater for animals at the small and large ends of the scale. (Oliver Day, Oregon State University)

BOB HIRSHON (host):

Sizing up extinction.  I’m Bob Hirshon and this is Science Update.

Animal extinctions today are happening up to a thousand times faster than normal. Oregon State University ecologist William Ripple and his colleagues compared 27,000 species of vertebrates, including over four thousand that are endangered, to see what factors make animals vulnerable. In the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, they report that size is critical.

WILLIAM RIPPLE (Oregon State University):

Both the largest and the smallest animals were at the highest risk for extinction.

HIRSHON:

Ripple says large species are at risk primarily because they are most likely to be killed by people, for food or sport. And especially small animals often have smaller distributions—so if a just a little habitat is lost, an entire species could be wiped out. Ripple says the more we know about what makes species vulnerable, the better able we’ll be to protect them. I’m Bob Hirshon, for AAAS, the science society.

Story by Bob Hirshon

Category: Daily Show, Station DownloadTag: Biology, Genetics & Evolution, Wildlife
Previous Post:Butterfly Wing Patterns
Next Post:Bash the Bug

Sidebar

Radio Program Archives

Want to learn more about the brain? The environment? Here you can browse the topics that come up regularly on Science Update.

Search the Archives

Categories

  • Daily Show
  • Station Download
  • Weekly Show

Find By Tag

  • 2020
  • Acoustics & Sound
  • Aging
  • Animal Behavior
  • Anthropology
  • Archaeology
  • Astronomy & Space
  • Biology
  • Brain Science
  • Bugs
  • Chemistry
  • Children & Families
  • cicadas
  • Climate & Weather
  • Communications
  • Computer Science
  • Economics & Business
  • Education
  • Energy
  • Engineering & Technology
  • Environment & Conservation
  • Genetics & Evolution
  • Geology
  • Marine Science
  • Materials Science
  • Mathematics
  • Medicine & Health
  • Microbiology
  • Nanotechnology
  • Nutrition & Food Science
  • Paleontology & Dinosaurs
  • Physics
  • Plants & Agriculture
  • Political Science
  • Reality Check
  • Social & Behavioral Sciences
  • Sports & Fitness
  • spotlight
  • Spotlight Bugs
  • Terrorism & War
  • Why Is It? Questions
  • Wildlife
  • Year in Review

Find By Date

Science Update
  • About Science Update
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

Mayan Honeybee hives
House sparrow wearing top hat rides aboard a red fireworks rocket

Copyright © 2023 · Springtail Media LLC · All Rights Reserved · Powered by Pongos