OMG: A fifth of world’s reptile species deemed threatened with extinction – Gulf Digital News

OMG: A fifth of world’s reptile species deemed threatened with extinction – Gulf Digital News

About a fifth of reptile species - from the Galapagos tortoises to the Komodo dragon of the Indonesian islands, from West Africa’s rhinoceros viper to India’s gharial - are threatened with extinction, researchers said on Wednesday in the first comprehensive global status assessment for reptiles.

The study examined 10,196 reptile species including turtles, crocodilians, lizards, snakes and the tuatara, the only surviving member of a lineage dating back more than 200 million years. They found that 21% of species are critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable to extinction as defined by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the global authority on the status of species. They also identified 31 species that already have gone extinct.

Many reptiles are being pushed to the brink, the researchers said, by factors similarly imperiling the world’s other land vertebrates - amphibians, birds and mammals - namely, deforestation for agriculture, logging and development, urban encroachment and hunting by people. Climate change and invasive species also present ongoing threats, they added.

“Reptiles represent an important and diverse branch of the tree of life and play integral roles in the ecosystems where they occur,” said Bruce Young, co-leader of the study published in the journal Nature https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04664-7.

“This global assessment