UNIT 8: Animals

Textbook Article

The Loss of Biodiversity

Updated March 9, 2010 — Extinction is occurring at a rate that is 1000 times faster than any time in the past 100,000 years. Wide swathes of rain forest are being destroyed as humans develop the land for agriculture and other human needs. Because rain forests are areas with high biodiversity, each time an acre of land is lost, species that once lived there may be lost as well. Why is biodiversity important? How does its loss affect you?

January 27, 2009Invasive Species Spreads Through Europe’s Iberian Peninsula

Spanish researchers are reporting that an invasive fish, the dojo loach, is spreading through the rivers and wetlands of Spain, Portugal, and other countries of the Iberian peninsula. Invasive species are a major threat to the biodiversity of an area....

January 7, 2008Costa Rican Rainforest Harbors Unknown Salamander Species

Scientists discovered three new species of salamanders during recent expeditions to Costa Rica, including one dwarf species no longer than a thumbnail. Researchers found the salamanders as they catalogued more than 5000 species in the forested border between Panama and...