http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100429_biodiversityRead more... )

Click to view

Click to view

"The vampire squid (Vampyroteuthis infernalis) lives in the deep ocean, home to the largest ecosystems on our planet. A 'living fossil,' this animal has remained relatively unchanged for hundreds of millions of years. The deep ocean contains what may be the greatest number of animal species, the greatest biomass, and the greatest number of ( Read more... )

. . . [Earthly life] may have reached a steady state of diversity some time ago! Scientists also learned that biological productivity - the total amount of living plant and animal tissue on Earth - appears to have been higher 200 million to 300 million years ago, when the planet was warmer and richer in atmospheric carbon dioxide than it is today ( Read more... )

The onset of the modern extinction has long been under way. Yet all that has died to date may be just a prelude to the grim age of death about to begin.

Should we care? I often read rationalizations about why species should be preserved. All too often these polemics center on future benefits to humankind, such as new foods, better medicines, ( Read more... )