SAVING THE AMERICAN PIKA The American pika — a small, herbivorous, conspicuously cute mammal related to rabbits and hares — is adapted to the cold climate in high-elevation boulder fields and alpine ...

HALTING THE EXTINCTION CRISIS Our planet now faces a global extinction crisis never witnessed by humankind. Scientists predict that more than 1 million species are on track for extinction in the ...

Reaching up to 800 pounds and 8 feet tall when standing, grizzly bears boast tremendous size and physical strength and have almost no natural enemies. Or just one — humans. But we’ve proved formidable ...

The measurement of biodiversity is complex and has a qualitative as well as a quantitative aspect. If a species is genetically unique — if, for instance, it's far out on a remote arm of the ...

SAVING THE MONARCH BUTTERFLY Monarch butterflies are important culturally and ecologically across North America. Generations have watched in wonder as yellow-and-black striped caterpillars fold into ...

Amphibians and reptiles are amazing creatures with clever adaptations that have allowed them to brave the millennia. But today herpetofauna are among Earth's most imperiled species. Learn more about ...

Click on a point in the map below — then click on 'Show Related Records' — to get information on all the animals and plants protected under the Endangered Species Act as threatened or endangered found ...

NATURAL HISTORY GRIZZLY BEAR } Ursus arctos horribilis FAMILY: Ursidae The grizzly bear is so named because its hair is grizzled, or silver tipped, but the name is commonly believed to be derived from ...

NATURAL HISTORY JAGUAR (in Spanish, el tigre) } Panthera onca FAMILY: Felidae The word jaguar comes from the South American Tupi and Guarani languages. A likely origin is the word yaguareté, meaning ...

NATURAL HISTORY MEXICAN GRAY WOLF (in Spanish, el lobo ) } Canis lupus baileyi FAMILY: Canidae DESCRIPTION: Roughly five feet in length, Mexican gray wolves generally weigh between 50 and 80 pounds.

DESCRIPTION: Freshwater mussels are bivalve mollusks that have a two- valved hard shell, a soft body with respiratory, digestive and reproductive organs, and a muscular foot for locomotion, burrowing ...

America's Dangerous Pipelines 2014 Analysis by Richard Stover, Ph.D., and the Center for Biological Diversity An analysis of oil and gas pipeline safety in the United States reveals a troubling ...