The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status of the natural world and the measures needed to safeguard it. It is involved in data gathering and analysis, research, field projects, advocacy, and education. IUCN's mission is to "influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable".
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological species. A series of Regional Red Lists, which assess the risk of extinction to species within a political management unit, are also produced by countries and organizations.
Sardine and pilchard are common names for various species of small, oily forage fish in the herring family Clupeidae. The term 'sardine' was first used in English during the early 15th century; a somewhat dubious folk etymology says it comes from the Italian island of Sardinia, around which sardines were once supposedly abundant.
The macaques constitute a genus (Macaca) of gregarious Old World monkeys of the subfamily Cercopithecinae. The 23 species of macaques inhabit ranges throughout Asia, North Africa, and Europe. Macaques are principally frugivorous, although their diet also includes seeds, leaves, flowers, and tree bark. Some species such as the long-tailed macaque will supplement their diets with small amounts of meat from shellfish, insects, and small mammals. On average, a southern pig-tailed macaque in Malaysia eats about 70 large rats each year. All macaque social groups are arranged around dominant matriarchs.
The Indian cormorant or Indian shag is a member of the cormorant family. It is found mainly along the inland waters of the Indian Subcontinent but extends west to Sind and east to Thailand and Cambodia. It is a gregarious species that can be easily distinguished from the similar sized little cormorant by its blue eyes, small head with a sloping forehead and a long narrow bill ending in a hooked tip.
The Pyrenean chamois is a goat-antelope that lives in the Pyrenees and Cantabrian Mountains of Spain, France and Andorra, and the Apennine Mountains of central Italy. It is one of the two species of the genus Rupicapra, the other being the chamois, Rupicapra rupicapra.
An IUCN Red List Critically Endangered species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of the 157,190 species currently on the IUCN Red List, 9,760 of those are listed as Critically Endangered, with 1,302 being possibly extinct and 67 possibly extinct in the wild.
A species that is extinct in the wild (EW) is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as only consisting of living members kept in captivity or as a naturalized population outside its historic range. Classification requires exhaustive surveys conducted within the species' known habitat with consideration given to seasonality, time of day, and life cycle. Once a species is classified as EW, the only way for it to be downgraded is through reintroduction.
The Jondachi tree frog is a species of frogs in the family Hylidae endemic to Ecuador. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and rivers. Scientists have seen it between 2040 and 2500 meters above sea level. It is threatened by habitat loss.
The West African pygmy shrew or obscure white-toothed shrew is a species of mammal in the family Soricidae. It is found in Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.
The Mount Kenya mole shrew is a species of mammal in the family Soricidae endemic to Mount Kenya in Kenya. Its natural habitat is tropical high-elevation bamboo and grassland, particularly the bamboo-belt of Mount Kenya and the adjacent heath and grassland.
An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, and invasive species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List lists the global conservation status of many species, and various other agencies assess the status of species within particular areas. Many nations have laws that protect conservation-reliant species which, for example, forbid hunting, restrict land development, or create protected areas. Some endangered species are the target of extensive conservation efforts such as captive breeding and habitat restoration.
The Strabomantidae are a family of frogs native to South America. These frogs lack a free-living larval stage and hatch directly into miniature "froglets". This family includes Pristimantis, the most speciose genus of any vertebrate.
Promops davisoni is a species of free-tailed bat in the family Molossidae. It was first described by Oldfield Thomas in 1921. While thought of as a subspecies of the big crested mastiff bat by scientists from roughly 1966 to 2010, morphological and geographical differences between P. davisoni and P. centralis are sufficiently suggestive of another species. P. davisoni is small for its genus, with a forearm length of 47.6 to 52.0 millimetres, and is light or cinnamon brown with distinguishable white bands on its back. P. davisoni is native to the Andes mountain range in Ecuador and Peru. More recently, evidence has been found that P. davisoni resides in the Atacama Desert in Chile.
Qosqophryne gymnotis is a species of frog in the family Strabomantidae. It is known from only two sites near Abra Malaga, Cusco, Peru, at between 3,272 and 3,530 meters above sea level. Its natural habitat is high altitude montane cloud forests, and lays its eggs in wet mosses. It was originally classified as a member of Bryophryne, but was later moved to the newly created genus Qosqophryne.
Qosqophryne mancoinca is a species of frog in the family Strabomantidae. It is only found in Santa Teresa, Cusco, Peru, between 3,519 and 3,707 meters above sea level. Its natural habitat is high altitude montane grasslands and cloud forests. It was originally classified as a member of Bryophryne, but was later moved to the newly created genus Qosqophryne.
