Scientific Illustration

dendroica:

For nearly eight years, [New Jersey] has protected the horseshoe crabs from fishermen in the hope it would boost the bird’s dwindling numbers worldwide. But that could soon change.

A moratorium protecting horseshoe crabs along New Jersey’s shoreline could soon be lifted, as proposed in a state Assembly bill that’s before a committee today in Trenton.

Environmentalists say lifting the moratorium would up-end a delicate balance in the food chain that’s just beginning to stabilize, after years of over-fishing. The seafood industry says allowing collection of the crabs again would give certain parts of the fishing industry a desperately needed source of bait.

The ongoing ban would end with passage of the bill sponsored by Assemblyman Nelson Albano (D - Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland). The measure is before the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee this afternoon.

The ban on horseshoe crabs went into effect in 2006 because of concerns about the red knot, fueling it for its long trek. The bird relies on eating the crab eggs along the route, experts say – and the bird population and the crab eggs are both in sharp decline, they add. The initial ban was extended indefinitely by the Legislature in 2008.

Environmentalists say lifting the restrictions now would not only harm the crab population – but also the red knots, which rely on them for food.

(via The crab and the bird: lifting moratorium on horseshoe crabs could affect migratory red knot | NJ.com)

It’s far too soon to lift the moratorium.

These creatures are way too amazing to use as fishing bait!

http://scientificillustration.tumblr.com/tagged/horseshoe+crab

rhamphotheca:

GOOD NEWS:

Two-foot-long cloud rat rediscovered after missing for forty years in the Philippines

by Jeremy Hance

Czech computer programmer, Vaclav Rehak, was the first person to see a living Dinagat bushy-tailed cloud rat (Crateromys australis) in nearly forty years, reports GMA News. Rehak was traveling on Dinagat Island with his new wife, Milada Rehakova-Petru, a specialist on Philippine tarsiers, when he stumbled on the rodent, which has only been recorded once by scientists in 1975. Found only on the Dinagat Island, the rodent was feared extinct, but is now imperiled by mining concessions and logging across its small habitat, which is thought to be less than 100 square kilometers.

“My husband, programmer Vaclav Rehak, saw a big hairy rat creeping through the vegetation slowly at the beginning of 2012. A week later, we took the first photographs and video recordings [of the rodent] in the wild,” Milada Reháková-Petru told Czech media, Ceske Noviny…

The almost orange-colored rodent sports a long tail with a bushy white end. From head to tip-of-tail, the Dinagat bushy-tailed cloud rat is nearly 2 feet (21.6 inches, 55 centimeters) long, making it one of the world’s longest rodents. Currently listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN Red List, it was thought ‘possibly extinct.”…

(read more: MongaBay)                

(images: L - Milada Řeháková and Vaclav Rehak/Tarsius Project; R - William Oliver, Philippines Biodiversity Conservation Foundation)

zoestanleyarts:

Marbled Murrelet

I chose to paint the Marbled Murrelet in gouache paints.
This was really a challenge for me because I was not familiar with the medium. I had fun working with the paints though.  More people should become aware of how many endangered species there are that aren’t very popular, that disappear unnoticed.

rhamphotheca:

The Cebu Flower Piercer…

If a bird calls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it really exist?

by Shaun Hurrell

Cebu Flowerpecker Dicaeum quadricolor, although Critically Endangered,is a lucky bird. It is also a great reminder for us to never give up hope for a species. For almost a century, Cebu Flowerpecker retreated into the ever-diminishing mountainous forests of Cebu Island, Philippines, whilst conservationists worldwide were oblivious to its existence.

Every fallen tree heard at the edge of the forest was one less thin, high-pitched, sweet note heard towards the centre; yet no-one heard the bird’s distress calls until 1992 because it was officially thought to be extinct. It was thanks to a visitor determined not to stick to the well-worn birding circuits that Cebu Flowerpecker was rediscovered at the eleventh hour, and work to conserve the species belatedly began…

(read more: BirdLife International)     

rhamphotheca:

Daggernose Shark (Isogomphodon oxyrhynchus) - Critically Endangered

The Daggernose shark lives in “shallow tropical waters off northeastern South America from Trinidad to northern Brazil, favoring muddy habitats such as mangroves, estuaries, and river mouths, though it is intolerant of fresh water. […] The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed this species as Critically Endangered, as it has a limited distribution and is highly susceptible to overfishing due to its low reproductive rate. The daggernose shark has declined over 90% over the past decade off Brazil, and similar declines have likely also occurred elsewhere in its range as fishing pressure in the region continues to grow more intense. The IUCN has urgently recommended the implementation of conservation schemes and the expansion of fishery monitoring for this species.” (source)

(via: TreeHugger)          (image: Müller & Henle, 1839) 

biomedicalephemera:

rhamphotheca:

Arakan Forest Turtle (Geoemyda depressa now Heosemys depressa)

- Arakan Hill Range, Western Mayanmar

from Anatomical and zoological researches v.2., London, B. Quaritch, 1878.

(via: biodiversitylibrary.org/page/34177985)

* The Arakan Forest Turtle was thought extinct since 1908 until spotted in a Chinese food market in 1994! 

Speaking of Lazarus taxon…

dendroica:

This time of year is the most dangerous time for the turtles — a threatened species in New Jersey — as they slowly emerge from murky rivers and streams after their months-long hibernation and become more active in search of food and mates…. While raids on nests by foxes and raccoons take a heavy toll on young wood turtles, road kills and the illegal collection of turtles by people who take them from their natural habitat for use as pets are the largest threats for the adults, said a state biologist.

(via Father-daughter duo tries to save the world, starting with local turtles | NJ.com)

memuco:

Second part of the Rhino graphic. Still need to do one or 2 more. I need to get back to the sharks. But this is hard, harder than I though it would be.

memuco

rhamphotheca:

Ethiopian Wolf (Canis simensis)

… also known as the Abyssinian wolf and Abyssinian fox. The numerous names reflect previous uncertainty about its taxonomic position, but it is now thought to be related to the wolves of the genus Canis rather than the foxes it superficially resembles.

The Ethiopian wolf is found at altitudes above 3,000 m (9,800 ft) in the Afro-alpine regions of Ethiopia,and is the top predator of the ecosystem. It is the most endangered species of canid that has not been extinct in the wild,with only about seven populations remaining, totalling roughly 550 adults. The largest population is found in the Bale Mountains in southern Ethiopia…

(read more: Wikipedia)

(photos: BL - GertVankrunkelsven, T - Harri J, BR - from A monograph of the canidae by St. George Mivart, F.R.S)

memuco:

Smooth Hammerhead