The Mojave Desert subpopulation occupies only the most well-studied 30% of the larger former range of the desert tortoise, yet this portion experienced the greatest human impacts and the largest documented past population losses.
Sources
- Gopherus agassizii - USGS Publications Warehouse (pubs.usgs.gov)
- https://tortoise-tracks.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/2021-Berry-et-al-IUCN-Red-List.pdf (tortoise-tracks.org)
- https://doaj.org/article/45d1ecccf4b04d6bad8cf360dd9ed981 (doaj.org)
- https://www.defendthemall.org/blog/2023/species-spotlight-mojave-desert-tortoise (defendthemall.org)
More in Nature
- After half of the males in a wild olive baboon (Papio anubis) group died from tuberculosis in the mid-1980s, immigrant males later adopted a 'pacific culture' marked by higher inter-sexual grooming, reduced spatial proximity, and a more relaxed male hierarchy.
- A long-term hormone analysis of urine from chimpanzees in Uganda's Kibale National Park, involving females ranging from 14 to 67 years old, showed that female chimpanzees experience menopause at around age 50.
- Spitting cobras' venom contains an additional group of toxins called phospholipases A2, which together with cytotoxins create a synergistic effect producing instant pain.
- Harmonia axyridis was imported to North America in the early 1900s to control pest populations.
- The Guam Rail (Hypotaenidia owstoni) is the second bird in history to recover after being declared Extinct in the Wild, following the California Condor (Gymnogyps californianus).
- Bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) are listed as Least Concern.