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Baby giant tortoises thrive in Seychelles after first successful artificial incubation

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Friday, October 10, 2025

The slow-motion pitter-patter of tiny giant tortoise feet has been worryingly rare in recent years, but that looks set to change thanks to the first successful hatching of the species with artificial incubation.One week after the intervention, the 13 babies are building up their strength on a diet of banana slices and leaves in Seychelles, which is home to one of the last remaining populations of the tortoise.As new members of one of the biggest and longest-lived reptile species in the world, the Aldabra giant tortoise, they could eventually reach a weight of about 250kg (39.4st) and live more than 100 years.The hatchlings are the survivors from 18 eggs that were taken from a single nest on Cousin Island by local conservationists after scientists used a groundbreaking microscopic technique to analyse whether the shells contained at-risk embryos.The researchers said the successful trial could help to stave off an extinction crisis for other threatened species.A baby Aldabra giant tortoise. It could eventually reach a weight of about 250kg. Photograph: Chris Tagg/Nature Seychelles“This is a huge leap,” said Alessia Lavigna, a Seychelloise now based at the University of Sheffield, who was the lead author of a recent study related to the project. “It shows what conservation can do.”The study examined the reproduction rates of five turtle and tortoise species, which revealed that 75% of undeveloped eggs had been fertilised but contained embryos that died at an early stage.Those findings cast new light on why the Aldabra giant tortoise, which is classified as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, has extremely low hatching success in wild nests. The failure rate is considered more likely to be due to environmental factors rather than a genetic trait of the tortoises.Giant tortoises were wiped out from most other Indian Ocean islands in the 19th century as a result of hunting by sailors, but the population on the Aldabra group of islands in the Seychelles was saved thanks to their isolation. Along with 400 other endemic species and the extraordinary colours of the landscape, they were part of the reason why the atoll was listed as a world heritage site by Unesco in 1982.As a hedge against extinction, some individuals were moved to nearby islands, including Cousin, in the hope that they could establish backup populations in the event of new threats. This has proved prescient because at least one island is being developed as a luxury tourist resort, funded with Qatari money, as the Guardian revealed last year.skip past newsletter promotionThe planet's most important stories. Get all the week's environment news - the good, the bad and the essentialPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotionAn aerial view of Aldabra, the world’s largest raised coral atoll. Photograph: ReutersAccording to Lavigna, the reproduction rates of the tortoises on some islands appears to be low because there have been few sightings of juveniles in recent decades. Decadal studies record only the same individuals, prompting concerns that the relative stability of the population has more to do with the longevity of the species rather than their breeding rates.The incubation of fertilised eggs, which is being trialled in collaboration with the Save Our Seas Foundation, Nature Seychelles and several other local conservation organisations, can help to bolster numbers if there is a crisis. But the priority for research will be how to improve the conditions of wild nests.An Aldabra giant tortoise on Curieuse Island, Seychelles. Photograph: cinoby/Getty Images“Artificially incubating eggs is not a long-term solution. We can’t have animals that need human intervention to take the eggs, hatch them and put back,” said Nicola Hemmings of the University of Sheffield’s school of biosciences. “We have to identify the variables that are impacting survival, and then see if there are ways to improve the natural nest environment.”The team say they would like to share their results with scientists in the Galápagos islands, which are home to the only other species of giant tortoises.

Exclusive: Trial that has produced 13 hatchlings could help other threatened species avoid extinctionThe slow-motion pitter-patter of tiny giant tortoise feet has been worryingly rare in recent years, but that looks set to change thanks to the first successful hatching of the species with artificial incubation.One week after the intervention, the 13 babies are building up their strength on a diet of banana slices and leaves in Seychelles, which is home to one of the last remaining populations of the tortoise. Continue reading...

The slow-motion pitter-patter of tiny giant tortoise feet has been worryingly rare in recent years, but that looks set to change thanks to the first successful hatching of the species with artificial incubation.

One week after the intervention, the 13 babies are building up their strength on a diet of banana slices and leaves in Seychelles, which is home to one of the last remaining populations of the tortoise.

As new members of one of the biggest and longest-lived reptile species in the world, the Aldabra giant tortoise, they could eventually reach a weight of about 250kg (39.4st) and live more than 100 years.

The hatchlings are the survivors from 18 eggs that were taken from a single nest on Cousin Island by local conservationists after scientists used a groundbreaking microscopic technique to analyse whether the shells contained at-risk embryos.

The researchers said the successful trial could help to stave off an extinction crisis for other threatened species.

A baby Aldabra giant tortoise. It could eventually reach a weight of about 250kg. Photograph: Chris Tagg/Nature Seychelles

“This is a huge leap,” said Alessia Lavigna, a Seychelloise now based at the University of Sheffield, who was the lead author of a recent study related to the project. “It shows what conservation can do.”

The study examined the reproduction rates of five turtle and tortoise species, which revealed that 75% of undeveloped eggs had been fertilised but contained embryos that died at an early stage.

Those findings cast new light on why the Aldabra giant tortoise, which is classified as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, has extremely low hatching success in wild nests. The failure rate is considered more likely to be due to environmental factors rather than a genetic trait of the tortoises.

Giant tortoises were wiped out from most other Indian Ocean islands in the 19th century as a result of hunting by sailors, but the population on the Aldabra group of islands in the Seychelles was saved thanks to their isolation. Along with 400 other endemic species and the extraordinary colours of the landscape, they were part of the reason why the atoll was listed as a world heritage site by Unesco in 1982.

As a hedge against extinction, some individuals were moved to nearby islands, including Cousin, in the hope that they could establish backup populations in the event of new threats. This has proved prescient because at least one island is being developed as a luxury tourist resort, funded with Qatari money, as the Guardian revealed last year.

skip past newsletter promotion

after newsletter promotion

An aerial view of Aldabra, the world’s largest raised coral atoll. Photograph: Reuters

According to Lavigna, the reproduction rates of the tortoises on some islands appears to be low because there have been few sightings of juveniles in recent decades. Decadal studies record only the same individuals, prompting concerns that the relative stability of the population has more to do with the longevity of the species rather than their breeding rates.

The incubation of fertilised eggs, which is being trialled in collaboration with the Save Our Seas Foundation, Nature Seychelles and several other local conservation organisations, can help to bolster numbers if there is a crisis. But the priority for research will be how to improve the conditions of wild nests.

An Aldabra giant tortoise on Curieuse Island, Seychelles. Photograph: cinoby/Getty Images

“Artificially incubating eggs is not a long-term solution. We can’t have animals that need human intervention to take the eggs, hatch them and put back,” said Nicola Hemmings of the University of Sheffield’s school of biosciences. “We have to identify the variables that are impacting survival, and then see if there are ways to improve the natural nest environment.”

The team say they would like to share their results with scientists in the Galápagos islands, which are home to the only other species of giant tortoises.

Read the full story here.
Photos courtesy of

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Arctic Seals and More Than Half of Bird Species Are in Trouble on Latest List of Threatened Species

Arctic seals are being pushed closer to extinction and more than half of bird species around the world are declining

Arctic seals are being pushed closer to extinction by climate change and more than half of bird species around the world are declining under pressure from deforestation and agricultural expansion, according to an annual assessment from the International Union for Conservation of Nature.One bright spot is green sea turtles, which have recovered substantially thanks to decades of conservation efforts, the IUCN said Friday as it released its latest Red List of Threatened Species.While many animals are increasingly at risk of disappearing forever, the updated list shows how species can come back from the brink with dedicated effort, Rima Jabado, deputy chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission, told The Associated Press.“Hope and concern go hand in hand in this work,” Jabado wrote by email. “The same persistence that brought back the green sea turtle can be mirrored in small, everyday actions — supporting sustainable choices, backing conservation initiatives, and urging leaders to follow through on their environmental promises.”The list is updated every year by teams of scientists assessing data on creatures around the world. The scope of the work is enormous and important for science, said Andrew Farnsworth, a visiting scientist at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology who studies bird migration and wasn't involved with the IUCN report. “Every time one is done and every time there’s revision, there’s more information, and there’s more ability to answer questions” on species, some of which are still largely a mystery to researchers, Farnsworth said.Because all the marine mammals native to the Arctic — seals, whales and polar bears — rely on the habitat provided by sea ice, they're all at risk as it diminishes because of human-caused climate change, said Kit Kovacs, co-chair of IUCN’s Species Survival Commission Pinniped Specialist Group, which focuses on seals.The three species highlighted in the latest IUCN report — harp, hooded and bearded seals — have been moved up to a designation of greater concern in the latest update, indicating they are increasingly threatened by extinction, Kovacs said.The same melting of glaciers and sea ice destroying seal habitats also “generally will bring escalation in extreme weather events, which are already impacting people around the globe,” wrote Kovacs.“Acting to help seals is acting to help humanity when it comes to climate change,” Kovacs said.The update also highlighted Madagascar, West Africa and Central America, where Schlegel’s asity, the black-casqued hornbill and the tail-bobbing northern nightingale-wren were all moved to near-threatened status. Those are three specific birds in trouble, but numbers are dropping for around three-fifths of birds globally.Deforestation of tropical forests is one of a “depressing litany of threats” to birds, a list that includes agricultural expansion and intensification, competition from invasive species and climate change, said Stuart Butchart, chief scientist at BirdLife International.“The fact that 61% of the world’s birds are declining is an alarm bell that we can’t afford to ignore,” Butchart said.The annual U.N. climate summit will be held in November in Belem, Brazil, with much attention on the Amazon and the value of tropical forests to humans and animals. But Farnsworth, of Cornell, said he was “not so confident” that world’s leaders would take decisive action to protect imperiled bird species. “I would like to think things like birds are nonpartisan, and you can find common ground,” he said. "But it's not easy.”One success story is the rebound of green sea turtles in many parts of the world's oceans. Experts see that as a bright spot because it shows how effective human interventions, like legal protections and conservation programs, can be.Still, "it’s important to note that conservation efforts of sea turtles can take decades before you realize the fruits of that labor,” said Justin Perrault, vice president of research at Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach, Florida, who wasn't involved with the IUCN report.The overall success with green sea turtles should be celebrated and used as an example with other species, some of which, like hawksbills and leatherbacks, aren't doing nearly as well, said Nicolas Pilcher, executive director of the Marine Research Foundation.And even for green sea turtles, areas still remain where climate change and other factors like erosion are damaging habitats, Pilcher said, and some of those are poorer communities that receive less conservation funding. But in the places where they have recovered, it's "a great story of, actually, we can do something about this,” Pilcher said. “We can. We can make a difference.”The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Photos You Should See – Oct. 2025

Extinction
Animals
Conservation

We're precipitating an extermination rather than an extinction event'

Broadcaster and campaigner Chris Packham is on a mission to cut overconsumption, take on fossil fuel giants and create a fairer world

Wildlife broadcaster Chris Packham’s kinship with the natural world began before he could even speak. As a young child in his parents’ small back garden in Southampton, UK, he became fascinated with tadpoles, snails and ladybirds. Soon his bedroom filled up with jam jars and tanks, and then the garden was crammed with enclosures. His obsessive interests expanded from moths and newts to include foxes and kestrels. Packham puts this intense curiosity down in part to being autistic. He says this shaped his keen ability to focus and find patterns – and his need to shelter from overwhelming social interactions. On and off screen, Packham isn’t afraid to speak his mind. He is a vocal supporter of environmental issues and animal rights, with campaigns aiming to put an end to game shooting and industrial farming. This has won him no shortage of enemies. In 2019, dead crows and a fox were left hanging on his gatepost, along with a death threat; a couple of years later a Land Rover was blown up outside his house. But these attacks have only made Packham more resolute in trying to persuade other people that we already have the solution to save the natural world. New Scientist spoke to him about his latest campaign to end fossil fuel advertising and sponsorship in the UK, his upcoming TV series about evolution and how we can achieve a sustainable future on Earth. Thomas Lewton: Whenever I watch the BBC’s Springwatch, it is clear you have a deep connection with the natural world. Does being autistic help you to form this connection? Chris Packham: I think I was drawn to studying the natural world because of my ability to see things in great detail very rapidly and remember them. I have always found it easier to identify behaviours, or elucidate patterns of anatomy, physiology or whatever it happened to be. That curiosity about the natural world seemed to have been there almost inherently. My father was a marine engineer and my mother was a legal secretary, so the interest didn’t originate from them, but they certainly helped fuel it. Walking in the woods is one thing people can do that doesn’t require overconsumptionKevin Britland / Alamy Stock Photo I was an avid collector of living animals as a child. There were always things in jam jars and tanks in my bedroom. But when I got to about 12, my father bought me some binoculars. From that point onwards, I became less interested in keeping animals and more interested in watching them out in the wild. I had an obsessive interest in natural history, and it would ricochet from one species or group of species to another. I suppose we call it “focused interest” now, but I’ll stick with obsession. The more you can focus on a singular task or objective, the easier it is to exclude distractions. And then you tend to get to the bottom of what you’re trying to understand. That’s what excites your curiosity. Those are incredible abilities. Being neurodivergent can, of course, also be challenging. How would you encourage others who are autistic or who have other forms of neurodivergence to think about how they experience the world? It’s about focusing on the opportunities and attributes that you might have rather than just the challenges and difficulties and embracing where that takes you. When I was a kid, I thought I was drawn to the woods by all those things that I wanted to see or catch at the time. But in reality, I was finding solace and respite there because I wasn’t being judged by my peers. I felt very comfortable there. I found I could totally immerse myself in the experience. Many people can identify a tree by its shape, or by its leaves, or by the pattern on its bark. But I can identify trees by the sound that rain makes on their leaves if I’m sitting underneath them with my eyes closed. That’s not a tremendous skill. Anyone could learn that. But that’s the sort of degree that I want to engage with nature. You have dedicated much of your life to protecting nature. Why do you think you have faced a backlash to this activism? Like many other people, I’m asking a significant part of the population to change its mind and habits a bit more quickly than feels comfortable. Humans, as we know, are remarkable animals. We’re intelligent, adaptable, creative, imaginative, innovative. We’re brilliant in many ways – but we’re not very good at changing our minds. We are burning through Earth’s natural resourcesJim West / Alamy Stock Photo But at this point it’s very clear that unless we do change our minds and therefore our practices, we’re going to be in even deeper trouble than we are already in. I try to [point out] that there are opportunities to deal with these problems. Let’s take them while there’s still a chance to do good and find positive outcomes. A section of society is reluctant to do that. And a tiny minority will push back in an aggressive and violent way. What keeps you going in the face of this violence? I genuinely don’t care. I’m a very determined person. I can’t be swayed from a course of action if I believe it’s the right course of action. I’ve never picked a fight because I thought I could win it. I’ve always picked my fights because I thought they were the right fights to pick at the time. Winning isn’t about crossing a line or getting a medal; winning is about not giving up. At this point in time, that is the thing that you know people of my ilk – activists, campaigners, protesters – need to hold closest to their hearts. It’s very difficult at the moment. It’s very, very difficult. In what way? We’re being persecuted, you know, through an unjust legal system in terms of public protest in the UK. If we want to protest today we just don’t know where we stand. We don’t know if we will be arrested for wearing a T shirt, holding a placard or banner. We’re up against the terrible things which are happening in the US and other parts of the world when it comes to rolling back environmental protections, legislation and, indeed, environmental sciences. Ultimately, though, I still think we are a wonderful species. We have the tools, technology and abilities at our disposal to make sure that we can adapt to the problems we’ve already generated. It’s just that we don’t have anyone out there with the gumption to roll them out broadly enough and rapidly enough to make a difference. So, I’ve got to help drive that. You recently launched a petition to end fossil fuel advertising and sponsorship in the UK. Is this a major barrier to action on climate change? Well, in the UK, fossil fuel companies actually don’t spend too much money on advertising in the grand scheme of things, but they spend it in a very targeted way: they target decision-makers and politicians and others. People are being manipulated by mistruths. But what we are increasingly seeing is billions of pounds being poured into sports sponsorship [by fossil fuel companies]. It subliminally ekes its way into people’s lives, and they see those companies as doing something advantageous. It’s normalising their business. Protesters fighting Shell’s sponsorship of British CyclingAndrea Domeniconi/Alamy Live News Their business has no right to be normal any more. It’s destroying our planet. There’s no ambiguity about it. We need to stop them being able to greenwash their dirty linen in public through that sort of sponsorship. I mean, the idea that British Cycling is sponsored by Shell is like a bad joke. Cycling, something we do that is healthy, which combats carbon emissions. As is, I have to say, the continued acceptance of fossil sponsorship within some of our public institutions like the Science Museum and the British Museum, it shouldn’t be allowed. What does a sustainable future look like to you? It’s very difficult, obviously, to look into a crystal ball, given advances in technology and now the very rapid advances that we see in climate breakdown. But what I think we need is a change in mindset. Firstly, everyone goes on about economic growth. But growth comes at the cost of consumption, and we live on a finite planet. So, quite clearly, we cannot continue to grow if we’re using all those resources in an unsustainable way. “ I’m asking a significant part of the population to change its mind and habits “ People need to rethink what they want out of life. Does that consumption really make us happy? What are the rewards that we get out of life? Whether you’re into walking in the woods, whether you’re interested in art, singing, dance or whatever it happens to be that excites you in life, it doesn’t have to come at the cost of accumulating loads of stuff. What other shifts in mindset are needed? Do you think people should consider not having kids as part of achieving a sustainable population? We have to be very careful when we’re talking about overpopulation. Obviously, the more people on the planet, the more consumption takes place. The question is, of course, who’s consuming it? And in many parts of the world, where populations are growing most rapidly, that isn’t where consumption is the greatest. If everyone on Earth consumed resources at the same rate as people in the US, then we would need about five Earths to sustain this demand. We can only consume so much because of the resource poverty of other people in the world who are underusing the world’s available resources. I’m a very firm believer that when it comes to addressing climate breakdown, we must move towards a far greater degree of equality. One of the most embarrassing things about the COP climate summit is that leaders fail to agree to significantly subsidise poorer countries in the world who are suffering most from climate breakdown. It’s that sort of pervasive greed which is the handicap. On another note, you are finishing filming a BBC TV series about evolution, which is coming out next year. Evolution takes place over innumerable generations, billions of years. What can humans learn from that deep-time perspective about their place within nature? Well, firstly, how lucky we are to be here. Mutations happen unpredictably. And the fact that they occur in a place where they can actually succeed is quite odd. I mean, the chances of human life evolving are infinitesimally small. And very often evolution comes down to serendipity. Secondly, evolution gives us perspective on the damage humans are inflicting on the natural world now. We look at a number of mass extinction events in the series, and they aren’t always catastrophic. You know, a meteorite takes out all the dinosaurs, which was a disaster for the dinosaurs, but hey, we mammals had a great time in the aftermath. All of those niches that were previously unavailable, mammals evolved to fill them. So, at the moment, we’re precipitating an extermination rather than an extinction event, since it’s us that’s driving it – and we need to get our language right. But whatever we do to the planet, life’s tenacity will mean that it will survive and, you know, it will be beautiful, maybe even more beautiful all over again.

Extinction
Activism
Business

It’s 12ft tall, covered in feathers and has been extinct for 600 years – can the giant moa bird really be resurrected?

Colossal Bioscience is adding the extinct animal to its revival wishlist, joining the woolly mammoth, dodo and thylacine. But scepticism is growingStanding more than three metres (10ft) high, the giant moa is the tallest bird known to have walked on Earth. For thousands of years, the wingless herbivore patrolled New Zealand, feasting on trees and shrubs, until the arrival of humans. Today, records of the enormous animal survive only in Māori oral histories, as well as thousands of discoveries of bone, mummified flesh and the odd feather.But this week, the US start-up Colossal Biosciences has announced that the giant moa has joined the woolly mammoth, dodo and thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger, on its list of animals that it is trying to bring back from the dead. The announcement has provoked public excitement – and deep scepticism from many experts about whether it is possible to resurrect the bird, which disappeared a century after the arrival of early Polynesian settlers in New Zealand about 600 years ago. Continue reading...

Standing more than three metres (10ft) high, the giant moa is the tallest bird known to have walked on Earth. For thousands of years, the wingless herbivore patrolled New Zealand, feasting on trees and shrubs, until the arrival of humans. Today, records of the enormous animal survive only in Māori oral histories, as well as thousands of discoveries of bone, mummified flesh and the odd feather.But this week, the US start-up Colossal Biosciences has announced that the giant moa has joined the woolly mammoth, dodo and thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger, on its list of animals that it is trying to bring back from the dead. The announcement has provoked public excitement – and deep scepticism from many experts about whether it is possible to resurrect the bird, which disappeared a century after the arrival of early Polynesian settlers in New Zealand about 600 years ago.A moa as imagined by the German artist Heinrich Harder, best known for his depictions of extinct animals, though the Māori did not use bows and arrows. Photograph: AlamyThe Texas company says it is aiming to resurrect the extinct bird within five to 10 years, in partnership with the Ngāi Tahu Research Centre at New Zealand’s University of Canterbury.Reportedly backed by US$15m (£11m) of funding from the Lord of the Rings film-maker Sir Peter Jackson, who is an investor in Colossal Biosciences and an avid moa bone collector, the project will try to “de-extinct” the giant bird by harvesting DNA from fossils, then editing genes of its nearest surviving relatives, such as the emu. The genetically modified birds will be hatched out and released into enclosed “rewilding sites”, the company says.Peter Jackson (left), holding a moa’s bone, with Colossal’s founder, Ben Lamm. Photograph: Courtesy of Colossal Biosciences“The hope that within a few years, we’ll get to see a moa back again – that gives me more enjoyment and satisfaction that any film ever has,” says Jackson.As part of Colossal’s announcement, the Māori archaeologist Kyle Davis says: “Our earliest ancestors in this place lived alongside moa and our records, both archaeological and oral, contain knowledge about these birds and their environs. We relish the prospect of bringing that into dialogue with Colossal’s cutting-edge science as part of a bold vision for ecological restoration.”This is the latest in a string of headline-grabbing claims by Colossal, which raised $200m in January on a $10bn valuation of the company. In April, Colossal claimed it had resurrected the dire wolf, a North American predator which has been extinct for about 13,000 years, with the birth of two grey wolves that had been genetically modified to have dire wolf characteristics. Weeks earlier, the company released photos of “woolly mice”, which had been genetically altered to have woolly mammoth traits as part of efforts to “de-extinct” the giant herbivore by genetically modifying Asian elephants. The firm has also set its sights on bringing back the dodo, the Mauritian bird that was hunted to extinction by sailors in the 17th century.But Colossal’s announcements are attracting growing scorn and concern from many researchers, who argue that claims of “de-extinction” are false and a distraction from the ongoing rampant loss of biodiversity, with a million existing species at risk of disappearing. There are also concerns that these “resurrected” hybrid species are designed for habitats and ecological niches that may no longer exist. Research published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution concluded that spending the limited resources available for saving nature on de-extinction could lead to net biodiversity loss.Colossal’s ‘woolly mice’ have been genetically altered to have woolly mammoth traits. Photograph: undefined/APAroha Te Pareake Mead, a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature Policy Development Working Group on the use of Synthetic Biology in Conservation, says: “De-extinction is a misnomer, a false promise, that is rooted more in ego than a genuine effort to conserve species. These are exercises in the egotistical delight in the theatrical production of ‘discovery’ devoid of ethical, environmental and cultural considerations. Bring the moa back? To where? To what quality of life? To roam freely?”Dr Tori Herridge, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Sheffield, who turned down an offer of joining Colossal Biosciences’ advisory board, says the company’s initiatives are best thought of as scientific experiments – rather than genuinely bringing back extinct species from thousands of years ago.“Is de-extinction possible? No, it is not possible. What you could potentially do – we’ll see – is create a genetically modified organism that may contain some appearance traits that are linked to a previously extinct species based on what we think they were like. Using the term “de-extinction” allows us to skip over the hard questions. This is not bringing back the mammoth or the moa or the dodo, this is creating something new to create a change in an ecosystem,” she says.Herridge questions the deterministic view of genetics – highlighting that learned culture is a crucial part of a wild species.“I don’t think you’re going to be able to create a something that is behaviourally a woolly mammoth just based on its genome. A lot of elephant behaviour is learned. We know there are problems with elephant behaviour once you remove a matriarch from a group,” she says.Colossal’s genetically modified ‘dire wolves’ Romulus and Remus at five months old. Photograph: Colossal Biosciences/AFP/Getty ImagesColossal Biosciences says its work is helping to slow the rampant ongoing loss of biodiversity by returning functions lost to ecosystems when animals such as mammoth, moa and dodo go extinct. They point to excitement about how its techniques could help restore genetic diversity in endangered wildlife, helping species such as the American red wolf to avoid an extinction doom loop. A representative for the company said they strongly reject claims that de-extinction is not possible.Sir Richard Owen, an English biologist, comparative anatomist and paleontologist, with a giant moa skeleton, c1879. Photograph: Alpha Historica/AlamyProf Andrew Pask, who is working on the moa project for Colossal, says the critics are wrong.“For many of our living species on the brink of extinction, the damage has been done. They are in an extinction vortex where the population spirals to extinction. The single, only way out of this is by bringing back lost diversity into those species genome. This is what de-extinction technology can do,” he says.“To say it is not possible is just not true. It is hard. It is complex. But we have all the tools to do it. If we re-engineer a genome that is 99.9% identical to a thylacine, a moa, a mammoth then that animal would be as similar to a moa and any two moas would be in that population.”But moa expert Nic Rawlence, an associate professor in ancient DNA at the University of Otago, says there is little chance of bringing the giant birds back from the dead.“This is Jurassic Park with very low chance of success,” he says.“If we think of the dire wolf, the genome is 2.5bn individual letters long. It’s 99% identical to the grey wolf, so that’s still significantly over a million differences, and they made only 20 changes to 14 genes. So, to say they’ve created a dire wolf is farcical. They’ve created a designer grey wolf. And that’ll be the same with whatever they do with the moa.”

Extinction
Animals
Science

Giant prehistoric kangaroos preferred to ‘chill at home’ and didn’t like to go out much, scientists say

Fossil teeth show species of protemnodon that roamed Australia between 5m and 40,000 years ago lived and died near Queensland cavesGet our afternoon election email, free app or daily news podcastDespite their immense size, species of prehistoric giant kangaroos from a site in Queensland were probably homebodies with a surprisingly small range compared to other kangaroos, according to new Australian research.Protemnodon, which roamed the Australian continent between 5m and 40,000 years ago and is now extinct, was significantly larger than its modern relatives. Some species weighed up to 170kg, making them more than twice as heavy as the largest red kangaroo. Continue reading...

Despite their immense size, species of prehistoric giant kangaroos from a site in Queensland were probably homebodies with a surprisingly small range compared to other kangaroos, according to new Australian research.Protemnodon, which roamed the Australian continent between 5m and 40,000 years ago and is now extinct, was significantly larger than its modern relatives. Some species weighed up to 170kg, making them more than twice as heavy as the largest red kangaroo.Given their size, researchers expected they might have an expansive territory, said University of Wollongong palaeo-ecologist Chris Laurikainen Gaete, the co-author of the study published in PLOS One.That’s because in most modern plant-eating mammals, including kangaroos and other macropods, larger body size correlated with geographic range, he said. A small marsupial such as the pademelon, for example, occupies an area smaller than a kilometre squared, whereas the red kangaroo – the largest of all kinds – in outback Australia can hop long distances, sometimes further than 20km.But analysis of fossil teeth found near Mt Etna, 30km north of Rockhampton in Queensland, revealed something quite different. These protemnodon kept to close quarters, living and dying near the caves where their remains were found.The Mt Etna fossil site in Queensland. Protemnodon’s restricted range increased its risk of extinction amid a changing climate, an expert says. Photograph: Scott HocknullCo-author Dr Scott Hocknull, a vertebrate palaeontologist and senior curator at the Queensland Museum, said the individuals from Mt Etna seemed to be “real homebodies” that stayed within “a tiny pocket” in and around the limestone caves.“These gigantic kangaroos were just chilling at home, eating the rainforest leaves, because there were heaps of them around. That also means that the environment was quite stable. It meant that over hundreds of thousands of years, these animals decided that staying put was a good bet.”The population at Mt Etna was “probably quite happy” for some time, Hocknull said. The rainforest probably provided a reliable source of food, while the caves offered protection from prehistoric predators, such as marsupial lions.But their restricted range was a “bad bet” in the end, Hocknull said, because it pre-disposed them to a risk of extinction when a changing climate and increasing aridity disrupted the rainforest environment about 280,000 years ago.Dr Scott Hocknull of the Queensland Museum with a protemnodon skull fossil. The prehistoric kangaroos were ‘real homebodies’, he saysDr Isaac Kerr, who specialises in kangaroo palaeontology at Flinders University and was not involved with the study, said protemnodon fossils – found mainly in the south and east of the country – indicated there were several species adapted to different environments.“Probably they were all over the whole continent, including New Guinea,” he said. A site in Tasmania had one of the latest surviving species, dated to 41,000 years ago.skip past newsletter promotionSign up to Afternoon Update: Election 2025Our Australian afternoon update breaks down the key election campaign stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it mattersPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotionKerr said these megafauna kangaroos ranged in size but were generally stockier than their modern counterparts, with shorter feet.Protemnodon probably looked something like a wallaroo, he said, “squat and muscular but still quite large compared to a modern kangaroo”.Mt Etna is one of Australia’s richest fossil sites, containing evidence of ancient Pleistocene rainforests and records covering periods of past environmental change when rainforests gave way to open, arid environments.The researchers’ next step was to apply similar techniques to fossils of smaller kangaroos such as tree kangaroos, pademelons and rock wallabies from Mt Etna, which still have living descendants, to understand how they survived the environmental changes while protemnodon died out.Palaeo-ecologist Chris Laurikainen Gaete says that with most modern plant-eating mammals, larger body size correlates with larger geographic range – but not for the protemnodon found at Mt EtnaThe study compared the unique chemical signatures found in the local geology with those found in the fossilised teeth to establish the range of each animal, Gaete said.“Strontium is an element that varies in the environment, specifically in underlying bedrocks – so a limestone will have a significantly different strontium signature compared to something like volcanic rock or basalt,” he said. These unique signatures made their way into soil and plants, and were reflected in the fossilised teeth of herbivores that ate those plants.Laurikainen Gaete said the technique could be used to understand, on a site-by-site basis, why certain species of megafauna disappeared from particular places.Hocknull said: “It fundamentally shifts how palaeontologists and ecologists look at the fossil record.”

Extinction
Animals
Climate

Sunscreen, Clothing and Caves May Have Given Modern Humans an Edge Over Neanderthals When Earth's Magnetic Field Wandered

A new study suggests the extinction of Neanderthals nearly coincided with a shift in Earth's magnetic field that let more radiation reach the ground. Our species might have adapted more easily

Sunscreen, Clothing and Caves May Have Given Modern Humans an Edge Over Neanderthals When Earth’s Magnetic Field Wandered A new study suggests the extinction of Neanderthals nearly coincided with a shift in Earth’s magnetic field that let more radiation reach the ground. Our species might have adapted more easily A reconstruction of a Neanderthal man in the Natural History Museum, Vienna. A new study suggests Neanderthals could not adapt to a period of increased radiation as well as early modern humans did. Jakub Hałun via Wikimedia Commons under CC BY-SA 4.0 One of the most enduring questions in anthropology is why Neanderthals, our closest extinct human relatives, completely disappeared around 40,000 years ago. Possible theories include climate change, resource competition and the dilution of Neanderthals’ genes through interbreeding with modern humans’ ancestors. Now, new research suggests early Homo sapiens may have had an edge on their cousins thanks to their use of sun protection—namely, natural sunscreen, tailored clothes and caves—during a period of unusually strong solar and cosmic radiation. The research is detailed in a study published last week in the journal Science Advances. Earth’s moving interior generates our planet’s magnetic field, an invisible shield that helps protect us and our atmosphere from harmful energy coming from space. This magnetic field has a north and south orientation, which currently roughly aligns with Earth’s North and South poles. Those are the sites where the field is the strongest, which is why auroras are usually visible at more extreme latitudes. Sometimes, however, the magnetic field’s poles wander from the planet’s geographic poles in what scientists call geomagnetic excursions, according to a statement. Occasionally, the magnetic field’s north and south poles swap completely—a natural phenomenon that has taken place about 180 times in Earth’s history. The most recent geomagnetic excursion, called the Laschamps excursion, occurred around 41,000 years ago—just before Neanderthals went extinct. To investigate this event for the new study, an international team of researchers reconstructed Earth’s upper atmosphere and nearby space during the Laschamps excursion using a 3D computer model. By combining this with models of the space plasma around Earth and our planet’s auroras, the team suggests that during the Laschamps excursion, Earth’s magnetic field overall was only 10 percent as strong as its current level. This allowed the north magnetic pole to wander over Europe, making aurora visible across the continent. It also let more cosmic radiation reach the ground. A diagram of the Laschamps excursion. At this time, auroras—depicted here by gradients of green and yellow—could be seen from most of the globe. Agnit Mukhopadhyay, University of Michigan “During the Laschamps event, the magnetic poles shifted away from true north,” lead author Agnit Mukhopadhyay, a climate and space scientist at the University of Michigan, tells BBC Science Focus’ Hatty Willmoth. “This movement, coupled with a notable weakening of the magnetic field, resulted in an expanded auroral zone and increased atmospheric penetration by energetic particles, such as solar energetic particles and cosmic radiation.” Both of those particles represent ionizing radiation, which can be harmful to human health. Interestingly, the Laschamps excursion coincided with notable developments for our ancestors and early relatives. According to the statement, some evidence suggests Homo sapiens started producing custom clothing, spending more time in caves and increasing their use of a mineral called ochre at that time. “There have been some experimental tests that show it [ochre] has sunscreen-like properties. It’s a pretty effective sunscreen, and there are also ethnographic populations that have used it primarily for that purpose,” Raven Garvey, a co-author of the study and an anthropologist at the University of Michigan, says in the statement. “So, while archaeologists cannot directly observe the behaviors of peoples who lived over 40,000 years ago, we can hypothesize that the increased use of ochre may have been, in part, for its sun-protective properties,” Garvey adds to BBC Science Focus. Environmental changes caused by the weaker magnetic field “may have driven adaptive behaviors in human populations, such as the increased use of protective clothing and ochre for UV shielding,” as Mukhopadhyay tells New Scientist’s James Woodford. But as early modern humans made these lifestyle changes, Neanderthals ultimately disappeared. The team speculates these differences may have contributed to Homo sapiens outliving Neanderthals, who don’t seem to be associated with the same developments. Not everyone agrees, however. “There’s definitely a rough overlap in terms of timing between the incursion of ancient modern humans into Europe and the Laschamps event,” says Amy Mosig Way, an archaeologist from the Australian Museum who was not involved in the study, to New Scientist. “But it’s probably a stretch to say modern humans had better sun protection in the form of tailored clothing than Neanderthals, and that this contributed to their ability to travel farther than Neanderthals and their subsequent dominance of Eurasia.” More broadly, the researchers suggest that our ancestors’ survival of a severely weakened magnetic sphere could hold implications for how we continue our search for extraterrestrial beings. “Many people say that a planet cannot sustain life without a strong magnetic field,” Mukhopadhyay says in the statement. “Looking at prehistoric Earth, and especially at events like this, helps us study exoplanetary physics from a very different vantage point. Life did exist back then. But it was a little bit different than it is today.” Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.

Extinction
Climate
Health

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