REPTILIAN RESCUE: "Reptiles are not often used to inspire conservation action, but they are fascinating creatures and serve indispensable roles in ecosystems across the planet.".

• Author: Belity, Samantha
• Position: EYE ON ECOLOGY

CONSERVATION efforts for other animals likely have helped protect many reptile species, according to a study led by NatureServe, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and Conservation International. The study presents an analysis of the first comprehensive extinction risk assessment for reptiles on The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It found that at least 21% of all reptile species globally are threatened with extinction.

For the Global Reptile Assessment study appearing in the journal Nature, a diverse research team, representing 24 countries across six continents, analyzed the conservation needs of 10,196 reptile species in comparison with mammals, birds, and amphibians. Reptiles in the study include turtles, crocodiles, lizards, snakes, and tuatara, the latter being the only living member of a lineage that evolved in the Triassic period approximately 200,000,000 to 250,000,000 years ago.

The research revealed that efforts to conserve threatened mammals, birds, and amphibians are more likely than expected to cobenefit many threatened reptiles. Although reptiles are well known to live in arid habitats such as deserts and scrubland, most species occur in forested habitats, where they--and other vertebrate groups--suffer from threats such as logging and conversion of forest to agriculture. The study found that 30% of forest-dwelling reptiles are at risk of extinction, compared with 14% of those in arid habitats.

"I was surprised by the degree to which mammals, birds, and amphibians, collectively, can serve as surrogates to reptiles," says study coleader Bruce Young, chief zoologist and senior conservation scientist at Nature-Serve. "This is good news because the extensive efforts to protect better known animals have also likely contributed to protecting many reptiles. Habitat protection is essential to buffer reptiles, as well as other vertebrates, from threats such as agricultural activities and urban development."

If each of the 1,829 threatened reptiles became extinct, we would lose a combined 15,-600,000,000 years of evolutionary history, including countless adaptations for living in diverse environments.

"The results of the Global Reptile Assessment signal the need to ramp up global efforts to conserve them," says Neil Cox, coleader of the study and manager of the IUCN-Conservation International Biodiversity Assessment Unit. "Because reptiles are so diverse, they face a wide range of threats across a variety...