MAMMALS could be at a greater risk of extinction due to
predicted increases in extreme weather conditions, states a
paper published today by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL).
Scientists have mapped out land mammal populations, and
overlapped this with information of where droughts and cyclones
are most likely to occur. This allowed them to identify species
at high risk of exposure to extreme weather. The paper,
published this week in the journal Conservation Letters,
describes the results of assessing almost six thousand species
of land mammals in this way. Lead author of the paper, ZSL's
Eric Ameca y Juárez says: "Approximately a third of the species
assessed have at least a quarter of their range exposed to
cyclones, droughts or a combination of both. If these species
are found to be highly susceptible to these conditions, it will
lead to a substantial increase in the number of mammals
classified as threatened by the IUCN under the category 'climate
change and severe weather'." In particular, primates