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Thursday, October 28, 2010

Photo: Warming May Drive Gender-Bending Reptiles Extinct, Scientists Say


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A tuatara, a "living fossil" reptile, is shown here on Little Barrier Island off the northeastern coast of New Zealand's North Island.

The animal was bred in captivity—part of a program to help preserve the species, which is teetering on the brink of extinction as climate change shrinks its habitat and throws the gender ratios of its offspring out of balance.

Photograph © Dave Hansford