The tears of the slender loris are used in traditional medicine; populations are declining because their forest habitats are being destroyed (Image: ZSL) According to Chinese legend, the Yangtze River dolphin is the reincarnation of a drowned princess (Image: Stephen Leatherwood) There have been no confirmed reports of the pygmy hippopotamus for decades, though local reports suggest they may still exist (image: Daniel Sprawson/ZSL)


Scientists are calling on the public to help save the world’s most unusual creatures, including the bumblebee bat, the golden-rumped elephant shrew and the long-eared jerboa of Mongolia. These, and 97 other species, have been identified as both endangered and having few close relatives, making them genetically unique.

The centrepiece of the EDGE (Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered) campaign is a list of 100 weird and wonderful animals. To draw it up, scientists at the Zoological Society of London in the UK produced an enormous evolutionary tree showing the relationship between every known mammal species on the planet in collaboration with researchers at Imperial College, UK, and the University of Virginia, US.

From this, they selected animals that are most genetically distinct, giving them “evolutionary distinctiveness” scores. They then cross referenced their list with the World Conservation Union’s Red List of endangered species to give the species “globally endangered” scores. The product of both scores yielded the ranked list of 100 EDGE species.

“These are one-of-a-kind species,” says lead scientist Jonathan Baillie. “If they are lost there is nothing similar to them left on the planet. It would be a bit like the art world losing the Mona Lisa – they are simply irreplaceable.”

Reversing decline

The researchers also assessed how much conservation attention each of the species is currently receiving and found that over two-thirds are receiving little or none.

To address this, EDGE will use websites to highlight threatened creatures and encourage the public to sponsor conservation efforts. “This is appealing to the general public to take action to reverse the decline of these amazing species,” Baillie said.

EDGE will initially focus on the top 10 Edge species, starting with the Yangtze River dolphin (see image), which may in fact have already disappeared. Listed on the project website as being down to just 13 individuals, scientists visiting the area recently could not find any. “This really highlights the importance of acting quickly,” Baillie said.

Bumblebee bat

Also among the top 10 are an egg-laying mammal known as Attenborough’s long-beaked echidna, the pygmy hippopotamus, a shy, nocturnal primate with gigantic eyes called the slender loris (see image), and the bumblebee bat, which could be the world’s smallest mammal.

“We have 10 species we are focusing on in 2007 but that will change over time,” says Baillie. He adds that the goal is to ensure that there are conservation measures set up for the top 100 species over the next five years.

Global warming and human depredations on habitat are cited as the fundamental causes of the problems threatening the EDGE species.

Endangered species – Learn more about the conservation battle in our comprehensive special report.