The research published today in journal, , demonstrates that poaching combined with individual rhino’s reproductive variance, or how successful mums are at raising young, leads to a greater than first thought risk to the survival of the black rhino.

In the case of these rhino, reproductive variance increased extinction risk by as much as 70% when combined with poaching.

Within black rhino populations (and most likely in most animals), some individuals have more babies than others. This variation increases existing estimates of extinction risk, especially when there is poaching. This is because indiscriminate killing can lead to some of these important animals which contribute a greater number of offspring being removed.

Susanne Shultz, Professor of Evolutionary Ecology and conservation at The University of Manchester said: “Preventing population declines is a crucial step for stopping biodiversity loss. In this study, we identified how losing key rhinos can make small populations very vulnerable, which can help us design more effective conservation actions.”

“The new research is important because it shows that we may underestimate risk, or overestimate viability, if we do not recognise that some individuals contribute a lot more to the population and their loss will have a much bigger impact.”

Lead author on the work, Dr Nick Harvey Sky said: “This study shows that poaching has effects on rhinos beyond the death of targeted individuals. The deaths of healthy females that would have gone on to produce lots of calves can make whole populations more vulnerable to extinction.”

Estimating the extinction risk faced by different populations is vital for conservation. This can be affected by differences in breeding success between individual females (called reproductive skew), but reproductive skew is not often included in predictions of future population growth because it requires detailed individual breeding histories.

This information is available for the Critically Endangered eastern black rhino because of intensive monitoring to protect them from poaching. The University of Manchester has collaborated closely with Kenyan rhino managers, scientists and security teams who have meticulously recorded births and deaths for decades. Across three Kenyan populations of black rhinos on Lew Wildlife Conservancy, Ol Pejeta Conservancy and Ol Jogi Wildlife Conservancy, the researchers found that there is significant variation in breeding success between females, with many females not breeding or doing so very slowly.

Dr John Jackson, Post-doctoral researcher at the University of Oxford said: “For me, our study really highlights a deadly combination of small populations, individual differences, and poaching for vulnerable populations. When working in combination, these factors can completely reshape the fate of an endangered species.”

Crucially, variation in female breeding success can exacerbate the effects of poaching, especially on small populations. If key individuals, ones that breed very well, are killed then it can make the whole population more vulnerable to extinction. This highlights how important it is to protect rhinos from poaching. It may be possible to even out the variation in breeding success by creating new rhino reserves, moving rhinos between current reserves, or even creating more valuable habitat, but the causes of reproductive skew must first be identified. Differences between individuals in their contribution of young to at risk populations is likely an issue across many more species and should be evaluated when assessing their risk of extinction.

The team recreated the exact conditions the critically endangered Variable Harlequin Toad - that lives in Panama in Central America- enjoy in the wild to achieve the success.

The breeding –the first outside Panama - is the culmination of 3 years of painstaking work since the 6 precious toad specimens – also known as Atelopus varius - arrived at the Museum in 2018 from the Central American country.

It is collaboration between Panama Wildlife Charity PWCC, 91ֱ�� Museum, and the Faculty of Medicine, Biology and Heath at The University of Manchester.

The work with the critically endangered toads are a key part of a project which combines non-invasive research and conservation education involving local communities in the Santa Fe National Park in Panama.

The 91ֱ�� Museum’s Vivarium team, who are world renowned experts in amphibian husbandry, mimicked the turbulent tropical stream with boulders and rocks, where the toad lays its eggs.

They monitored their amphibians’ native habitat closely to gain baseline data so they could recreate the correct temperatures, water levels, flow, and lighting.

The special lighting allowed a specific species of tropical algae to grow in the museum’s aquarium, a key condition for successfully rearing of the tadpoles

Curator of Herpetology at the museum, Andrew Gray explained: “These rare toads usually live deep in the rainforest and only go to the streams to breed under very specific conditions, so it was vital we were able to recreate them.

“Tropical algae are the only things these tadpoles eat off submerged rocks, because they have specialised, sucker-like mouthparts. So it was essential we were able to grow it in the aquarium.

“The adults can stay underwater for very long periods before breeding and were in the aquarium for over a month.

“We were very nervous about putting them in such deep water but they walked along the bottom just like they were walking on land; it was unbelievable.”

The museum was invited by the Panamanian authorities to keep and breed the toads to highlight their conservation needs and provide a back-up population in case they become extinct.

He added: “The University is the only institution outside Panama to house these toads; it’s a huge responsibility the team do not take lightly. So we’re over the moon we’ve achieved the first captive breeding of this remarkable species.

“Our success heralds the next chapter for more innovative amphibian conservation work.”

Professor Amanda Bamford from The University of Manchester worked with the team in Panama.

She said: “This is a fabulous project, especially as Atelopus toads are one of the most highly endangered groups of amphibians on the planet.

“I’m particularly proud of our collaboration with our Panamanian conservationist colleagues, which involves training local people as co-researchers and providing educational resources to local schoolchildren in the area.

“I feel this project uniquely involves research, education and community involvement and is a beacon for such conservation initiatives.”

Dr Luis Urena, Director of PWCC said: "Looking after our global biodiversity must be a top priority for all citizens in this world. We are proud to use the conservation of the Harlequin toad of Panama as an example of the positive difference we can make"

Thousands of years ago, the inhabitants of modern-day Florida and the Caribbean feasted on sea turtles, leaving behind bones that tell tales of ancient diets and the ocean’s past.

Now, an international team of scientists led by the University of Manchester has used cutting-edge analytical technology to analyze ancient proteins from these bones to help identify which turtle species people fished from the ocean millennia ago. This can aid modern conservation efforts by helping construct historical baselines for turtle populations, many of which are now endangered, and illuminate long-term trends of human impacts.

The technique, known as collagen fingerprinting, allows scientists to visualize distinct chemical signatures in collagen, the main structural protein in bone, that are often species-specific. This provides a complementary alternative to comparing specimens’ physical characteristics and analysing ancient DNA, two methods that can be unsuccessful for species identification in fragmented archaeological bones found in the tropics.

Applying collagen fingerprinting to more than 100 turtle samples from archaeological sites up to 2,500 years old, the researchers found that 63% of the collagen-containing bones belonged to green turtles, Chelonia mydas, with smaller numbers of hawksbill turtles, Eretmochelys imbricata, and ridley turtles, Lepidochelys species. Some specimens previously identified as sea turtles from their skeletal features were in fact bones from snapping turtles, terrapins and tortoises.

“This is the first time anyone has obtained species-level information using proteins preserved in archaeological sea turtle bone,” said Virginia Harvey, the study’s lead author and a doctoral researcher in marine biology and zooarchaeology at the University of Manchester. “Our method has allowed us to unlock ancient data otherwise lost in time to see which species of turtle humans were targeting thousands of years ago in the Caribbean and Florida regions.”

Globally, sea turtles have been exploited for millennia for their meat, eggs, shells and other products. Today they face threats from habitat loss or disturbance, poaching, pollution, climate change and fisheries. Only seven species of sea turtle remain, six of which are classified

as vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered. Gaining a historical perspective on how turtle populations have changed through time is a crucial component of conserving them today, said Harvey.

One of the research team’s initial goals was to discern whether any collagen still survived in the bone remains. In an analysis of 130 archaeological turtle samples, the team was able to detect collagen in 88%.

“We were very impressed with the levels of protein preservation in the turtle bones, some of which are thought to be up to 2,500 years old,” said study co-author Michelle LeFebvre, assistant curator of South Florida archaeology and ethnography at the Florida Museum of Natural History. “The fact we were then able to use the protein signatures for species identification to better understand these archaeological sites was very exciting.”

The team uncovered an unusual chemical signature in a small number of bone samples that could suggest they belong to a different species than those present in our oceans today. But when the researchers attempted ancient DNA analysis on them, they found the material was too degraded.

“Where DNA sequencing can often give more accurate information about species identity, this molecule is very fragile and does not always survive too well in ancient samples from hot, humid climates,” said study co-author Konstantina Drosou, ancient DNA specialist at the University of Manchester.

In contrast, proteins are present in much higher concentrations and therefore more likely to survive in the archaeological record, Drosou adds.

“Proteins are very sturdy molecules,” Harvey continues. “The absence of preserved DNA in these samples means we have not been able to verify whether they represent a new species of sea turtle or not, but it does show us that our work here is far from complete. There is so much that we can still learn from the turtle remains at these sites and beyond.”

Using collagen fingerprinting to correct misidentifications based on physical characteristics was “a nice additional outcome of the study,” said Michael Buckley, senior author and senior research fellow at the University of Manchester.

Susan deFrance, study co-author and professor in the University of Florida department of anthropology, said juvenile sea turtles are often misidentified because they are small and may lack the characteristics used to distinguish adult sea turtle bones.

“This is the first time we have been able to look so specifically into the preferred food choices of the site occupants,” she said. “At the Florida Gulf coast site, they captured a lot of juvenile turtles. The positive species-level identifications of these samples could not have been accomplished without this collagen fingerprinting technology.”

From the same site along Florida’s Gulf Coast, the researchers found green turtle remains in both refuse heaps and mounds, but ridley turtle specimens were only found in mounds, suggesting that they may have been reserved for feasting rituals, said LeFebvre.

“We knew these ancient people were eating sea turtles, but now we can begin to hone in on which turtles they were eating at particular times,” she said. “It’s no different than today—we associate certain foods with certain events. It’s how humans roll.”

The researchers are also eager to continue to apply collagen fingerprinting to further archaeological museum specimens, many of which have yet to be positively identified to species level.

Harvey said she hopes the study inspires further research on sea turtles and other vulnerable and endangered animals.

“Now that this method is available, we hope that biologists, archaeologists and conservationists globally will continue this important work.”

The researchers  their findings in Royal Society Open Science.

Casper Toftgaard of the University of Copenhagen and Andrew Kitchener of National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh also co-authored the study.

Funding for the research came from the University of Manchester and the Royal Society.

University of Manchester scientists are at the forefront of the fight to protect cold water fish from the effects of crude oil spills from offshore oil rigs.

Dr Holly Shiels and PhD student Martins Ainerua are working off the coast of Norway with Dr Elin Sørhus of the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research to understand how the oil impacts on hearts of cod and halibut.

As the heart is the first organ to develop in fish larvae its good heath is crucial for survival of the animals into adulthood, say the team.

Two projects – known as ‘Eggtox’ - and ‘PW(produced water)exposed’, could provide vital information for oil companies who want to construct rigs in parts of the North Sea which are known to be key spawning grounds for these important fisheries.

The team also hope to understand the mechanisms of crude oil toxicity on the electrical and contractile properties of the fish heart.

They have been working in the electrophysiology lab at Austevoll station on the South West coast of Norway, investigating how various oil components affect the electrical activity of the juvenile cod and halibut hearts.

Dr Shiels said: “We know from disastrous crude oil spills like DeepWater Horizon, that components of oil negatively affects hearts of larval and juvenile fish.

"But it is possible the Produced Water used in oil drilling – which is released even in the absence of a spill - may impact fish stocks.

“And this is especially a worry in areas where drilling occurs in spawning grounds as the eggs and tiny larvae are unprotected.

“That is why are studying the impact of a single component of crude oil on the heart, and two of its metabolic derivatives.

“This is important work. A thorough understanding of cardiotoxicity will improve ecological risk assessments and environmental health monitoring.”