Which primates are most at risk of extinction and why?

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2024-10-02 09:01

International

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International scientists used a statistical approach to investigate the factors that make primates vulnerable to extinction by looking at 22,705 geographical locations across four different areas of the globe that primates call home - the neotropics - encompassing Central America, the Caribbean, and South America - mainland Africa, Madagascar and Asia. The picture was not uniform across all the regions they studied. For example, unpredictable rainfall appeared to increase extinction risk in the neotropics, but decreased it in Africa and Madagascar. However, they found that, overall, climate change and forest loss are the biggest threats across all regions, with larger primates more at risk of dying out than smaller ones. The findings underscore the urgent need for climate change mitigation, forest conservation, and stronger protections for large primates to prevent species loss, the authors conclude.

Media release

From: The Royal Society

Primate change - Global primary predictors of extinction risk in primates

We analyzed over 22,000 primate locations across four major regions (Neotropics, Mainland Africa, Madagascar, and Asia) to identify key factors influencing primate extinction risk. Using a novel spatio-phylogenetic Bayesian approach, we found that climate instability, forest loss, and body mass significantly impact primate extinction risk. For example, unstable precipitation increases extinction risk in the Neotropics but decreases it in Africa and Madagascar. Larger body mass and reduced forest cover are generally critical threats to primates. The study underscores the urgent need for climate change mitigation, forest conservation, and stronger protections for large primates to prevent species loss.

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Journal/
conference: Proceedings of the Royal Society B

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Carleton University, Canada

Funder: No funding was received for this article.

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