This Little Marsupial Was Almost Extinct But Recovered Totally During Australian Mega Drought

This Little Marsupial Was Almost Extinct But Recovered Totally During Australian Mega Drought

This Little Marsupial Was Almost Extinct But Recovered Totally During Australian Mega Drought The ampurta, or crest-tailed mulgara – credit, Bobby Tamayo, Simpson Desert, Queensland CC 4.0. For an Australian marsupial facing extinction on a continent-wide scale, the news of an oncoming drought back in 2001 probably felt like the coming of the end times. But in a surprising break from the narrative, the ampurta ( Dasycercus hillieri ) a rat-sized predatory marsupial that was listed as Endangered in 1999, thrived through the lean times when other animals could not. We often read narratives that climate change will increase the rate of species extinctions because of intensifying weather patterns, but scientists studying the ampurta in Australia offer another narrative. “Despite unprecedented and prolonged drought during the study period, ampurtas increased their known range by >48,000 km2, an area larger than Denmark, even extending into areas where their status was ‘presumed extinct,'” …