The Friends of Charles Darwin

Scientists have examined the genes of "whale lice" to track whale evolution. The small parasitic crustaceans were taken off right whales, which have been driven to the brink of extinction in some waters by commercial hunting. The genetics of the lice reveal their hosts split into three species 5-6 million years ago, and these were all equally abundant before whaling began.

The term "endangered species" typically conjures up images of charismatic animals—tigers, pandas, orangutans, whales, condors. But a new study says that the vast majority of species on the verge of extinction is in fact humble insects. The study estimates that up to 44,000 bugs of all varieties could have been wiped off the face of the Earth during the last 600 years. And hundreds of thousands more insect species could be lost over the next 50 years.