Saving the world's rarest marine mammal

In this episode, we’re delving into the topic of extinction.
We'll be finding out about some of the animals who are critically
endangered, meeting the people trying to rescue them, and
exploring species who may be able to make miraculous comebacks.


Perhaps one of the most endangered species is the vaquita, a
small sea mammal with a population of less than 20. We hear from
some extraordinary people weathering threats and tragedies in an
attempt to bring these ‘pandas of the ocean’ back from the
brink. 


According to US Department of Agriculture researcher, Dr Samuel
Ramsey, every discovery is built upon a discovery that came
before it. Yet some of those discoveries can be found in the most
unexpected of places. For Samuel, understanding his father’s
health issues provided the key to discovering why honeybee
populations are on the decrease.


And to finish, we’re asking one of the biggest questions in
paleontology: how did birds evolve from dinosaurs? To help us
explore this topic, we’ve got the help of Jingmai O’Connor whose
work in China has helped shed light on the distant link between
the extinct dinosaur and ballooning bird populations.


Thank you for listening to another series of the BBC
Earth podcast.


As ever, we love hearing from you on social media, so do
share with us your favourite episode so far or a story that
amazed, surprised or moved you…


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