Plague Week

Hey folks, welcome to my normal Monday morning link recap. 

Last Monday, as you probably recall, was Memorial Day. As that somber holiday approached, I began to wonder if any species had been driven extinct by war. The answer, it turned out, was yes. That resulted in this article for Scientific American:

Memorializing the Wake Island Rail: An Extinction Caused by War

This week's news stories (for SciAm and TakePart) also brought two tales of species laid low by horrible, unknown diseases. You may recall that I've written about similar saiga antelope deaths almost every year since 2010, but they all pale in comparison to what's going on right now.

Mysterious Disease Threatens Australian Turtle with Immediate Extinction

Half the Population of a Critically Endangered Antelope Has Died in Just a Few Weeks


Finally, here's one more article for TakePart. It has what could be my favorite headline of May:

Poachers in Africa Have a New Enemy: Math


That's it for now. Expect lots more this coming week. I know this week's articles will cover at least one more turtle species. Beyond that, we'll all have to wait and see!