National Geographic Museum Blog

Palos Verdes Blue Butterfly – approximately 4,300
Glaucopsyche lygdamus palosverdesensis
Maguire Center, Gainesville, Florida
In 1982, bulldozers cleared a meadow southwest of Los Angeles, destroying the last known homestead of these butterflies. Eight years later, a small population was discovered in San Pedro. A captive breeding program, led by a UCLA entomologist, saved this species from the brink. An estimated 4,000 of these butterflies live in captivity, 300 in the wild.

Yellowfin Madtom – approximately 8,300

Noturus flavipinnis

Conservation Fisheries, Knoxville, Tennessee

A small catfish confined to the Tennessee River Valley, the yellowfin madtom for eons laid its eggs under rocks. Along came farmers and cows, their activity filling the rivers with silt. Gone were the nooks and crannies the madtom needed to reproduce. Survivors carry their genes into a murky future.

Hawaiian Goose (Nēnē) – approximately 2,050
Branta sandvicensis
Great Plains Zoo, Sioux Falls, South Dakota

To protect this native Hawaiian bird from hunters and introduced predators, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has put breeding geese in pens, restored native plant foods, and closed some areas to visitors. These safe havens may give the nēnē, Hawaii’s state bird, a fighting chance.

American Burying Beetle – less than or equal to 25,000

Nicrophorus americanus

St. Louis Zoo, St. Louis, Missouri

American burying beetles like dark, undisturbed areas rich in carrion. Nature’s undertakers, they bury small dead animals to feed their young. After digging a hole beneath an animal, they strip it of fur or feathers and apply secretions to retard decay. The female beetle then lays eggs in a chamber above the carcass. Their range is down from 35 states to 9.

Can’t get enough of RARE and endangered species? Come meet the photographer, Joel Sartore, tomorrow at National Geographic’s headquarters in D.C.! On April 20, Sartore will be signing books in the store at noon and giving a lecture at 7:30pm.

http://events.nationalgeographic.com/events/speakers/2010/04/20/americas-endangered-species/

Fringed Campion – less than or equal to 10,700

Silene polypetala

Athens, Georgia

“The species is truly, truly rare,” observes U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Peter Pattavina. Found only in mature hardwood forests of Georgia and Florida, this floral relict of the Ice Age has been under pressure from clear-cutting—for cotton plantations in the 19th century and pine plantations today.

How could you not love this great post about George the Bluebird visiting the National Geographic Museum?

California Tiger Salamander – unknown

Ambystoma californiense

Fresno Chaffee Zoo, Fresno, California

This salamander lives underground, appropriating holes created by other animals, and emerging to breed in pools formed during spring rains. Its range is limited to the grassy foothills of central California, where efforts are underway to protect certain plots of land known to provide safe habitat for these elusive creatures.

Clue # 1: This creature was only known by fossil record until 1972 when live specimens were found.

Clue #2: This creature only lives in conditions that mimic chilly Pleistocene temperatures of 15° to 50°F (and no its not a fish!)

Tune in tonight to watch the Ace of Cakes make a Terra Cotta Warrior cake!!

Episode summary:

Charm City Cakes practices its foreign language skills as the decorators take on two formidable historic figures… a Terra Cotta warrior from China and a huge replica of Russia’s St. Basil’s Cathedral. The Cathedral delivery comes down to the wire and there seems to be a lot of smack talk about eye gouging going around.

For more information check out: http://www.charmcitycakes.com/ and http://www.foodnetwork.com/ace-of-cakes/index.html