‘Generally ignored’ species face twice the extinction threat, warns study

A new species of glass frog, Hyalinobatrachium mashpi, discovered earlier this year. Ten glass frog species are critically endangered, 28 are endangered, and 21 are vulnerable to extinction. Photograph: Lucas Bustamante/Ecuador Ministry of the Environment

Plants and animals that do not have enough data to be properly assessed appear to be at twice the risk of extinction as those that have been evaluated, meaning more species may face being wiped off the planet than previously thought, a study has warned.

Researchers looked at the extinction risk of species assessed on the red list of endangered species and found that 56% of species in the data deficient (DD) category were threatened, compared with 28% of those that had been assessed.