A rapid koala rebound in southeastern Australia is also boosting their genetic variation, showing one way out of an extinction death spiral.
After nearly disappearing from the region over a century ago, the marsupials’ recovery has come with increased reshuffling of genes, enhancing their long-term chances of adaptation and survival. The findings, published March 5 in Science, provides hope for species starting over.
By the early 1900s in the Australian state of Victoria, the number of koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) had fallen to as few as 500 individuals due to pressure from the fur trade. To protect the larger Victorian population, people moved handfuls of them to nearby islands. The