Endemic Species of Mexico

Endemic species are those creatures, birds, plants etc that are only found in one place in the wild. By their very nature, they are endangered. If there is only a population in one place, then something negatively effecting that habitat is going to threaten them with extinction. From volcanic bunnies to rare giant frogs, megadiverse Mexico has thousands of endemic species. Let us examine just a few.

Cozumel Thrasher

The Cozumel Thrasher is a mockingbird that lives only on the Island of Cozumel, off the Yucatán Peninsula. It is the most critically endangered bird in Mexico, as its population levels have dropped dangerously.

It's not alone in that status on the island. This is the sole habitat of several other birds and mammals, all of which are protected, as humanity tries to hold back the tide of extinction for them.

The Thrasher is special though, in that it's already been extinct and come back. Well, not quite. It was assumed to be gone from the world and was thus registered. Then, in 2004, someone spotted one in Cozumel and there has been a scramble to save it ever since.

Some think that it's already too late, as there has not been a reliable sighting of Cozumel Thrasher since 2008. If you're on the island, please keep your eyes peeled. There will be a lot of relieved ornithologists, if you find it.

Flat-headed Myotis

The bat is one of the smallest in the world. It weighs about the same as two peanuts held in your hand. It's also one of the rarest creatures to spot, even in its natural habitat in a valley in Coahuila. It was first seen in 1952, then not again until 1966, when there were two separate sightings. Then nothing. By 1996, it was declared extinct.

A team from the Program for the Conservation of Bats of Mexico weren't happy with this designation, so set out to try and find the miniature bat. That was in 1997. In 2006, they finally found eleven of them, in Los Pinos, Coahuila. You can read all about it in their article: 'The Flat-Headed Myotis is Alive & Well: 'Extinct' bat is rediscovered in northern Mexico'.

Great Peeping Frog

The Great Peeping Frog, aka Rana-fisgona Labios Blancos, is only found in the Zonas del Pedregal de San Ángel, just south of Mexico City. Its natural habitat is sub-tropical or tropical dry shrubland, thus it loves the lava fields of Volcán Xitle.

The problem for this frog was that it lives so close to Mexico's capital city. As the city expanded, it ate up more and more of its habitat, right up until the point when someone realised it was going to become extinct. Pedregal de San Ángel has now been made a nature reserve, with the Great Peeping Frog under the 'special protection' registration of the Mexican government.

Nevertheless, there are no natural corridors into the outside world and the population of these mighty frogs has dangerously decreased. Survey work is currently underway to determine how many are left and if they are going to survive as a species.

Guadalupe Fur Seal

You used to be able to find the fur seal all up the Pacific coast, from Mexico to Canada. However, their skin is so soft, dense, waterproof and lovely, who wouldn't want to make clothes out of it? As a result, they had been hunted out of existance, in the USA, by 1825. Now they can only be found on and around Mexico's Guadalupe Island, off the coast of Baja California.

Commercial hunting stopped, in Mexico, in 1894, when just seven remained. The Guadalupe Fur Seal population has now grown to approximately 10,000, so their status has been altered to 'near threatened', as opposed to practically extinct. They remain listed as 'endangered' in the USA though. Guadalupe Island has been declared a seal sanctuary.

There was a bit of drama concerning one recently. A stray young male Guadalupe Fur Seal washed up on Torrey Pines State Beach, in the USA, in a terrible condition. He was starving and suffering from both hypoglycemia and hypothermia. He was taken to SeaWorld, in San Diego, where he was nursed back to full health. Nicknamed Buddy, the seal was then returned to the Pacific Ocean. As he was fitted with a tracking device, it is known that he immediately headed home and appears to be going strong. (Guadalupe Fur Seal Released Into the Ocean.)

Mexican Prairie Dog

Southern Coahuila and northern San Luis Potosi are the only places where the Mexican Prairie Dog might be found. However, they are another species which has made it onto the 'endangered' register. This time it is because they have been historically considered to be agricultural pests. Therefore ferrets kept being sent down their 'towns' (subterranean habitat of the prairie dogs) to kill them.

The 'towns' generally have a funnel-like entrance, leading into a sloping passageway up to 100ft underground. Leading off this tunnel are little rooms, all dug out by the prairie dogs. Inside them, the prairie dogs sleep and store grasses, herbs and other tasty items of food.

Since 1994, the prairie dogs, now living in less than 4% of their original habitat, have been listed as 'endangered'. Two organizations, Pronatura Noreste and Profauna, have taken it upon themselves to save them. They have been highly successful in securing the protection of 42,000 acres (170 km²) of grasslands for the prairie dogs. This involved getting a lot of signatures from private land owners and those using communal areas. It is hoped that the initiative will see the survival of these creatures.

Querétaro Pocket Gopher

In the north-eastern corner of Querétaro state, there is the Sierra del Doctor. Nestled deep in this remote, tiny mountain range is the Querétaro Pocket Gopher.

Very little is known about this small mammal. It lives underground and it is noctural. But there are so few of them, in such a remote location, that most research relies on hearsay. The locals know all about them. They see the evidence in mounds of earth, under which the pocket gophers have been burrowing.

For many farmers, they are incorrectly seen as pests, despite the fact that there is some evidence that the pocket gophers are responsible for the richness of the soil up there. All that digging has the effect of aerating it, while their droppings fertilize the it, deep underground.

San José Island Kangaroo Rat

As the name suggests, the San José Island Kangaroo Rat can only be found on San José Island, off the coast of Baja California, where it is steadily being eaten out of existence by feral cats. There are very few adults left now and they all live in very close proximity. These rats are, therefore, listed as Critically Endangered.

In addition to the feral cat problem, there's also the habitat destruction by wild goats and human development. The Mexican government, fearful of an actual extinction here, have stepped in to protect the immediate vicinity of the rats' home. They live in open grasslands, close to a sandy beach.

For the record, kangaroo rats aren't related to the marsupial. But they do tend to hop, instead of the scurrying of an average rat, hence the name.

Tres Marias Raccoon

It is thought that the ancestors of the Tres Marias Raccoon was just the same as any other common Mexican raccoon. But sometime in the past, the raccoons got trapped or taken to an archipelago, just off the coast of Nayarit. The Islas Marias became their home and, without contact with the mainland, the Tres Marias Raccoon evolved into an entirely different family.

This raccoon is quite large, compared to its mainland cousins, with an angular skull also setting it apart. Scientists are still arguing over whether it is a separate species or simply an interbred stray family. No conservation efforts are currently in practise.

Unfortunately, it's on the brink of extinction, having been listed as 'endangered'. Only 250 known adults survive on two of the three islands; while they've disappeared completely from Isla María Magdalena. The largest number exist on Isla María Madre, where the islanders are still killing them as pests.

Volcano Rabbit

Stand in Mexico City and look to the horizon. There are three large volcanos (not all are active), upon the slopes of which live the world's rarest bunny. The Volcano Rabbit loves the warm soil. In particular, it loves the leaves that grow on zacatón grasses, which only grow where there is thermal heating.

They live at an altitude of 9,186-13,943ft (2800-4250 meters), in an area of dense pine forest. They congregate in families of just two to five and emerge at dawn or dusk. The rest of the time, they are deep underground in their warrens.

The Volcano Rabbit is endangered, though, surprisingly, that has nothing to do with lava. The zacatón grass has been over-grazed, because natural corridors to other areas have been cut off by human development. In addition, the rabbit has been used for target practice. There are now laws in place to stop both things happening again.

Yucatán Wren

The Yucatán wren is only found on the northern strip of the Yucatán Peninsula. This is an area of dense mangrove shrubbery, right on the Caribbean coast, which is a perfect habitat for them.

It is always dangerous, in terms of the survival of a species, to live in just one locality. The poor Yucatán wren had the misfortune to choose an area just north of Cancún for its home. As the demand grows for holiday accommodation, and homes for those serving tourists in all of the attractions, the borders of Cancún have crept ever northwards. Its now encroaching upon Yucatán wren territory.

Things aren't critical yet. The wren is listed as 'near threatened' and planners have been quick to react to conservation concerns. Ría Celestún, San Felipe and Río Lagartos are all designated national parks, where the Yucatán wren can live in protection.

Pancho Villa: The Mexican Revolution

It is 1910 and the call goes out. Francisco I. Madero was rising an army and leading it against Mexico's long-term ruler, Porfirio Díaz. Madero was himself a wealthy landowner, one of the very class which benefitted so well under the president, but he was a idealist too. He could see that Mexico couldn't go on like this and his rhetoric espoused change.

He tried to run against the president, legally, in an election, but was jailed. Madero's supporters spoke out. Díaz was a dictator. The people were suffering in poverty. If he wouldn't leave office then there was only one course of action. Revolution! Revolution! Revolution!


The Revolutionaries by David Alfaro Siqueiros
This wasn't the first uprising in Mexico. Before Díaz had become president, the jostling for power had been incessant. But it was the first serious challenge to him in a generation; and the ordinary people had not risen up in such numbers since the War of Independence. After thirty years of dispossession and fear of the police, they had had enough.

Up in the mountains of Chihuahua, another man, adept at reading the way the wind blew, watched the stirrings of revolution with interest. Francisco Villa had progressed through the ranks of Durango banditry and crossed the border into Chihuahua.

At 32 years old, he had become something of a folk hero. Stealing from the rich and giving to the poor, in the best traditions of Robin Hood; he was viewed widely as less of a bandit and more a force for justice and the fair redistribution of wealth. While the poor put in all of the hard work, the landowners took all of the benefits. Francisco Villa's gang were simply redressing the odds.

From Durango to Chihuahua, he was known fondly by a pet name for Francisco: Pancho. He couldn't starve. The poor fed him. If he rode through, then the pursuing police would find that no-one had seen a thing. He wasn't a blood-thirsty criminal, he was their Pancho. They loved him and they trusted him.

Thus, in these states, the Revolution wasn't particularly real, until the moment when Pancho Villa came down from the mountains and declared his intention to raise his own army in support of Madero. Then, and only then, did people in the haciendas put down their tools en masse. The División del Norte (Northern Division) of the Revolutionary Army was formed.


It should be noted that Villa wasn't just influential in Northern Mexico. Over the border, in the USA, he was also largely viewed as one of the good guys. When he raised his own revolutionary army, many Americans took up their arms and raced to join him. There were so many, in fact, that Villa created a whole American squadron under the command of Capt. Tracey Richardson.

The rest of his vast army was largely made up of poverty-striken Mexican labourers. They were armed by sympathetic citizens of the USA or else they created their own weapons. Homemade cannons, guns and bayonets flooded into the battlefield. It wasn't just the men out there. Women and children also took up arms in their own defense. The surgency, under Villa, swept the board. Madero's army accepted them into their ranks gladly, though, in many ways, they had no choice in the matter!


Click images for a larger view.


Fighting broke out throughout Mexico, though Villa's activities were restricted to the north. This fell quickly. Mexcali and Chihuahua City were soon in rebel hands. Then Pancho Villa's troops joined with Pascual Orozco's army to take Ciudad Juárez. This was significant. It meant that a city, bordering the USA, was now out of Díaz's control. Weaponry, from Mexico's northern neighbour, could flood unchecked into the country and provide the rebel army with even greater fire-power.

Moreover, Madero had escaped from prison and he was hiding in Texas. The taking of Ciudad Juárez, which borders the Texan city of El Paso, allowed Madero to just step back into Mexico and appeal directly to the Mexico people and their president.

Díaz was worried. Any fighting, in places like Ciudad Juárez, drew the risk of stray artillery injuring or killing Americans in El Paso. That might be all the excuse that the government of the USA needed to declare open war. The territorial desires of the USA had a strong precedent. During the past few decades, they had already taken northern California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, New Mexico and Colorado. It wasn't a huge stretch of the imagination to consider the loss of Baja California, Sonara, Chihuahua and Coahuila too.

Díaz did not want to be remembered as the president who had further lost parts of Mexico. He agreed to meet with Madero and sign a peace treaty. The Treaty of Ciudad Juárez was signed on May 21, 1911. Under the terms of it, Díaz was to step down and install Francisco León de la Barra as an interim president, until proper elections could be held. Díaz did just that, then fled to France. He was never to return to Mexico again.


Revolutionary leaders, including Pancho Villa, after the signing of the Treaty of Ciudad Juárez
However, commentators at the time noted that, in the Treaty, Madero had not pressed for any of the reforms that had fuelled the ideology of this revolution. Where were the terms of 'free suffrage and no re-election'? Where were the land laws, which protected against just 5% of Mexicans lording it over the other 95%? In fact, the whole government was left intact, with just a new figurehead.

Some just assumed that Madero would change things once he was in power. They shook their heads over the fact that he didn't just assume control now, but that was all. It became academic shortly afterwards, when an election was held and Madero won a landslide victory. The revolution had been a success. Díaz was out and the self-proclaimed champion of the poor was in. Madero was president and the war was over. Hurrah!




Pancho Villa had taken Ciudad Juárez with Pascual Orozco, but he didn't like the man. Something about him just rubbed Villa up the wrong way. With the onset of peace and the installation of Madero as president, Villa resigned his command as general. This doesn't mean that he lost his army. The people were there for him, not some distant politician. They might have largely returned to their homes, but Villa was still their general. He only had to give the call and they would rise again.

Fortunately, despite some unsettling signs, that didn't appear imminently necessary. Pancho Villa declared his intention to lead a quiet life. He would retire to the mountains, perhaps buy a hacienda of his own. In the meantime, he would make an honest woman of his girlfriend, Maria Luz Corral. They married, in Chihuahua, on May 29, 1911.


Pancho Villa and Maria Luz Corral.
They thought it was all over, but the Mexican Revolution had only just begun.

72 Million Year Old Dinosaur Bonanza Found in Mexico

72 million years ago, the desert of Coahuila looked very different. For a start, it wasn't a desert. This was the late Cretaceous period when, to the north, a vast, inland sea covered most of the south and western states of the present day USA. Coahuila sat at the southern plains of this sea. It was a huge, swampy estuary, covered in lush vegetation. It was here that the dinosaurs came to drink and feed; and some left traces that are only now coming to light.


Tyrannosaurus Rex
This was the hunting ground of Tyrannosaurus Rex, but that infamous species of dinosaur certainly wasn't alone out there. The remains of Coahuilaceratops Magnacuerna, a dinosaur named after the state, were discovered last year here. That was just the beginning, for it seems that this area is a treasure trove of pre-historic remains, on a par to those in Wyoming or Utah. Moreover, paleontologists have only just begun to scratch the surface.

Earlier this week, it was revealed that 207 dinosaur footprints have been found so far in Coahuila. These lay alongside fragments of vertebrae and long bones, belonging to a selection of creatures, who died there 72 million years ago. They are so recently uncovered, that they haven't yet been fully identified and classified. However, they are likely to include the Hadrosauridae, Ornitomimidae and Tyrannosaurus families.


Hadrosauridae


Ornitomimidae
The discoveries have been made over three sites, covering 5,000 sq. meters (53,750 sq. feet, in Coahuila. The largest was within the city of General Cepeda. Paleontologists have sealed off an area of Las Aguilas, which is where the footprints were found. It will eventually be open to the public, once the experts have done their jobs.

INAH-Coahuila Center paleontologist Felisa Aguilar explained, "Those places are still hidden under vegetation and won’t be opened to the public until they are registered so that their future conservation can be guaranteed."

Other remains, in the same area, have been dated to the Pleistocene, which makes them a mere 2.5 million years to 10,000 years old.

New Species of Dinosaurs Found in Mexico

For amateur and professional dinosaur-hunters alike, Mexico is the new frontier of exploration.   For centuries, paleontologists have combed areas in America and Canada looking for dinosaurs; but few people have been doing the same south of the border.   Now that they have begun, they are uncovering prehistoric treasures, set to revolutionize our understanding of the world so long ago.

In May 2010, it was announced that three new species of dinosaurs had been discovered.   Their fossilized remains were found in the Mexican state of Coahuila, by a team working under the auspices of the University of Utah.   The most exciting of these, Coahuilaceratops magnacuerna, was named after the state.   It has the longest horns of any dinosaur ever uncovered.


Artists impression courtesy of the University of Utah

Coahuilaceratops magnacuerna (pron. Koh-WHE-lah-SARA-tops mag-NAH-KWER-na) is a relative of its more famous cousin, Triceratops.   The name breaks down as Coahuila (Mexican state, where it was found); ceratops (Greek word meaning 'horned face'); magna (Latin for big/great); and cuerna (Spanish word for horn).  So it's the great horned, horn-face from Coahuila.   Once you realise that the horns stretched out 4ft (1.2 meters), you can understand the emphasis on said appendages.

This dinosaur lived around 72 million years ago.   It was about the size of a modern-day rhinoceros, but it weighed 4-5 tonnes.   Though it could certainly hold its own in a fight, Coahuilaceratops magnacuerna was a vegetarian.   His fossilized remains were found near to the village of Porvenir de Jalpa, near Saltillo, by a team which included Mexican, American and Canadian paleontologists.   The specimens have been deposited in a permanent exhibition, at the Museo del Desierto (Museum of the Desert), in Saltillo. The skull of the Coahuilaceratops magnacuerna will be revealed to the public, at the same museum, later in the year.

For those wishing to gain the fine detail, then a book was published last month which covers these findings. 'New Perspectives on Horned Dinosaurs' by Michael Ryan (Indiana University Press) announced the unearthing of Coahuilaceratops magnacuerna.

Paleontology is so under-developed in Mexico that Coahuilaceratops magnacuerna is only the fourth Mexican dinosaur ever named.   It wasn't discovered alone.  There were also the remains of a duck-billed creature, which has yet to be properly classified.   There were also members of the tyrannosaurus family, though not the infamous rex, as well as smaller relatives of the velociraptor.   The team also identified a dinosaur trackway, with many species of both carnivores and herbivores criss-crossing it, then leaving their remains for modern hunters to find.


In the Late Cretaceous Period (97 million to 65 million years ago), the world looked very different.   Central America had yet to form.   This made Mexico the southernmost tip of the Northern Americas.   In addition to this, high water levels had made a sea of the central, low-lying areas of the USA, Mexico and Canada.   The whole continent was split, with eastern and western landmasses huddling around this warm, shallow sea.   The western side was fairly narrow.  Dinosaurs lived and died on a peninsula sandwiched between the sea and the rising mountains to the west.   This peninsula has been named Laramidia; and it is the prospect of learning about this area that has scientists so excited.

"We know very little about the dinosaurs of Mexico, and this find increases immeasurably our knowledge of the dinosaurs living in Mexico during the Late Cretaceous," said Mark Loewen, a paleontologist with the Utah Museum of Natural History.  "Rather than focusing only on individual varieties of dinosaurs, we are attempting to reveal what life was like in Mexico 72 million years ago, and understand how the unique ecosystem of Mexico relates to ecosystems to the north at the time."

His colleague, Scott Sampson, added, "As the southernmost dinosaurs on Laramidia, we are confident that Mexican dinosaurs will be a critical element in unraveling the ancient mystery of this island continent."

If you are interested in dinosaurs, then Mexico is certainly the place to be watching in coming years.   For those wishing to make their name in paleontology, then heading to our beautiful country with a trowel and some brushes could well be the way forward.   Good luck!