There are at least 260 species of reef-building coral and 70 species of sponges, plus dugong (a manatee cousin), sharks, manta rays, and about 14 species of whale, dolphin, and sea turtles.

FORBES: On The Tail Of The Komodo Dragon In Indonesia

Although there is no early prospect of a global shortage of any of the earth's resources, a larger population does change the earth and its environment, removing forests, cultivating land or building on it, and driving out other species, and that is itself a cause for legitimate concern.

ECONOMIST: A Survey of the 20th Century

"It will be replaced with a tree of a different species and we are confident that the building will be completed by the summer, " said architect Michael Batcup.

BBC: On the global Taff Trail

The rules eliminate the input of federal wildlife scientists in some endangered species cases, allowing the federal agency in charge of building, authorizing or funding a project to determine for itself if it is likely to harm endangered wildlife and plants.

CNN: Bush set to relax endangered species rules

This book, which describes the descendants of a civilisation that has converted the material in its planets into a giant ringlike structure around its sun, was inspired by Freeman Dyson's idea that a truly technologically advanced species would endeavour to capture as much light as possible by building a spherical shell around its central star.

ECONOMIST: Is it time for a new approach to finding extraterrestrials?

Opponents claim that building a road so close to a site of special scientific interest will damage ancient woodland housing protected species including dormice and bitterns.

BBC: Hastings to Bexhill link road: Protesters' legal bid fails

"Building this was not as simple as it should be, because there has not been any formal way to register species, " Costello says.

ENGADGET: Scientists estimate at least one third of marine species remain unknown to humans