EDMONTON, Alberta, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- The number of listed endangered species falls far short of the real count, Canadian researchers said in a study published in the journal Science.
Thousands of species that depend on those listed as endangered or threatened also are in danger of extinction but do not appear on current lists, researchers said.
"What we found is that with the extinction of a bird, or a mammal or a plant, you aren't just necessarily wiping out just one, single species," wrote Heather Proctor, a biologist at the University of Alberta. "We're also allowing all these unsung dependent species to be wiped out as well."
Proctor, with researchers Robert Dunn of the University of Tennessee and Lian Pin Koh of the National University of Singapore, found 12,200 animals and plants listed as endangered or threatened.
After looking at insects, mites, fungi and other organisms hosted by threatened species, the research team found at least 200 affiliate species already have been wiped out and 6,300 more should be listed as "co-endangered."
