Current work in wildlife, rivers, public lands, and climate

Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Feds Deny Protection to Rare Grand Canyon Invertebrate

Grand Canyon Pseudoscorpion Last seen in 1978
Contact: Mark Salvo (503) 757-4221

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today that itwill not protect the Grand Canyon pseudoscorpion under the Endangered SpeciesAct, despite the fact that only one individual has ever been found of the speciesin 1978.

“What is anendangered species, if not one that hasn’t been seen in three decades?” saidMark Salvo, Director of the Sagebrush Sea Campaign for WildEarth Guardians.

Pseudoscorpions are tiny arachnids bearing large claws,but lacking a stinger. At 3.03millimeters, the Grand Canyon cave pseudoscorpion is larger than otherpseudoscorpions. The Grand Canyon pseudoscorpion was found in the Cave of theDomes in Grand Canyon National Park. The species may be endemic to the cave.

NatureServe, an authority on North American flora andfauna, ranks the Grand Canyon pseudoscorpion as “critically imperiled.” WildEarthGuardians petitioned to list the species as “threatened” or “endangered” underthe Endangered Species Act in 2007 as part of a mass petition to protect 475imperiled species throughout the Southwest. The Fish and Wildlife Service initiallyfound that the pseudoscorpion may warrant listing, but reported today that itlacks sufficient information on the species and threats to its habitat to addit to the threatened and endangered list.