Scientists Use Ancient Chinese Poetry to Study Endangered Yangtze Porpoise

image via New Scientist

May 5, 2025, 3:00 PM

• •Ancient Chinese poems provide historical data on the Yangtze finless porpoise.
• •The porpoise's range has decreased by 65% in 1,400 years, with a 91% decline in tributaries and lakes.
• •Researchers are using poems to understand past habitats and behaviors to address conservation.
• •This approach can be applied to other species and regions to understand biodiversity loss.

Scientists utilized ancient Chinese poems to trace the historical range and distribution of the critically endangered Yangtze finless porpoise, the world's only freshwater porpoise. These poems revealed a significant decline in the porpoise's habitat over 1,400 years, with a dramatic decrease in their presence in tributaries and lakes. The research highlights the value of historical texts in understanding species distribution and human-caused biodiversity losses. Future studies will analyze the poems for details on the river's past, group sizes, and porpoise behaviors before their numbers dwindled.

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