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Watch a blue-tongue lizard give birth

By Australian Geographic • 8 February 2022

Image credit: Jennifer Evans/Ark Media

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NSW Central Coast locals got extremely lucky when they managed to film a blue-tongue lizard giving birth.

Before species go extinct, their populations often shrink and become isolated. Healthy populations tend to have a large gene pool with many genetic variants circulating. But the path to extinction erodes genetic diversity, because a species’ gene pool shrinks as the population declines. Losing genetic diversity limits the ability of populations to adapt to threats such as disease and climate change.