New DNA tests suggest that tigers evolved as a sister species to snow leopards (top photo), and are a far older species that previously believed. This comes at a time when both species are very close to extinction. The largest subspecies of tiger may already be fated for extinction. But these heart-breaking extinctions only suggest the much larger problem. We're losing thousands of species every year. The 2005 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment says that nearly two-thirds of the "services provided by nature to humankind" are in decline worldwide. The planet we know and that has always supported us is dying, and humanity is both largely the cause and the only species capable of addressing this crisis, if indeed that's still even possible. One likely reason we aren't addressing it is suggested in the post below.