The rate of animal extinctions has accelerated in recent years, such that the calculated average rate of vertebrate species loss over the last century is 72-100 times greater than expected from natural background rates. As field biologists we are now witness to the underlying mechanisms driving this sixth mass extinction during our scientific lifetimes. This affords a unique opportunity to predict and perhaps mitigate paths leading to further accelerated species loss. In this talk, I examine how evolutionary processes in animal design, that is, how animals are built, conspire with modern anthropogenic pressures to challenge the survival of large carnivorous mammals from Arctic narwhals to African lions. We have found that marked morphological and physiological modifications that allowed large carnivores to develop into apex predators, may now result in exceptional biological vulnerability to human-induced disturbances. Furthermore, these same unique physiological attributes provide clues about limitations to our survival as human biology faces novel threats ranging from extreme noise to the Covid pandemic.

Hosted by Mark Hay