20/05/2009 (Agence Europe) - Bad news for biodiversity: one fifth of Europe's reptiles and nearly a quarter of its amphibians are threatened, according to new studies commissioned by the European Commission and published on Wednesday 20 May. The studies were carried out by IUCN (the International Union for the Conservation of Nature) and reveal that half of all European amphibians (59 percent) and 42 percent of reptiles are in decline, which means that amphibians and reptiles are even more at risk than European mammals and birds. For 23 percent of amphibians and 21 percent of reptiles the situation is so severe that they are classified as threatened in the European Red List. (A.N./trans/rh)