This ‘Rock’ in Namibia Is Actually a Plant that Plays Dead, Fewer than 200 Are Left

This ‘rock’ in Namibia is actually a plant that plays dead, fewer than 200 are left

This ‘living stone’ plant in Namibia looks like a rock and plays dead to survive. Fewer than 200 remain as the rare species faces extinction. The rare pebble-sized plant, Lithops werneri, survives in only one small patch of the Erongo Mountains. Its population has drastically declined by over 80% since 1981. Climate change and illegal poaching pose significant threats to its survival.

Rare living stone plant, found in a tiny area in Namibia, is critically endangered

In a small area of Namibia's Erongo Mountains, a tiny, pebble-like plant grows on a very thin layer of gravel. This succulent, Lithops werneri, is found in just one tiny 4 square-kilometer (1.5 square-mile) area, according to the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority. With more than an 80% decline in its population since 1981 and fewer than 200 plants remaining in the wild, the species was listed as critically endangered on the IUCN R…