Vulnerability and body size: Tetrapods versus fish

The relationship between body size and risk of extinction has been the focus of much recent attention; however, it has only been stated for a few groups inhabiting restricted areas. Based on the IUCN list and other public records, we suggest that the relationship between vulnerability and body size is a trend among all vertebrates, especially tetrapods. In the case of fish, our results show that body size may be subordinate to another factor that we named concealment. Other plausible explanations about this difference could be the human preference for large terrestrial vertebrates and/or the inappropriateness of the current IUCN listing criteria for fish species.