Winter Skating away from extinction

Rapid climate change threatens animals and plants worldwide; those failing to adapt to their new circumstances are doomed. Nature favours individuals well suited to their environments so, when conditions change, species maturing quickly and producing lots of young fare best, writes Richard Collins

A house mouse can have 10 litters of half a dozen ‘pups’ in a year.

One or two of the pups will have what it takes to survive; they go on to parent the next generation.