From “Crayfish Species Proves to Be the Ultimate Survivor” (Science Daily, August 3, 2012), we learn,
They found a proportion of the crayfish population had left the main lake and were surviving by burrowing in hippopotamus footprints which left small pools of water. After dark the crayfish clambered out from the footprints and grazed on the surrounding terrestrial plants.
The red swamp crayfish has been introduced to multiple locations throughout East Africa from the 1960s to enhance fisheries and to attempt to control populations of snails which carry a parasite causing river blindness in humans.
But then it got out of control.
To understand why some life forms go extinct, we need to look at those that readily adapt, especially invasive species. Consider, for example, life forms like the cockroach or the common rat that humans constantly try to eradicate and usually fail.
Extinction: Tracking the changing rates and causes of risk
The photo is by chungking at Fotolia