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Abingdon - The crystal -clear waters of the Clinch River, which meanders southwest across the Virginia-Tennessee border, look clean and healthy. But a mysterious die-off of freshwater mussels in the river has scientists scrambling to find the cause.{snip}Since 2016, though, the Clinch River has seen 10 of its 56 species of mussels have gone extinct with another 20 species now considered endangered - like the fluted kidneyshell, snuffbox, birdwing pearly mussel, and the shiny pigtoe. The pheasantshell mussel, once one of the Clinch’s most abundant mussel species, has plummeted by more than 90 percent, from a population estimated to be...

Long-standing 'canary in the coal mine' role questioned.Frogs aren't always the first to suffer from pollution.Digital Vision The health of amphibians is commonly used to give a rough assessment of pollution levels in an area, but an analysis of more than 20,000 toxicity studies now suggests that these creatures are relatively resilient and not well suited to the task.The finding could have a significant effect on the way that the environment is assessed. Conventional wisdom suggests that if an amphibian population is thriving, the area is probably clear of pollutants. But the survey shows that other species, such as shelled...