This US state has become an unexpected epicenter of the global extinction crisis

A biologist at the Alabama Aquatic Biodiversity Center picks up a handful of endangered pale lilliput mussels. | Benji Jones/Vox BIRMINGHAM, Alabama — On a sweltering afternoon in June, I stood in what was essentially a roadside ditch. Sandwiched between a four-lane highway and the parking lot of a faith-based recreation center near Birmingham, the ditch was filled with cool, flowing water, a bit of trash, and, apparently, some highly endangered fish.  Jeffrey Drummond, a biologist at the US…