National and international reports developed for the International Year of Biodiversity concluded that we have failed to meet the 2010 biodiversity target. There is an urgent need to analyze current policies for biodiversity conservation. We examined the anthropomorphic factors underlying the threatened species listings (both red lists and legal lists) and funding allocation for the conservation of vertebrates in Spain at different organizational levels, from the global to subnational level. Our results reveal a strong effect of anthropomorphic factors on conservation policies, mainly legal listings and species priority setting at national scale. Specifically, we found that those vertebrates that are phylogenetically close to humans or physically similar to human neonates tend to receive more conservation attention. Based on results, we suggest recommendations to improve conservation policies in Spain. 1. Introduction Up to now, 193 countries endorsed through the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) a commitment to reduce the rates of biodiversity loss by 2010 [1]. For most nations, the 2010 biodiversity target has been their most important political commitment to conserve biodiversity [2, 3]. Although this target has stimulated considerable international and national interest, it is clear that we have failed to meet the 2010 biodiversity target [4, 5], especially in the case of vertebrates [6, 7]. One of the most important indicators developed for biodiversity is the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List Index, which shows a net negative trend in the status of species [4]. This indicator uses information from the IUCN Red List (http://www.iucnredlist.org/) to trace trends in the comprehensive extinction risks of various sets of species [8]. The IUCN Red List is widely recognized as the most objective and authoritative listing of species at risk of global extinction (e.g., [9–14]). Approximately half of all countries worldwide have developed national and regional threatened species lists [15], establishing threatened status as the most important indicator for conservation policies worldwide [16] and as an important tool in defining conservation priorities [17, 18]. Currently, there is an extensive debate on the use of the IUCN Red List in decision-making regarding conservation policies. Some authors argue that economic resources should not automatically be allocated to species according to their listing status because spending scarce conservation resources on species at the greatest risk of extinction are not an efficient
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