Paranthropus Boise -1.3 million years ago
COULDN'T IT BE POSSIBLE THAT A SPECIES OF THE HUMAN RACE IS STILL SUCCESSFULLY THRIVING IN OUR FORESTS TODAY ?!
Here are the stories of 14 animals thought to be extinct, but then rediscovered hundreds or millions of years later.
Photos and Info Courtesy of Buzzfeed
The Pygmy Tarsier
The pygmy tarsier is a mouse-sized big-eyed animal that weighs almost 60 grams. The last one spotted alive was in 1921 before the species went into hiding. The pygmy tarsiers were rediscovered when two Indonesian scientists trapping rats accidentally trapped and killed one in 2000.
The Okapi
First discovered in what is now Virunga in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in 1901, the shy forest-dwelling okapi had not been found in the park since 1959. But a recent survey in 2006 by the WWF and the Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature found 17 okapi tracks and other evidence of its presence.
Dwarf Cloud Rats
“This beautiful little animal was seen by biologists only once previously — by a British researcher in 1896 who was given several specimens by local people, so he knew almost nothing about the ecology of the species,” said Lawrence Heaney, Curator of Mammals at the Field Museum and Project Leader. “Since then, the species has been a mystery, in part because there is virtually no forest left on Mt. Data, where it was first found.” The dwarf cloud rat was captured by Danilo Balete, Project Co-Leader and Research Associate of the Philippine National Museum, in a patch of mature mossy forest (also called cloud forest) high on Mt. Pulag, at about 2,350 meters above sea level. It was in the canopy of a large tree. Much of the mossy forest in Mt. Pulag National Park where the biologists found the dwarf cloud rat was logged during the 1960s, and few large trees remain. The mossy forest has been gradually regenerating, but many local people now have vegetable farms there, and some of the mossy forest has disappeared as a result.
The Nelson
In 1894, a handful of specimens of the Nelson's small-eared shrew were collected in southern Mexico. That was the last time the shrew was seen alive for 109 years. Fast forward to 2009, when two researchers found three shrews in a small patch of forest. The researchers found the animals scurrying around a patch of cloud forest, that local people know as “dwarf forest” due to its small trees.
Laotian Rock Rats
The Laotian Rock Rat was thought to had become extinct millions of years ago. Researchers say the rock rat is the sole survivor of an ancient group of rodents understood to have died out 11 million years ago, and then recorded again in 2005. The nocturnal rodent lives in remote forests in Laos.
The Cuban Solenodon
Since its discovery in 1861 by the German naturalist Wilhelm Peters, only 36 had ever been caught. By 1970, some thought that the Cuban Solenodon had become extinct, since no specimens had been found since 1890. The Cuban Solenodon that was found in 2003, named Alejandrito, brought the number ever caught to 37.
Worcester Buttonquail
The Worcester Buttonquail was captured in Luzon in the Philippines, where hunters snared the bird, and brought it to a market to sell. This species of buttonquail “was previously only known through drawings based on dead museum specimens.”
The Arakan Forest Turtle
The Arakan Forest Turtle was believed extinct (last seen in 1908), but in 1994 was rediscovered when a few specimens turned up in Asian food markets. Like most Asian turtles, it is collected yearly as a food source or for “medical cures.” Only a handful of these conservation reliant turtles are in captivity, and their status in the wild, which is dubious at best, is listed as critical.
The Mountain Pygmy Possum
The Mountain Pygmy Possum was first described as a Pleistocene fossil by Robert Broom in 1896. It was thought to be extinct until 1966, when a living specimen was discovered in a ski-hut on Mount Hotham. As of 1992, there were two geographically isolated populations in Australia.
The Terror Skink
The terror skink was rediscovered in 2003 in New Caledonia. The skink measures around 50cm and has long sharp curved teeth – unusual for a skink as they are normally omnivores. The only other known example of the skink was also discovered in New Caledonia in 1876.
The Coelacanth
Once thought to have gone extinct 65 million years ago, the Coelacanth was rediscovered alive and well in 1938. They are also the closest link between fish and the first amphibian creatures which made the transition from sea to land in the Devonian period (408-362 Million Years Ago). That such a creature could have existed for so long is nearly incredible, but some say that the cold depths of the West Indian ocean at which the Coelacanth thrives, and the small number of predators it has, may have helped the species survive eons of change.
The Woolly Flying Squirrel
First discovered in 1888, the species has a piteously small scientific legacy consisting of a few technical papers, a single anecdotal account of a live, captive animal and a handful of specimens scattered across the globe. But this giant among squirrels resurfaced in the mid-90's in northern Pakistan.
The La Palma Giant Lizard
Its decline started 2000 years ago with the arrival of humans on La Palma. It appears to have become extinct in the last 500 years. The main causes of extinction appear to have been introduced cats, consumption by people, and habitat destruction for agriculture. The lizard was rediscovered in 2007.
Javan Elephants
Javan elephants became extinct sometime in the period after Europeans arrived in Southeast Asia. Elephants on Sulu, never considered native to the island, were hunted out in the 1800s. But the elephants were rediscovered in 2006 800 miles away on the island of Borneo. It's thought that the Javan elephants could be the first known elephant translocation in history that has survived to modern times.
