Wired Science recently ran an article how up to one-third of all mammals thought to be extinct may in fact still be around. 67 species once considered missing have since been rediscovered according to a study by Diana Fisher and Simon Blomberg of the University of Queensland in Australia. One such species is the okapi, known as the forest giraffe, which was thought to be extinct in the wild for more than 50 years. To be defined as extinct an animal must have either not been seen in over 50 years or an exhaustive search must come up without finding the animal.
Not surprisingly the most effective destroyers of species are humans and invasive species. Few animals that have been driven to distinction by these causes have come back. To read more: A Third of ‘Extinct’ Mammals May Still Be Alive
- “Mammals Not So Extinct After All” and related posts (scienceandcreation.blogspot.com)
- Keep Looking for That Extinct Mammal (news.sciencemag.org)
- Many ‘extinct’ species still alive, biologists say (cnn.com)
- Study shows how scientists can find missing species (scientificamerican.com)