At times, species once thought to have been extinct have shown signs of re-emergence. Here are 10 such rediscovered animal species:
Majorcan Midwife Toad: The toad was thought extinct as only fossils had been found until live specimens were surprisingly rediscovered in 1979.
Chacoan Peccary: A pig-like mammal thought extinct from fossils found in 1930 but rediscovered alive in the 1970s, is known to indigenous locals.
Coelacanth: Known only from 19th-century fossils, a live specimen was caught by a fisherman off South Africa's coast in 1938, defying expectations.
Victorian grassland earless dragon: Faced critical endangerment due to severe habitat loss, with the last known sighting before 2023 occurring in 1969.
Wallace's giant bee: Rediscovered in 2019, this massive bee is four times the size of an average honeybee.
Terror Skink: First captured around 1870 in New Caledonia and described in 1876, this species was presumed extinct but was found again in 2000.
Antioquia brushfinch: Spotted in 2018, this Columbian bird hadn't been recorded for nearly 50 years before being sighted by a church-going group.
New Guinea big-eared bat: First collected in 1890 this bat was not seen until 2014 after its last sighting in 1914.