Some animals that were thought extinct, then re-discovered...

Some animals were once thought lost to history, like the dinosaurs, who were killed due to natural unknown causes, and other animals who were driven to extinction by humans, such as the dodo. However, the 20th and 21st centuries saw the re-discoveries of some of hese rare and elusive creatures, once thought to be lost to mankind...

The coelacanth is one good example of an animal that was thought to be extinct. There ae two subspecies, Latimeria chalumnae and Latimeria menadoensis. It was re-discovered in the year 1938 by the curator of a museum, off the coast of South Africa. Since then, sightings have been reported off the coast of the Comoros Islands, and even the waters around Sulawesi, Indonesia. It is a fairly large fish, averaging 2 metres in length, and was around during the Cretaceous period, about 65 million years ago.

Another creature once thought to be extinct is the Cuban Solenodon, Solenodon cubanus. It is found in the country Cuba, and it is threatened by habitat loss and the introduction of human pets, such as dogs and cats. it also suffers attacks from mongooses, which are predators introduced into the area. it was thought to be extinct until several indivuals were discovered alive in 1974, 1975 and as recently as the year 2003. It possesses toxic saliva for protection.

One more creature whos existence was unknown was the La Palma Giant Lizard, Galliota auaritae. There are fewer than 50 mature indivuals left in the wild, and it is only found in Northern La Palma, Spain. It was extinct for 2000 years until its recent rediscovery in 2007, when some indivuals were found on a steep rock face of the Canary islands. This protected the lizards from their natural enemy, cats.

Though these are just a few of the creatures that were rediscovered, I feel that there are many more out there, waiting to be found and studied...