1/3 of extinct animals suddenly “resurrected.”

Original article at Dateline Zero:

On the heels of news that scientists are working toward “resurrecting” Neanderthals through cloning; formerly extinct animals are mysteriously, and suddenly, “back from the dead.”

The Daily Mail is reporting:

A study has found that a third of all mammal species declared extinct in the past few centuries have turned up alive and well.

Some of the more reclusive creatures managed to hide from sight for 80 years only to reappear within four years of being officially named extinct in the wild.

One explanation being offered is that conservationists has overstated the problem; overestimating the number of species that have been driven to extinction — either accidentally, or deliberately in an effort to build a sense of urgency.

Sometimes a species will vanish from humanity’s radar, so-to-speak, and conservationists will assume they are all gone. Australian Geographicrecently gave some examples of how endangered species will sometimes “vanish” as they move to a newer, more suitable location where they adapt and thrive.

To get it wrong for a full third of the (thought to have been) extinct animals is a huge mistake. Only recently have conservationists examined 187 species of mammal that have been thought to have become extinct since 1500, and found 67 have since been rediscovered.

In other words, “oops, we just ‘found’ 67 different animal species that we thought were all dead.” This is pretty much the conclusion of a study by the University of Queensland’s Dr Diana Fisher and Dr Simon Blomberg.

It could well be the honest case that a mistake was made on calling 67 species of animals extinct; and it could well be that all 67 mistakes were cleared up all at once.

Or … this could be a prelude to the next planned “resurrection,” when cloning brings back the Neanderthals.