Rare & Endangered Animals · Supporting guide
Lazarus Species: Animals Rediscovered After Being Presumed Extinct
Every so often, a species written off as extinct turns up alive. These rediscoveries carry lessons about survey gaps and hidden refuges.
By Mahmoud OsamaSenior Wildlife Researcher & Editor-in-ChiefPublished 15 October 2025 · Updated 15 October 2025 · 7 min read
Reviewed against primary toxinology literature and IUCN assessments. This article is educational and is not medical advice — in an emergency contact your local poison centre or emergency services.
A "Lazarus species" is any organism rediscovered alive after being widely presumed extinct, named for the biblical figure raised from the dead. These are not myths or misidentifications — they are documented, verified sightings of animals that scientific consensus had already written off, sometimes after decades or more than a century of silence.
Lazarus events are more common than most people assume, and they follow a recognizable pattern: a species vanishes from surveys in accessible areas, gets formally declared extinct or presumed extinct, and later resurfaces in a remote, poorly surveyed pocket of habitat that had simply never been searched properly.
The Coelacanth: 66 Million Years Late
The most famous Lazarus species is the coelacanth, a deep-sea fish known only from fossils and assumed to have gone extinct alongside the dinosaurs roughly 66 million years ago. In 1938, a live specimen was caught off the coast of South Africa and identified by museum curator Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer.
A second coelacanth population was later found near Indonesia, genetically distinct enough to be classified as a separate species. Both living coelacanth species are now considered Critically Endangered or Vulnerable, threatened chiefly by accidental capture in deep-water fishing gear.
Other Notable Rediscoveries
The coelacanth is the most dramatic case, but far from the only one.
- Chacoan peccary — known only from fossils until a living population was found in Paraguay in 1975
- Terror skink — a large, venomous-looking lizard from New Caledonia rediscovered in 2003 after roughly a century
- Fernandina giant tortoise — a Galápagos species found alive in 2019, over a century after the last confirmed sighting
- Wallace's giant bee — the world's largest bee species, rediscovered in Indonesia in 2019 after not being seen for 38 years
- Somali elephant shrew — rediscovered in Djibouti in 2020 after around 50 years without a confirmed sighting
Amphibians and reptiles dominate Lazarus lists because they are small, often nocturnal, and can survive in tiny remnant patches of habitat that surveys tend to miss.
Why Species Go Undetected for So Long
Rediscoveries are less about animals being resurrected and more about the limits of survey effort. Remote terrain, political instability, high research costs, and simply low population densities all conspire to keep species hidden from formal records.
Common Reasons for Long Detection Gaps
- Habitat in politically unstable or hard-to-access regions
- Extremely small or fragmented remaining range
- Nocturnal or cryptic behavior that evades standard survey methods
- Confusion with similar-looking related species
- Insufficient funding for repeat expeditions to remote sites
What Rediscovery Actually Means for a Species
Finding a Lazarus species is exciting, but it is rarely a happy ending. Most rediscovered populations are tiny, isolated, and still facing the exact pressures — habitat loss, invasive predators, hunting — that pushed them toward presumed extinction in the first place.
Conservation biologists generally treat a rediscovery as the starting gun for urgent protective action, not a reason to relax. Without immediate habitat safeguards, a rediscovered species can slip back into genuine extinction within a few short years.
Editor's note: Some organizations, including Re:wild's "Search for Lost Species" initiative, run targeted expeditions specifically to look for species not seen in decades.
Lazarus Species vs. Extinct in the Wild vs. Ghost Sightings
It helps to separate three related but distinct ideas. A Lazarus species is a confirmed, verified rediscovery backed by physical or photographic evidence. Extinct in the Wild describes species that survive only in captivity, the opposite trajectory. Unverified "ghost sightings" — claimed encounters without solid evidence, such as many alleged Tasmanian tiger reports — do not count as Lazarus events until proven.
This distinction matters because conservation funding and legal protections should be based on verified evidence, not folklore or wishful thinking.
Key takeaways
- A Lazarus species is one rediscovered alive after being presumed extinct.
- The coelacanth, found in 1938, is the most famous example, presumed extinct for 66 million years.
- Amphibians and reptiles make up a large share of documented rediscoveries.
- Rediscovery does not mean a species is safe — most remain critically threatened.
- Unverified sightings without physical evidence do not qualify as true Lazarus events.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most famous Lazarus species?+
The coelacanth, a deep-sea fish rediscovered off South Africa in 1938 after being presumed extinct for tens of millions of years.
Are Lazarus species common?+
They are documented periodically, more often among amphibians, reptiles, and invertebrates than large mammals, which are easier to survey thoroughly.
Does rediscovery mean a species is no longer endangered?+
No. Most rediscovered species have extremely small populations and remain at high extinction risk even after being found.
What organizations search for Lazarus species?+
Groups like Re:wild run dedicated "lost species" search expeditions, alongside university researchers and local conservation groups.
Can a species be declared extinct and then un-declared?+
Yes, the IUCN Red List can revise a species' status from Extinct back to a threatened category once verified evidence of survival is documented.
