The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. It uses a set of precise criteria to evaluate the extinction risk of thousands of species and subspecies. These criteria are relevant to all species and all regions of the world. With its strong scientific base, the IUCN Red List is recognized as the most authoritative guide to the status of biological diversity. A series of Regional Red Lists are produced by countries or organizations, which assess the risk of extinction to species within a political management unit.
In paleontology, a Lazarus taxon is a taxon that disappears for one or more periods from the fossil record, only to appear again later. Likewise in conservation biology and ecology, it can refer to species or populations that were thought to be extinct, and are rediscovered. The term Lazarus taxon was coined by Karl W. Flessa & David Jablonski in 1983 and was then expanded by Jablonski in 1986. Wignall and Benton defined Lazarus taxa as, "At times of biotic crisis many taxa go extinct, but others only temporarily disappeared from the fossil record, often for intervals measured in millions of years, before reappearing unchanged". Earlier work also supports the concept though without using the name Lazarus taxon, like work by Christopher R. C. Paul.
The desert rat-kangaroo, also called the buff-nosed rat-kangaroo, plains rat-kangaroo or oolacunta, is an extinct small hopping marsupial endemic to desert regions of Central Australia. It was first recorded in the early 1840s and described by John Gould in London in 1843, on the basis of three specimens sent to him by George Grey, the governor of South Australia at the time.
The Julia Creek dunnart is a marsupial with a buffy brown upperside and white underside. This dunnart has a body length of 100–135 mm with a tail of 60–105 mm to make a total length of 160–240 mm. Its weight is between 40 and 70 g. The length of the hind foot is 22–24 mm. The species has a dark brown triangle colour from above and below the eye with the point at the nose, and another dark stripe on top of the skull. A healthy dunnart has a carrot-shaped tail filled with fat stores.
The Antillean fruit-eating bat is one of two leaf-nosed bat species belonging to the genus Brachyphylla. The species occurs in the Caribbean from Puerto Rico to St. Vincent and Barbados. Fossil specimens have also been recorded from New Providence, Bahamas.
Euphrasia arguta is a plant from the genus Euphrasia (eyebrights) within the family Orobanchaceae.
Crudia zeylanica, sometimes known as Sri Lanka legume, is a species of plant in the family Fabaceae endemic to Sri Lanka. Once thought to be extinct, the plant was rediscovered in 2019.
Wendlandia angustifolia is a species of plant in the family Rubiaceae. It is endemic to Tamil Nadu, India. The species was presumed to be extinct until 1998, when it was rediscovered after a gap of 81 years near its previously known natural habitat, during an inventory of threatened plants of Kalakkad Mundantharai Tiger Reserve, Tamil Nadu.
The montane monkey-faced bat or montane flying monkey is a megabat endemic to the Solomon Islands. It is listed as a critically endangered species. Due to its imperiled status, it is identified by the Alliance for Zero Extinction as a species in danger of imminent extinction. In 2013, Bat Conservation International listed this species as one of the 35 species of its worldwide priority list of conservation. Only one individual has ever been found.
The Nardoo Hills Reserves comprise two adjoining parcels of land, with a combined area of 5.9 km2, as a nature reserve in north-central Victoria, Australia. They are located 12 km north of Wedderburn, 100 km north-west of Bendigo and 240 km north-west of Melbourne. They are owned and managed by Bush Heritage Australia (BHA), by which they were purchased in 2005 and 2006. With the nearby Wychitella Nature Conservation Reserve, they protect remnant grassy woodlands, a habitat much cleared in the past. A threatened bird species found on the reserves is the Hooded Robin In 2007 an endangered plant, the Northern Golden Moth Orchid was found on the reserve. In 2009 a species of orchid thought to be extinct, the Robust Greenhood, was rediscovered there.
Bulbostylis neglecta, neglected tuft sedge locally, is an endemic member of the Cyperaceae of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic.
Nelson's small-eared shrew is a species of mammal in the family Soricidae. It is endemic to eastern Mexico.
Clermontia peleana is a rare species of flowering plant in the bellflower family known by the common name Pele clermontia. It is one of several Hawaiian lobelioids in genus Clermontia that are known as `oha wai. This plant is endemic to the island of Hawaii, where it is known from a few individuals. It is a federally listed endangered species of the United States.
Hakea pulvinifera is a small, prickly shrub in the family Proteaceae, found only on one rocky hillside near Gunnedah in New South Wales, Australia. The species was first described in 1962, believed extinct in 1971 and rediscovered in 1988. The entire species may be of only one genetically unique individual.
Dryococelus australis, commonly known as the Lord Howe Island stick insect or tree lobster, is a species of stick insect that lives on the Lord Howe Island Group. It is the only member of the monotypic genus Dryococelus and was thought to be extinct by 1920, only to be rediscovered in 2001. It is extirpated in its largest former habitat, Lord Howe Island, and has been called "the rarest insect in the world", as the rediscovered population consisted of 24 individuals living on the small islet of Ball's Pyramid.
Isopogon uncinatus, commonly known as Albany cone bush, is a species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to a restricted area near Albany in Western Australia. It is a small shrub with very short stems, linear to egg-shaped leaves with the narrower end towards the base, and spherical heads of yellowish flowers. It is the rarest isopogon and was thought to be extinct until rediscovered in the 1980s.
Rhaphidospora is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Acanthaceae. A classification of the Acanthaceae published in 2022 treats Rhaphidospora as a synonym of Justicia.
