Cozumel-Fuchs – Zwergfuchs auf der Insel Cozumel (Urocyon sp.)
In September 2023, the first photo was taken of a dwarf fox living on the island of Cozumel. Image: Rafael Chacón, aus Bayer et al. (2026), Neotropical Biology and Conservation, CC BY 4.0 (cropped, edited)

Cozumel fox photographed for the first time: not extinct after all

On the Mexican island of Cozumel, a living Cozumel fox has been documented in photographs for the first time. The record is extraordinary because this dwarf island form from the gray fox genus was previously known with certainty only from subfossil bone finds. Although there had been individual sighting reports

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Äthiopische Wassermaus (Nilopegamys plumbeus) - W. H. Osgood (1928)
Illustration of the Ethiopian amphibious rat by Leon L. Pray from the first description from 1928: It is based on field studies by the nature painter Louis Agassiz Fuertes and is one of the few contemporary illustrations of the species. Its close connection to bodies of water is clearly visible. Image: L L. Pray in Osgood 1928

Ethiopian Amphibious Rat: Only one specimen—and lost since 1927

A particularly remarkable novelty It is known from a single specimen: an adult male that the American zoologist Wilfred Hudson Osgood collected on March 20, 1927, in the Ethiopian highlands—in a small mountain stream near the source of the Little Abbai. This animal later became known as the Ethiopian amphibious

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Moorfrosch (Rana arvalis) - Moore als Lebensraum
The moor frog (Rana arvalis) is probably one of the most famous moor dwellers. It not only inhabits moors, but also other wet habitats such as swamp forests, wet meadows, swampy grassland and floodplains. Image: Depositphotos (Cooperation)

More than just carbon sinks: Peatlands as habitats for endangered species

Peatlands have long been seen as mysterious, hard-to-reach landscapes. In stories and films, they often appear as dangerous places with unstable ground, dark water and fog—places where someone might sink or disappear without a trace. Ecologically, however, they are far more than this old image: they are among the most

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Burulori / Blue-fronted Lorikeet (Charmosynopsis toxopei) by John C. Mittermeier/American Bird Conservancy
Blue-fronted lorikeet (Charmosynopsis toxopei) on Buru—photographed by John C. Mittermeier. It is among the first documented images of the species since 2014. Bild: John C. Mittermeier/American Bird Conservancy

Blue-fronted Lorikeet rediscovered: rare parrot lives in remote mountain forests of the Moluccas

The blue-fronted lorikeet (Charmosynopsis toxopei) has been documented again. In April 2026, an expedition team documented the rare parrot species in the highlands of Mount Kapalatmada on the Indonesian island of Buru. It is the first confirmed record since 2014 and only the second confirmed observation of the species since

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Einsame Pflanzen
Some plant species have dwindled to fewer than ten mature individuals in the wild.

The world’s loneliest plants: Species with fewer than ten individuals

For some plant species, fewer than ten mature wild plants remain in nature—sometimes even just a single individual. Such species show how far a decline can go: habitats shrink, populations break apart, and in the end only isolated plants remain, their survival often depending on chance. 15 plant species with

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Sacramento Mountains Checkerspot Butterfly (Euphydryas anicia cloudcrofti)
Sacramento Mountains checkerspot: the last known individual in human care, a caterpillar, died in May 2026. The subspecies has not been confirmed in the wild since 2022; whether it still occurs there is uncertain. Bild: Euphydryas anicia subsp. cloudcrofti (Ferris & R.Holland, 1980) Observed in United States of America by Chris Grinter, CC BY-NC 4.0, via GBIF

Sacramento Mountains checkerspot butterfly: last known caterpillar has died

May 5, 2026, ABQ BioPark in Albuquerque, New Mexico: The last known caterpillar of the Sacramento Mountains checkerspot butterfly dies—and with it, perhaps, the chance to save an entire butterfly subspecies from extinction. Researchers had hoped that the caterpillar would still transform into an adult butterfly. Then it might have

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Plant Blindness: Zwergkrug (Cephalotus follicularis)
The Albany pitcher plant (Cephalotus follicularis) from Western Australia belongs to an evolutionarily unique plant lineage with no close relatives. This carnivorous plant catches insects with pitcher-shaped pitfall traps—and perhaps for that very reason shows how often people only notice plants when they seem to have "animal-like" traits. Image: chum_, CC BY-NC 4.0, via iNaturalist

Plant blindness: Why plant extinction often goes unnoticed

Many people barely notice plants consciously. On a theater stage, they would in a sense be the backdrop, while animals would stand in the foreground as the actual actors. Plants often appear only as a “green mass”, not as living beings in their own right, with individual species, complex adaptations

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Meeres-Hundertfüßer (Strigamia maritima)
Strigamia maritima: This coastal species was only recently confirmed again in Germany. In the new Red List, it is considered critically endangered—making it a striking example of the endangered diversity among myriapods. Image: Roberts RG (2014), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Red List 2026: Germany’s centipedes and millipedes are under pressure

A barely noticed animal world lives beneath our feet. Centipedes and millipedes move through their habitats among leaves, deadwood, roots, stones and crevices in the soil. In the process, they perform important tasks: centipedes hunt small soil animals, while millipedes break down dead plant material and thus contribute to the

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Tierarten mit weniger als 50 Individuen
Some of the rarest animal species in the world: from the nearly extinct vaquita to the red wolf, the Yangtze giant softshell turtle, the Okinawa spiny rat, and the northern white rhino. These species now survive only in tiny populations.

Fewer than 50 individuals: These animal species have almost disappeared

There are animal species worldwide whose populations have now shrunk to just a few dozen or even only single individuals. Many of them stand on the brink of extinction and survive only in small refuges or through elaborate conservation programs. The main cause of their decline is humans, for example

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Blaubock: Colossal plant die Wiederauferstehung
One of the few known bluebuck specimens at the Muséum national d’histoire naturelle in Paris—none is preserved intact, which makes genetic reconstruction considerably more difficult. Image: Doreen Fräßdorf

The resurrection of the Bluebuck?—New plans from Colossal Biosciences

More than 200 years ago, the bluebuck disappeared from southern Africa. Now the US biotech company Colossal Biosciences is working to bring this extinct species back to life, at least in part. The approach is known as de-extinction. The bluebuck (Hippotragus leucophaeus) was an antelope found exclusively in the open

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