Rediscovery - Artensterben

Wiederentdeckung: Rotweber (Anaplectes jubaensis) - Foto von Simon Odhiambo

The red weaver (Anaplectes jubaensis) was last documented in 2014. Now, the first new records of the species in twelve years have come from eastern Kenya. Image: Simon Odhiambo, used with permission

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16. August 2026 Doreen Fräßdorf

Rediscovered After 12 Years: The Red Weaver Lives in Kenya’s Boni-Dodori Forest

For twelve years, there had been no confirmed record of the red weaver (Anaplectes jubaensis). Now Kenyan ornithologists have rediscovered the rare bird species in the Boni-Dodori forest complex in eastern Kenya. On July 3, 2026, James Apolloh Omenya and Simon Odhiambo first observed three bright-red males, followed later by

Zyklopenralle (Gallirallus mayri) - Kamerafallenaufnahme von 2023

A camera trap documented Mayr's forest rail (Rallicula mayri) in the Cyclops Mountains of New Guinea in September 2023. The arrow marks the bird on the forest floor. Image: Expedition Cyclops, from Kempton et al. (2026), Fig. 2D, CC BY 4.0; cropped

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1. August 2026 Doreen Fräßdorf

Western New Guinea: Mayr’s Forest Rail Recorded for the First Time Since 2007

Camera traps have photographed the rare Mayr’s forest rail (Rallicula mayri) in the Indonesian part of New Guinea. The poorly studied bird species had last been recorded in the Foja Mountains in 2007. The images were captured in September 2023 as part of Expedition Cyclops, an international research project led

Female (left) and male Ghana cuckooshrikes (Lobotos lobatus) in a historical illustration. In 2026, the rare species was conclusively documented for the first time in 13 years. Images: Nicolas Huet, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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28. July 2026 Doreen Fräßdorf

Two “Lost Birds” Rediscovered—in the Rainforest and in a Photo Archive

The Ghana cuckooshrike has been photographed—and even filmed—for the first time in 13 years. In the case of the Mindoro imperial pigeon, however, a previously unpublished photo was enough for the species to lose its “lost” status. Both cases show how important accessible documentation of rare species is. Within a

With the 2026 IUCN update, the brush-tailed bettong (Bettongia penicillata), which has not been recorded since the 1920s, is listed as extinct for the first time. Whether Lydekker's 1896 illustration actually depicts this species remains unclear because B. penicillata and B. ogilbyi were not distinguished until later. Image: Lydekker, Richard, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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12. July 2026 Doreen Fräßdorf

2026: IUCN lists 15 more animal species as extinct

The IUCN has updated its Red List. Version 2026-1, published on July 9, 2026, lists a total of 15 more animal species in the “Extinct” (EX) category: six mammals, four fish, one insect species, and four snail species. Most of these are not recent extinctions; many of the species disappeared

drei verschollene Vogelarten wiederentdeckt auf Neuirland (Bismarck-Archipel, Papua-Neuguinea)

In the remote mountain forests of New Ireland in the Bismarck Archipelago, an expedition confirmed the presence of three bird species that had not been documented for many years—including the New Britain sparrowhawk, last recorded in 1994. Image: Depositphotos (Kooperation)

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19. June 2026 Doreen Fräßdorf

New Ireland: Three lost bird species rediscovered

During an expedition in Papua New Guinea, four young birdwatchers made an extraordinary discovery: In just 17 days, they documented three lost bird species in the mountain forests of New Ireland that had not been reliably recorded for years or even decades—the white-naped lory (Lorius albidinucha), the New Ireland friarbird

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, from Bayer et al. (2026), Neotropical Biology and Conservation, CC BY 4.0 (cropped, edited)

News

13. June 2026 Doreen Fräßdorf

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

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. Image: John C. Mittermeier/American Bird Conservancy

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6. June 2026 Doreen Fräßdorf

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

Mono-Lake-Tauchkaefer / Mono Lake diving beetle (Hygrotus artus)

Until its rediscovery in 2017, the Mono Lake diving beetle was known only from the male holotype collected in June 1917 (photo), which is now housed in the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (© Loggi at German Wikipedia., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Insects

13. April 2026 Doreen Fräßdorf

Mono Lake diving beetle: missing for 100 years—and sought in the wrong place

A mistake with consequences For a long time, the case seemed clear: the Mono Lake diving beetle lived—so it was assumed—in Mono Lake in California’s Sierra Nevada. A lake that could hardly be more inhospitable: highly alkaline, extremely saline, and with conditions to which only a few specialized organisms can

Wiederentdeckung von Anolis laevis in der Region San Martín in Peru

The Río Huallaga in the San Martín region in northeastern Peru. The smooth or swordsman anole (Anolis laevis) was rediscovered in the surrounding montane forests of this river system—a habitat now under severe pressure from deforestation and settlement. (© Josue Hermoza, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

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31. March 2026 Doreen Fräßdorf

Peru: Lizard with nose extension rediscovered after more than 150 years – Anolis laevis

In 1876, the American naturalist Edward Drinker Cope described a small lizard from the montane forests of northeastern Peru. What stood out most was an unusual appendage at the tip of its snout—a feature that set it apart from most other species. Cope originally described the species under a different

Der Sulu-Raupenfänger galt lange Zeit als Unterart des Bindenraupenfängers (Bild).

For a long time, the Sulu cuckooshrike (Coracina guillemardi) was treated as a subspecies of the much more widespread bar-bellied cuckooshrike (Coracina striata, shown here) because of morphological similarities. (© Coracina striata (Boddaert, 1783), Observed in Philippines by dmalerta, CC BY-NC 4.0, via GBIF)

News

20. March 2026 Doreen Fräßdorf

Chance discovery in the Sulu Archipelago: Long lost cuckooshrike documented after nearly 20 years

In November 2025, the Sulu cuckooshrike (Coracina guillemardi) was documented again for the first time in almost two decades in the remote forests of Tawi-Tawi in the Sulu Archipelago in the southwest of the Philippines. The species was considered lost—not officially extinct, but without any confirmed records for years. The