A team of scientists conducted a global survey of all terrestrial vertebrate species on the planet. As a result, they found that 562 species have disappeared from the face of the Earth, but there is no official data on whether they are extinct.
As of today, the Red List of Threatened Species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature includes 32,800 species. Animals that have not been observed by biologists for more than fifty years are considered lost. Recently, keeping track of rare animals has become increasingly difficult due to the high rates of extinction and the disappearance of biological species.
The number of 'lost' species exceeds the number of 'officially extinct' species by 80%. Since 1500, 311 species have been recognized as extinct.
The largest number of 'missing' species pertains to cold-blooded animals. Scientists have not observed 257 reptiles, 137 amphibians, 130 mammals, and 38 birds for half a century. Most of the lost animals inhabited Indonesia (69 species), Mexico (33 species), and Brazil (29 species).
Among such species with uncertain status was the frog Craugastor milesi — an endemic of Honduras, which was considered extinct but was rediscovered in 2008.
Scientists acknowledge that theoretical estimates of extinction rates provide a fairly accurate picture, but a more effective method is the old-fashioned field search.
Now, the authors of the study want to focus on searching for animals in 'hotspots' where the most species are disappearing.
Since the beginning of the 20th century, 27 species of mammals have disappeared from the planet, not to mention the thousands of species of other animals and plants.
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