COSTA RICA STAR (Santa Ana) 02 December 13 Extinct or Not? Lazarus Species of Costa Rica (Jaime Lopez)

When is a species really extinct? The recent rediscovery of a colorful frog in the southwestern region of Costa Rica and the potential return of sea turtle to nest in Guanacaste and other beaches along the Pacific coastline is calling attention to the methods of determining when a wildlife species has truly disappeared from our planet.

Lazarus species is the term sometimes used to refer to a species that has somehow reappeared after having being considered extinct. This is a biblical reference to the man who was miraculously raised from the dead by Jesus Christ after having being entombed for a few days. It is important to remember that although extinction is indeed a category of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, scientists may classify a species extinct when it may have actually been critically endangered. There are also cases of pseudoextinction, which is a way to describe a species that has evolved so much that it deserves a new taxonomy entry.

The Lazarus species recently rediscovered and related to the richly diverse ecosystem of Costa Rica are the harlequin toad, Atelopus varius, and the hawksbill tropical sea turtle, Eretmochelys imbricata. These are not the only Lazarus species found in Costa Rica; in fact, the scientists who reported their harlequin toad finding are hopeful that there may be more such rediscoveries in the future. As reported online by mongabay.com, the authors of the scientific paper related to the harlequin toad explained that:

“Our findings fit into the emerging theory that species which have been presumed extinct are beginning to be re-discovered in Costa Rica and elsewhere. After severe declines, often to where zero individuals are detected in the wild, several frog species have been re-discovered in areas of Costa Rica…”

The rediscovery of the hawksbill sea turtle has been previously reported by The Costa Rica Star. The hawksbill finding was reported earlier this year in the Gulf of Fonseca, which is a major body of water shared by El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. In the past, hawksbill sea turtles have not been too common in Costa Rica, but there is hope that ongoing nature conservation efforts might encourage them to choose our country as a nesting site.

According to the unofficial list maintained by the Earth’s Endangered Creatures website, there are approximately 350 plant and animal species that may be categorized as being endangered to some degree in Costa Rica.
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