Meet the “Extinct Species” That Was Just Rediscovered After 200 Years

Good News Notes:

“One of the first recorded species to have been lost to forestry and agriculture in the Western Cape in the 1800s, a type of fountain bush from the pea family that used to grow next to mountain streams in the Tulbagh region, have been rediscovered.”

“Until now, P. cataracta was only known from a single specimen collected from “Tulbagh waterfall” in 1804, and in 2008, after many fruitless searches, it was officially declared extinct on the Red Data List of South African Plants.”

“Thus far, the 26-year old student is building up quite a reputation for finding long lost species. As a BScHons-student in botany at Stellenbosch University (SU) in 2016, he rediscovered two presumed extinct species in the pea family, Polhillia ignota and Aspalathus cordicarpa, last seen in 1928 and the 1950s respectively, and subsequently completed an MSc on Polhillia in 2017, also at SU.  This year he collected a new species of Aspalathus growing on sand dunes on the banks of the Riet River in the Swartruggens Mountains north of Ceres. He is now in a rush to get the species described, as this part of the Riet River is earmarked for orchard expansion.”

View the whole story here: https://scitechdaily.com/meet-the-extinct-species-that-was-just-rediscovered-after-200-years/

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