This doesnt count as megafauna, but still, great news about the omiltemi cottontail rabbit
An Omiltemi cottontail rabbit with its distinctive black tail photographed in the Sierra Madre del Sur.
Image credit: Joe Figel, Re:wild
The Omiltemi cottontail rabbit was thought to have been lost to science since the early 1900s. Last seen 130 years ago, the future looked bleak for this little brown rabbit, but an expedition in the Sierra Madre del Sur Mountain Range in Mexico has changed all that. Not only did the team successfully capture the rare rabbit on camera, but they saw it in seven of the 10 areas surveyed, painting a brighter picture than anyone could have hoped for.Great news for Re:wild, a conservation initiative that’s dedicated to the Search For Lost Species. The cottontail is their 13th rediscovered species, with other success stories including a tap-dancing spider and a rockin’ yellow-crested helmetshrike, and they have many more species in their sights.
We had no evidence of the Omiltemi rabbit, leading us to believe the species was extinct. -Alberto Almazán-Catalán
Almazán-Catalán was leading the expedition team in Mexico, searching 10 different areas in the Sierra Madre del Sur Mountain Range. Through interviews, deploying drones, and laying camera traps, the team hoped to find some sign that the cottontail was still alive, and eventually their hard work paid off. By the end of the expedition, the rabbits had been sighted in seven of those 10 locations After observing and analyzing its morphological characteristics, we compared them with those mentioned in its original description, and later we realized that it was Sylvilagus insonus (Omiltemi rabbit),” said Almazán-Catalán. “At that time I was happy to have found a species that was practically extinct to science. However, during the expeditions we were able to observe that there are numerous populations in some regions of the Sierra Madre del Sur of the state of Guerrero, which made me even happier.
An Omiltemi cottontail rabbit with its distinctive black tail photographed in the Sierra Madre del Sur.
Image credit: Joe Figel, Re:wild
The Omiltemi cottontail rabbit was thought to have been lost to science since the early 1900s. Last seen 130 years ago, the future looked bleak for this little brown rabbit, but an expedition in the Sierra Madre del Sur Mountain Range in Mexico has changed all that. Not only did the team successfully capture the rare rabbit on camera, but they saw it in seven of the 10 areas surveyed, painting a brighter picture than anyone could have hoped for.Great news for Re:wild, a conservation initiative that’s dedicated to the Search For Lost Species. The cottontail is their 13th rediscovered species, with other success stories including a tap-dancing spider and a rockin’ yellow-crested helmetshrike, and they have many more species in their sights.
We had no evidence of the Omiltemi rabbit, leading us to believe the species was extinct. -Alberto Almazán-Catalán
Almazán-Catalán was leading the expedition team in Mexico, searching 10 different areas in the Sierra Madre del Sur Mountain Range. Through interviews, deploying drones, and laying camera traps, the team hoped to find some sign that the cottontail was still alive, and eventually their hard work paid off. By the end of the expedition, the rabbits had been sighted in seven of those 10 locations After observing and analyzing its morphological characteristics, we compared them with those mentioned in its original description, and later we realized that it was Sylvilagus insonus (Omiltemi rabbit),” said Almazán-Catalán. “At that time I was happy to have found a species that was practically extinct to science. However, during the expeditions we were able to observe that there are numerous populations in some regions of the Sierra Madre del Sur of the state of Guerrero, which made me even happier.