He adds that "not everything is won, it is a very important rediscovery, but precisely for this reason, we must redouble our efforts to preserve stable populations, because losing it once is very bad, but losing it twice is much more than unforgivable". This small amphibian, that is actually part of the family of toads, not of frogs, was declared extinct in 1996, and years later, in the province of Punta Arenas in the Coto Brus canton on the border between Costa Rica and Panama, it was rediscovered by an indigenous child who took a bath in the river and extracted it from the biologists of ProCAT who from that moment dedicate their efforts and resources to ensure their permanence among the living.ĭiego Gómez Hoyos, a biologist of that organization who is permanently in the field investigating and procuring that the protection and conservation program of this species is a success, "this species in particular is a very sensitive species to the 'BD' fungi (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) which is one of the culprit for the amphibians decline in the world, that is why in the area where we work with these animals, we take precautions to prevent the entry of this deadly fungi". This is the case of the Atelopus varius, popularly known as harlequin frog or Halloween frog. But she adds that "at the same time that these species are telling us that they are resilient, it is also usual that when a specimen of one of these species reappears, they are usually very small, fragile, localized populations and that the conservation efforts must be very large to ensure their permanence on the planet". "The phenomenon of Lazarus Species is extremely interesting for science because when finding these new organisms, the hope that many species, critically endangered and that we assume will disappear very soon, may be more resilient than what they are believed to be returns", says biologist Gina Gómez Junco of the international organization ProCAT. It becomes a Lazarus Species when one of these species declared officially extinct, is rediscovered, as if it had returned to life. An animal or plant species is declared extinct when after a long period of time the existence of a living specimen in the environment is not reported. The phenomenon of Lazarus Species is one of neontology, a branch of biology dedicated to the study of living organisms, and takes its name from the passage of the Gospel of John that tells how Jesus brought his friend back to life, three days after his death. Published: - Sometimes, species that were decleared extint are rediscovered, as if they came back to life
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