Rare species

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

A rare species is a group of

organisms that are very uncommon, scarce, or infrequently encountered. This designation may be applied to either a plant or animal taxon, and is distinct from the term endangered or threatened. Designation of a rare species may be made by an official body, such as a national government, state, or province. The term more commonly appears without reference to specific criteria. The International Union for Conservation of Nature does not normally make such designations, but may use the term in scientific discussion.[1]

Rarity rests on a specific species being represented by a small number of organisms worldwide, usually fewer than 10,000. However, a species having a very narrow

endemic range or fragmented habitat also influences the concept.[2][3] Almost 75% of known species can be classified as "rare".[4]

Rare species are species with small populations. Many will move into the endangered or vulnerable category if the negative factors affecting them continue to operate. Well-known examples of rare species - because these are large terrestrial animals - include the

Wild Asiatic buffalo, or the Hornbill
.

They are not endangered yet, but classified as "at risk",[5][6] although the frontier between these categories is increasingly difficult to draw given the general paucity of data on rare species. This is especially the case in the world Ocean where many 'rare' species not seen for decades may well have gone extinct unnoticed, if they are not already on the verge of extinction like the Mexican Vaquita.[7]

A species may be endangered or vulnerable, but not considered rare if it has a large, dispersed population.

IUCN uses the term "rare" as a designation for species found in isolated geographical locations. Rare species are generally considered threatened because a small population size is less likely to recover from ecological disasters
.

Rare plants can be classified based on the size and distribution of their populations. Some species may be rare because they consist of only a few individuals, are confined to a limited geographic area, or both. Certain rare plants are found sparsely distributed across a wide area. Others might have a large number of individuals that are concentrated in a very small area, such as a single county or canyon. The rarest plants typically have both a small number of individuals and a very limited geographic range.

Assessments of the status of rare plants are conducted using the best available data and consider various factors, including:

A rare plant's legal status can be observed through the USDA's Plants Database.

Rare species

Name Image IUCN Red List conservation status Last sighting Estimated population
Endemic
geographic location
Common name Scientific name Lowest wildlife Highest wildlife Captive Total lowest Total highest
Ethiopian amphibious rat
Nilopegamys plumbeus
Possibly Extinct
 1927 ? ? 0 ? ?
Zuniga's melanomys Melanomys zunigae Critically Endangered, Possibly Extinct 1949 ? ? 0 ? ?
Lima Department, Peru
De Winton's golden mole
Cryptochloris wintoni
 Critically Endangered, Possibly Extinct c. 1950 ? ? 0 ? ?
Northern Sumatran rhinoceros
Dicerorhinus sumatrensis lasiotis
 Critically Endangered, Possibly Extinct After 1960 1 ? ? 0 ? ? Myanmar & Malay Peninsula, Malaysia / Thailand
Christmas Island shrew
Crocidura trichura
 Critically Endangered, Possibly Extinct 1986 ? ? 0 ? ? Christmas Island
Cuban ivory-billed woodpecker
Campephilus principalis bairdii
 Critically Endangered 16 March 1987 ? ? 0 ? ? Cuba
Garrido's hutia
Capromys garridoi
 Critically Endangered, Possibly Extinct 1989 ? ? 0 ? ? Banco de los Jardins y Jardinillos, Canarreos Archipelago, Cuba
Angel Island mouse
Peromyscus guardia
 Critically Endangered, Possibly Extinct 1991 ? ? 0 ? ?
Emma's giant rat
Uromys emmae
 Critically Endangered, Possibly Extinct 1994 ? ? 0 ? ?
Owi Island, Indonesia
Wimmer's shrew
Crocidura wimmeri
 Critically Endangered 2008 ? ? 0 ? ?
Baiji
Lipotes vexillifer
 Critically Endangered, Possibly Extinct 2018 ? ? 0 ? ?
Puebla deer mouse
Peromyscus mekisturus
 Critically Endangered, Possibly Extinct 1948 0 50 0 0 50
Dwarf hutia
Mesocapromys nana
 Critically Endangered, Possibly Extinct 26 October 1951 0 50 0 0 50 Zapata Swamp, Cuba
New Zealand greater short-tailed bat
Mystacina robusta
 Critically Endangered, Possibly Extinct 1967 0 50 0 0 50
Kouprey
Bos sauveli
 Critically Endangered, Possibly Extinct 1988 0 50 0 0 50
Montane monkey-faced bat
Pteralopex pulchra
 Critically Endangered, Possibly Extinct 17 May 1990 0 50 0 0 50
San Felipe hutia
Mesocapromys sanfelipensis
 Critically Endangered, Possibly Extinct 1978 0 99 0 0 99 Cayo de Juan Garcia & Cayos de San Felipe, Cuba
Gloomy tube-nosed bat
Murina tenebrosa
 Critically Endangered, Possibly Extinct 1962 1 1 0 1 1 Tsushima Island & Yakushima, Japan
Fernandina Island Galápagos tortoise Chelonoidis niger phantasticus Critically Endangered, Possibly Extinct N/A 1 5 0 1 5 Fernandina Island, Ecuador
Aru flying fox
Pteropus aruensis
 Critically Endangered, Possibly Extinct 1887 1 49 0 1 49 Trangan, Indonesia
Horrid ground-weaver
Nothophantes horridus
 Critically Endangered N/A 9 9 ? 9 9
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Northern white rhinoceros
Ceratotherium simum cottoni
 Critically Endangered (Possibly
Extinct in the Wild
)		 N/A ? 2 ? 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
One-striped opossum
Monodelphis unistriata
 Critically Endangered, Possibly Extinct 9 April 1899 2 10 0 2 10
Yangtze giant softshell turtle
Rafetus swinhoei
 Critically Endangered N/A 2 4 1 3 5
American ivory-billed woodpecker
Campephilus principalis principalis
 Critically Endangered 8 April 2022 3 (as of 8 April 2022)[9] 3 (as of 8 April 2022)[9] 0 3 (as of 8 April 2022)[9] 3 (as of 8 April 2022)[9]
Guadalcanal rat
Uromys porculus
 Critically Endangered, Possibly Extinct Between 1886 and 1888 3 3 0 3 3
Emperor rat
Uromys imperator
 Critically Endangered, Possibly Extinct c. 1960s 3 3 0 3 3
Key tree-cactus
 Pilosocereus robinii Critically Endangered N/A 7 15 7 15 Florida Keys, Mexico, Puerto Rico
Lord Howe Island stick insect
 Dryococelus australis Critically Endangered N/A < 10 (as of 3 October 2021)[10] < 10 (as of 3 October 2021)[10] < 10 (as of 3 October 2021)[10] < 10 (as of 3 October 2021)[10] Ball's Pyramid, Australia
Vaquita
Phocoena sinus
 Critically Endangered N/A 10 (as of 5 May 2022)[11] 10 (as of 5 May 2022)[11] 0 10 (as of 5 May 2022)[11] 10 (as of 5 May 2022)[11]
Saola
Pseudoryx nghetinhensis
 Critically Endangered 2013 20 (as of 30 October 2021)[12] < 100 (as of 20 August 2021)[13] 0[14] 20 (as of 30 October 2021)[12] < 100 (as of 20 August 2021)[13]
Telefomin cuscus
Phalanger matanim
 Critically Endangered, Possibly Extinct 1997 40 40 0 40 40
Gobi bear
Ursus arctos gobiensis
 Critically Endangered N/A 51 (as of 27 May 2022)[15] 51 (as of 27 May 2022)[15] 0[16] 51 (as of 27 May 2022)[15] 51 (as of 27 May 2022)[15]
Māui dolphin
Cephalorhynchus hectori maui
 Critically Endangered N/A 55 55 55 55
Cat Ba langur
Trachypithecus poliocephalus
 Critically Endangered N/A 65 67 65 (as of March 2018)[17] 67 (as of March 2018)[17]
Indonesian Javan rhinoceros
Rhinoceros sondaicus sondaicus
 Critically Endangered N/A 76 (as of 20 September 2022)[18] 76 (as of 20 September 2022)[18] 0 76 (as of 20 September 2022)[18] 76 (as of 20 September 2022)[18]
Western Sumatran rhinoceros
Dicerorhinus sumatrensis sumatrensis
 Critically Endangered N/A 75 (as of 18 December 2022)[19] 85 (as of 18 December 2022)[19] 10 85 95
Alagoas curassow
Mitu mitu
 Extinct in the wild N/A 0 130 130 130
Kākāpō
Strigops habroptilus
 Critically Endangered N/A 149 149 149 149 Anchor Island, Codfish Island / Whenua Hou, Little Barrier Island and Maud Island, New Zealand
Philippine eagle
Pithecophaga jefferyi
 Critically Endangered N/A 200 breeding pairs 200 breeding pairs 200 breeding pairs 200 breeding pairs
Cross River gorilla
Gorilla gorilla diehli
 Critically Endangered N/A 200 300 0 200 300
Bornean rhinoceros
Dicerorhinus sumatrensis harrissoni
 Critically Endangered N/A < 250 (as of 24 February 2020)[20] < 250 (as of 24 February 2020)[20] 0 < 250 (as of 24 February 2020)[20] < 250 (as of 24 February 2020)[20] East Kalimantan, Indonesia & Sarawak, Malaysia
Malabar large-spotted civet
Viverra civettina
 Critically Endangered, Possibly Extinct 1993 249 249 0 249 249
Devils Hole pupfish
Cyprinodon diabolis
 Critically Endangered N/A 263 (as of 29 September 2022)[21] 300 (as of 11 May 2022)[22] 475 (as of 4 May 2022)[23] 475 (as of 4 May 2022)[23]
United States of America
North Atlantic right whale
Eubalaena glacialis
 Critically Endangered N/A 366 366 366 366
Black softshell turtle
Nilssonia nigricans
 Critically Endangered N/A 150 150 300 450 450 Sultan Bayazid Bastami shrine at Chittagong
California condor
Gymnogyps californianus
 Critically Endangered N/A 446 446 446 446
Central rock rat
Zyzomys pedunculatus
 Critically Endangered N/A 800 800 0 800 800
Wild Bactrian camel
Camelus ferus
 Critically Endangered N/A 950 950 950 950
Eastern lowland gorilla
Gorilla beringei graueri
 Critically Endangered N/A < 5,000 (as of 7 October 2022)[24] < 5,000 (as of 7 October 2022)[24] 1 < 5,000 or 5,000 < 5,000 or 5,000

Notes:

  • 1 Last recorded that 7 were in captivity in 1960, in
    circuses
    etc., in the International Zoo Yearbook II. Reports that there is a small population left in Malay Peninsula and Myanmar.
  • 2 On 19 March 2018, the
    functionally extinct
    .

See also

References

  1. ^ "Assessment Process". www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved 2017-11-14.
  2. ^ R. MacNally and G. W. Brown, Reptiles and Habitat Fragmentation in the Box-ironbush Forests of Central Victoria, Australia: Predicting Compositional Change and Faunal Nested-ness, Oecologia 128:116–125 (2001).
  3. doi:10.1038/365335a0
    .
  4. ISBN 9781610911955
    .
  5. ^ "Rare Species". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2017-11-15.
  6. ^ "IUCN – A brief history". IUCN. 2017-10-06. Archived from the original on 2017-11-15. Retrieved 2017-11-15.
  7. ^ Briand, Frederic (October 2012). "Species Missing in Action - Rare or Already Extinct?". National Geographic.
  8. ^ "What is a rare plant?". www.fs.usda.gov. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
  9. ^ a b c d Multiple lines of evidence indicate survival of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker in Louisiana
  10. ^ a b c d Dryococelus australis (Lord Howe Island Phasmid)
  11. ^ a b c d The critically endangered vaquita is not doomed to extinction by inbreeding depression
  12. ^ a b Searching for the Saola in the Annamite Mountains
  13. ^ a b IUCN SSC experts urge for immediate action to find Saola before it’s too late
  14. ^ Saola
  15. ^ a b c d Population of endangered Gobi bears exceeds 50 in Mongolia
  16. ^ Gobi Bear Project
  17. ^ a b CAT BA LANGUR
  18. ^ a b c d 2022 State of the Rhino Report
  19. ^ a b Two Horned Rhino – Sumatran Rhinoceros Profile
  20. ^ a b c d Bornean Rhinoceros
  21. ^ Devils Hole pupfish population at 19-year high
  22. ^ Critically endangered pupfish on the rise on 50th anniversary of official monitoring effort
  23. ^ a b The Devil’s Hole pupfish has paddled back from the brink in a hellish desert domain
  24. ^ a b Eastern Lowland Gorilla

External links

Further reading

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