| Lazarus Taxon |
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Information AboutLazarus Taxon |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT LAZARUS TAXON | |
| extinction | |
| paleontology | |
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The Fossil record is inherently imperfect and contains gaps not necessarily caused by extinction, particularly when the number of individuals in a taxon becomes very low. If these gaps are filled by new fossil discoveries, a taxon will no longer be classified as a Lazarus taxon. The terms "Lazarus effect" or "Lazarus species" have also found some acceptance in '' Neontology '' — the study of extant organisms, as contrasted with paleontology — as an organism that is rediscovered alive after having been widely considered extinct for years (a recurring IUCN Red List species for example). Examples include the Wollemi Pine , the Jerdon's Courser , the Ivory-billed Woodpecker , and the Takahe , a flightless bird Endemic to New Zealand. It should be noted however, that "being extinct" strongly relates to the sampling intensity, the whims of the IUCN , and that the period of ''apparent'' extinction is too short to be designated as "Lazarus taxa" (in its paleontological meaning). Lazarus taxa that reappear in nature after being known only as old enough fossils can be seen as an informal subcategory of the journalist's " Living Fossil s", because a taxon cannot become globally extinct and reappear. If the original taxon went globally extinct, the new taxon must be a lookalike of the old taxon. On the other hand, all species "correctly considered living fossils" (with all conditions fulfilled, living and found through a considerable part of the geologic timescale) cannot be Lazarus taxa. REAPPEARING SPECIES Reappearing red list species
Reappearing fossil taxa
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