# Extinct? Maybe **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 15, 2002, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-maybe/124045 "2002-08-15T16:38:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-maybe/124045/21 "2002-08-16T19:42:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tuckerfan \* > \*\*I remember reading that a few years ago a species of antelope that was thought to have been extinct for thousands or more years was discovered in a remotely forested area of Vietnam. It seems to have been fortunate in picking a habitat that managed to be ignored by all sides during the war. \*\* You are probably thinking of the [sao la](http://www.ultimateungulate.com/saola.html), or Vu Quang Ox. It was not thought to be extinct, because it was in fact completely new to science. This has been the most remarkable discovery of a large mammal in the last century. Even more incredibly, two other new species have turned up in the same region within the past decade, the [Giant Muntjac](http://coombs.anu.edu.au/~vern/species/schaller.html) (also [here](http://www.wwfindochina.org/conservation/species/gmuntjac.shtml)) and the [Truong Son Muntjac](http://www.wwfindochina.org/conservation/species/tsmuntjac.shtml), both kinds of deer. Besides the sao la, one of the most astonishing recent discoveries of a large mammal was the [Chacoan, or Giant, Peccary](http://www.ultimateungulate.com/peccchaco.html), of South America. This species in fact was first described from Pleistocene fossil material before it turned up alive in 1975. Another large mammal discovered only in the 20th century was the [Okapi](http://www.ultimateungulate.com/okapi.html), discovered in 1901. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-maybe/124045/22 "2002-08-16T20:06:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tuckerfan \* > \*\ ***Colibri** ’s post reminded me of a program on Audubon that a friend of mine told me about. They showed a picture of two birds that Audubon had killed “because I’d never seen anything like them before” to which the narrator added, “And no one has ever seen them again.” So apparently, he either killed the last two of a species or the first two of a new species. \*\* Probably the [“Carbonated Warbler.”](http://www.abirdshome.com/Audubon/VolII/00193.html) No one has ever managed to figure out what these might have been. There are a few other Audubon “mystery birds” that can’t be identified with known species, like the [Small-headed Flycatcher](http://www.abirdshome.com/Audubon/VolI/00098.html). ---
**Author:** ![ataraxy22](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ataraxy22/32/307_2.png) [@ataraxy22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ataraxy22)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-maybe/124045/23 "2002-08-16T21:35:48Z")
The [baiji](http://www.cetacea.org/baiji.htm) (_Lipotes vexillifer_), also known as the Yangtze River Dolphin, if not already extinct, certainly will be soon. The world’s only captive one, Qi Qi, died last month in China. _Maybe_ 5 remain in the wild, though I have read of recent month-long searches that failed to find even one. The [vaquita](http://www.cetacea.org/vaquita.htm) (_Phocoena sinus_), also known as the Gulf of California Porpoise, wasn’t even known to science until 1958. It’s also on the verge of extinction with 100-500 still alive, all in the wild. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-maybe/124045/24 "2002-08-16T23:19:58Z")
**Erroneous:** Nice link. The last time I checked (a year or two ago), the Giant Octopus was only known about thanks to a few tentacles that washed up on a beach in Florida about a hundred years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2002, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-maybe/124045/25 "2002-08-17T03:24:36Z")
My [great great grandad](http://www.hants.gov.uk/museum/biology/collectors/hart1.html) made a species of bird extinct > [@](#): > > It is interesting to note that while Edward acknowledged the need for protecting rare birds from extinction, he killed the last pair of Choughs to inhabit the Isle of Wight stating ‘Other people were after them, and if I has not added them to the museum somebody else would have got them.’ ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2002, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-maybe/124045/26 "2002-08-17T03:31:48Z")
Just click on the [Fortean Times](http://www.forteantimes.com/breaking_news/news_2002_03.shtml) for all your extinction news. ---
**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2002, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-maybe/124045/27 "2002-08-17T03:55:59Z")
I remember reading a book on man-made extinct animals that had a report of one unverified sighting of Stellar’s Sea Cow. Probably not true. The only Tasmanian Wolf sighting i’d put stock in is the one by the Park Ranger, i wouldn’t be surprised if a few of them were still running around, but i doubt it. ---
**Author:** ![Slugworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4bbf92/32.png) [@Slugworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slugworth)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2002, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-maybe/124045/28 "2002-08-17T05:16:12Z")
Maybe someone here knows. I saw a program awhile ago about just this subject, and one of the animals they mentioned having just recently re-discovered was a deer/antelope/gazelle (I forget which, unfortunately) that, in addition to lungs, had a primitive set of gills. I’ve been wanting to find out more about it, but no dice… ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2002, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-maybe/124045/29 "2002-08-17T11:00:29Z")
**Colibri** , I don’t know. The links you provided certainly look like the animal I read about, but it’s been too many years for me to say for certain. Nice to know that we’re still finding animals totally unknown to us. ---
**Author:** ![Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/df788c/32.png) [@Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ben)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2002, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-maybe/124045/30 "2002-08-17T21:57:18Z")
Isn’t the Giant Muntjac on the 99c value menu this month? Anyway, while it’s semi-off-topic, I wanted to mention the Globster. Occasionally (three times, that I know of) a giant blob of… _flesh_ will wash up on beaches in Australia and NZ. No one is quite sure what it is, but it’s been suggested that these are the remains of unimaginably large, Harryhausen-sized octopi. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-maybe/124045.md?page=1)