lazarus taxon

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In paleontology, a Lazarus taxon (plural taxa) is a taxon that disappears from one or more periods of the fossil record, only to appear again later.

a few notable lazarus taxa:

• Coelacanth: a fish thought to have gone extinct 80 million years ago; found in 1938.
• Monoplacophora: a mollusk believed to have died out 380 million years ago until living members were discovered in deep water off Costa Rica in 1952.
• Laotian Rock Rat: thought to have gone extinct 11 million years ago; found in 1996.
• Dawn Redwood: a genus of conifer, was first described as a fossil from the Mesozoic Era, but in 1944 a small stand was discovered in China.
• Mountain Pygmy Possum Australia’s only truly hibernating marsupial, known originally from the fossil record and then discovered in 1966, this species is again facing extinction due to global warming, introduced predator species and habitat loss.

i relay this information to you not because it involves ugly fish with underbites or to give some hippies a new animal cause to fight for but purely as a symbol. the lazarus tazon symbolises the idea that what once was lost may one day again be found, what once was thought long dead may one day again be revived—like 8 bit video games and walt disney.

the notion of the lazarus taxon is a notion that will also help to kick off a week-long feature on the ragbag—a challenge 700 years in the making.

please stay tuned.