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RedditIsDogshit1 t1_iqt2b04 wrote

How do we know it was even extinct as opposed to us just being awful at detecting them?

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Extra-Process-9394 t1_iqu11d0 wrote

So obviously it wasn't extinct because otherwise it wouldn't exist. But it's not always easy to find a small population of well hidden tiny creatures haha

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RedditIsDogshit1 t1_iqzpu7e wrote

So then why do we label things as extinct if they’re actually not proven to be so? Sounds there should be two separate terms to distinguish.

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Extra-Process-9394 t1_ir019r3 wrote

I think they are just "presumed extinct in the wild". There are a lot of species like that and most don't turn up randomly one day but this time we got lucky

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