A once-thought-extinct species of wildflower in South America has been rediscovered.
In the foothills of Ecuador’s Andes Mountains, researchers discovered the extinct species Gasteranthus extinctus, some 40 years after its last sighting.
Several plant species, notably Gasteranthus extinctus, were thought to be extinct because of widespread deforestation in western Ecuador in the late 20th century.
Contrary to widely held belief that much of the rainforest on Ecuador’s western coast, including the Centinela Ridge, has been cleared or turned to agriculture, a team of researchers started looking for intact primary rainforest last summer.
Nigel CA Pitman, one of the researchers involved in the finding, commented, “Centinela is a magical site for tropical botanists.” Because it was detailed by some of the most respected experts in the area, no one bothered to examine the facts. It’s possible the woodland was cleared, but no one went back to check.
Instead of breaking our hearts, “we ended up falling in love” as we went inside Centinela.
Neon-orange petals and a large pouch on the underside of the tropical wildflower make it easy for pollinators to enter and escape.
Using just photos of dried herbarium specimens, line drawings, and a written description as a guide, the researchers were able to quickly and accurately identify the plant.
Before awaiting confirmation from a taxonomic specialist, they snapped images and gathered some of the plants’ fallen blossoms.
Despite the fact that Gasteranthus extinctus is on the verge of extinction, it will retain its name.
Conservationists in Ecuador are working with the study team to safeguard some of the last Centinelan flower pieces.
Dawson White, postdoctoral researcher at the Field Museum in Chicago and co-lead author of the paper published in the PhytoKeys journal, said, “Rediscovering this flower shows that it’s not too late to turn around even the worst-case biodiversity scenarios, and it shows that there’s value in conserving even the smallest, most degraded areas.”
We can still preserve many species that are on the verge of extinction, since new species are continuously being discovered.
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