Animals that have only recently been discovered

The official Webpage of the Abominable Snowman Internet Resource Study Group. Reams of facts, views, history & fun on the elusive creature,

Where you need to go, if you are interested in the Yeti

This is the last of animals which have only recently been discovered or located.

In 1812 a notable naturalist of the time, Baron Georges Cuvier said he felt it unlikely a new large quaruped would ever be found. Within a short space of time the tapir was found. With many other kinds of large creature too.

In 1869 In 1869, Abbe Armand David, saw the white panda. He asked for it to be captured. It took 75 years for one to be caught. In 1937, For a brief period in between some wondered if it might be extinct but in 1929 one was shot for the first time for collectors.

Animals that have only recently been confirmed by biology and science.

Pygmy Hippopotamus Hexaprotodon liberiensis (1849) Previously seen in archaeological record beforehand

Coelacanth Latimeria chalumnae - (1938) Latimeria menadoensis (1998) Both Previously seen in archaeological record beforehand

None of these and below were seen in archaeological record beforehand Mountain Gorilla (1902)

Okapi 1901

Giant Squid 2005 seen in action by Japanese cam,eras, generally accepted after 1878
Bigfin squid include Magnapinna talismani (1907) Magnapinna pacifica (?1988)
Galiteuthis phyllura (squid) (1911)
Komodo Dragon Varanus komodoensis, (1910)
Colossal squid Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, (1925 two arms, 2003 first complete specimen)
Taningia danae (1931) the 5th longest kind of Squid
Megamouth shark Megachasma pelagios, (1976)
Haliphron Atlanticus The Seven armed Octopus within the last 2 centuries
Saola/Vu Quang ox Pseudoryx nghetinhensis a forest bovine, from Vietnam, like a antelope (1992)
Nangchen (1993)
Giant Muntjac Megamuntiacus vuquangensis kind of deer (1994)
Riwoche Horse (1995)
Vo Quy's pheasant Lophura hatinhensis Vietnamese Pheasant discovered 1964
Truong Son Muntjac Muntiacus truongsonensis (1997)
Sus bucculentus (1997) a kind of Pig
Giant Peccary (2004) A kind of pig

Hoan Kiem Turtle Rafetus leloii {2004. A legendary creature since the 1400s, it was treated as superstition by both French and Vietnamese scientists until 1992 when professor Ha Dinh Duc began looking into the matter. He found skeletal parts, and eventually took video footage of a living specimen. He published a description in 2004. It is significant in being the largest freshwater turtle known: Up to 200 kilograms, with a carapace up to 1.8 meters in length.}

In the 1990s- 2007 era new disocoveries included
Also of smaller types, there have been a new monkey in Tanzania, a parrot plus forest mouse in the Philippines, a 'hairy' lobster, a new Vietnamese snake, 5 new frogs and a Laos newt, a Thai stingray, a Indian monkey, a Madagascar spitting spider, a new sharks off Mexico & Indonesia. Borneo in 1994-2004 saw 260 new insects, 50 plants, 30 fish, 7 frogs, 6 lizards, 5 crabs, 2 snakes plus a toad.

When the Aztecs and Incas saw Spanish people on horses they were impressed. Some people thought the people and the horse were the same species, and some tribes did things like this. Some believed in something called the "thunder horse."on one occasion the Spanish left a lame horse with some people, he left a lame horse with the Itza, they treated the horse as a god, giving it meats and flowers, but the horse died on this diet. The local tribe then made a idol of the horse to show they did not oppose the God, then later it was smashed up by a inquisistion style thing. So when people see new animals, they are amazed by them, sometimes putting them in their religous beliefs.