The Animal Known Only from Fossils
Scientists described a wild pig-like animal from fossils in 1930 and assumed it was extinct. In 1975, it turned up alive in Paraguay.
What was reported
The Chacoan peccary was first known to science from fossil bones, described in 1930, and was thought to have died out thousands of years ago.
In 1975, the American biologist Ralph Wetzel found it alive in the dry thorn forests of the Gran Chaco in Paraguay. Local people had known it all along, calling it the tagua, and its skins had been seen without anyone realising.
Explanations offered
The Chaco is a vast, hot and thinly populated region where large animals can go unnoticed by science. The peccary is now endangered as the forests are cleared for ranching.
- When
- Found alive in 1975
- Where
- Gran Chaco, Paraguay
- Witnesses
- Local hunters, and a biologist
- Status
- Confirmed
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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