Small Rabbit with a Black Tail Not Seen in 120 Years Found Hopping Around Mexican Mountains

A species of cottontail rabbit endemic to Mexico has been seen again for the first time in over 100 years following a committed search by biologists.

For more than 4 years, GNN has paid close attention to a special conservation mission called the “25 Most Wanted” list—a name that invokes bounty hunters and bandits, but which actually focuses on species lost to science.

Over those 4 years, the organization behind the list, called Re:Wild, has located 13 of those species, which range from funghi and insects to larger animals like deer.

This most recent hit was the Omiltemi cottontail rabbit—unmistakable for its small and black puffball of a tail, so counterintuitive to the reference to “cotton” in its name. This enigmatic rabbit was last seen by scientists in 1904 and was feared extinct