History Main / SpeciesLostAndFound

* Dinosaurs in general: we used to believe they were all wiped out in a mass extinction event, but there turned out to be survivors all over the place. We just called them "birds."

* Two mechanics in a Volkswagen commercial discus this when they find a full-sized spare tire in the trunk of a Jetta. One of them even mentions the coelacanth.

-->'''Mechanic 1:''' Great day in the morning. What once was lost now is found.\\

'''Mechanic 1:''' It's a prehistoric fish. It disappeared about ten thousand years ago, then they caught one off the coast of Madagascar. Coelacanth.\\
-Volkswagen commercial (the mechanics are talking about a full-sized spare tire).

* The Baiji, also known as the Yangtze River Dolphin, was thought to have gone extinct or at least functionally extinct in 2006 after years of industrialization and pollution of the river they lived in, which was also the only place they lived. However, the following year, a man reportedly caught a white animal swimming in the Yangtze, which was tentatively confirmed to probably be a Baiji.

* Creator/CliveCussler uses this trope in ''The Mediterranean Caper'': Dirk Pitt comes into the book because he investigates sabotage on an expedition to find a rumored missing link between fish and mammal known as ''The Teaser''. Instead of looking for the fish, Pitt unravels a Nazi plot and smuggling operation. [[spoiler: He also gets his fish, but that happens so quickly when he does that it's possible to miss it.]]

* In Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's ''Literature/TheLostWorld'', Professor Challenger brings a pterodactyl back to civilization. It escapes while it's being shown off.

* In ''ComicStrip/SafeHavens'', Samantha uses a DNA sample to [[LegoGenetics turn two chickens into dodos]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Pokémon}}'' has Relicanth, based on the most famous real-life example, the coelacanth.

* ''Manga/AILoveYou'', a "puppy" the main cast befriend turns out to really be the last Japanese wolf cub.

* Creator/CliveCussler uses this trope in ''The Mediterranean Caper'': Dirk Pitt comes into the book becazse he investigates sabotage on an expedition to find a rumored missing link between fish and mammal known as ''The Teaser''. Instead of looking for the fish, Pitt unravels a Nazi plot and smuggling operation. [[spoiler: He also gets his fish, but that happens so quickly when he does that it's possible to miss it.]]

[[folder:Anime]]
* Wolves in ''WolfsRain''. Thought to have been extinct for 200 years, actually hanging on in disguise. Not for much longer, though - just until the end of the world.

[[folder:Film]]
* The monster Baragon from the ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' franchise is some sort of ancient dinosaur-thing that has somehow managed to escape extinction by living underground in its initial appearance in ''Film/FrankensteinConquersTheWorld''. Another one, or possibly the same one, was later relocated to Monster Island in the film ''Film/DestroyAllMonsters''.
** Likewise, there's Godzilla himself. Before mutating, Godzilla was simply a Godzillasaurus who was living on a remote island somewhere near Japan. As the [[Film/{{Gojira}} original film]] heavily implies and the sequels prove true, there's more than one Godzillasaurus in existence...of course, most of them have probably mutated by now.
** Anguirus from ''Film/GodzillaRaidsAgain'' is a giant ankylosaur that somehow managed to escape extinction...uh...somehow.
** The film ''Film/KingKongEscapes'' features Gorosaurus, a giant T-Rex type of dinosaur that was living on a remote island. It, or possibly another one of its species, was later moved to [[IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace Monster Island]] in the film ''Film/DestroyAllMonsters''.
** Titanosaurus from ''Film/TerrorOfMechagodzilla'' was a giant sea-dwelling dinosaur who lived peacefully away from humans until a MadScientist discovered him.
** Destoroyah of ''Film/GodzillaVsDestoroyah'' originated from a preserved, isolated colony of microscopic Precambrian crustaceans that were mutated by the Oxygen Destroyer and [[TheWormThatWalks conglomerated into a bigger creature]].
* ''Film/{{Star Trek IV|The Voyage Home}}'': Whales became this via Time Travel. Not necessarily a revival (as the actual whales were alive the entire trip), but still an example nonetheless.
* In ''Film/{{Rodan}}'', people discover ancient giant Pteranodon eggs that hatch into the titular monsters and begin terrorizing Japan.

[[folder:Literature]]
* In Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's ''Literature/TheLostWorld'', Professor Challenger brings a pterodactyl back to civilization. It escapes while it's being shown off.
* Another one for human interference: in the ''Literature/ThursdayNext'' book series, dodos and Neanderthals have been brought back to life thanks to new technologies.
* Reg Chronotis from ''DirkGentlysHolisticDetectiveAgency'' went back in time in order to save the Coelacanth from extinction, at the price of having the dodo die out.
* In TheCompanyNovels, one of the Company's sidelines is buying up apparently worthless plots of land that coincidentally turn out to be the home of a breeding colony of some valuable species previously thought to be extinct. (Time travel is involved.)
* Creator/CliveCussler uses this trope in ''The Mediterranean Caper'': Dirk Pitt comes into the book becazse he investigates sabotage on an expedition to find a rumored missing link between fish and mammal known as ''The Teaser''. Instead of looking for the fish, Pitt unravels a Nazi plot and smuggling operation. [[spoiler: He also gets his fish, but that happens so quickly when he does that it's possible to miss it.]]

[[folder:LiveActionTelevision]]
* The ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "Dinosaurs On A Spaceship" is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. Some conservation-minded ancestors of the Silurians had cryogenically preserved some Cretaceous wildlife [[TheArk in hope of returning to re-stock]] the Earth after the K-T asteroid's destructive effects had abated, but their ship went off-course and wound up drifting for millions of years.
* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' revealed that some time after the original series the Klingon Empire embarked upon 'The Great Tribble Hunt,' rendering the species extinct. Unfortunately for them the special episode commemorating the franchise's 40th anniversary resulted in the crew going back in time and bringing a couple of tribbles back with them when they returned. Given their prodigious reproductive capabilities their numbers once again rapidly exapnded.

[[folder:Multiple Media]]
* ''Franchise/JurassicPark'': Revived Dinosaurs by Technology. They are now left alone...mostly.

* ''WesternAnimation/WereBackADinosaursStory'': TimeTravel brought dinosaurs into modern day New York.
* ''Franchise/XMen'': Sheltered world preserved, despite the immediate outside world being much much cooler.
* Magazine/ForteanTimes has a strong interest in this aspect of cryptozoology and in fact has followed several cases where animals thought extinct appear to have returned to the world. it speculates, among other things, the British large cats people persist in seeing might ''possibly'' be a surviving native population, lingering on in small elusive numbers after being presumed extinct many hundreds of years ago.

[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]
* The dinosaurs in ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}'' had [[HesJustHiding just been in hiding]].
* In ''SafeHavens'', Samantha used a DNA sample to [[LegoGenetics turn two chickens into dodos]].

[[folder:Tabletop RPG]]
* One example of fantasy creatures returning when TheMagicComesBack is the ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' TabletopRPG.

[[folder:Webcomics]]

* In the 1940's ''{{Superman}}'' cartoon [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Arctic_Giant "The Arctic Giant,"]] a "Tyrannosurus Rex" is [[HarmlessFreezing thawed out of a huge chunk of ice]] and goes berserk.

* Polly the "parrot" from ''WesternAnimation/ThePiratesInAnAdventureWithScientists'' is actually a dodo, and still alive centuries after her kind were exterminated on Mauritius.
* On ''{{Gargoyles}},'' the main characters wake up from a thousand-year curse in modern New York; aside from their enemy, the immortal [[BigBad Demona]], they seem to be the last gargoyles in existence. Eventually we discover several other gargoyle clans living around the world, with WordOfGod putting the species' current population at about 400.

* ''WereBackADinosaursStory'': TimeTravel brought dinosaurs into modern day New York.
* ''Franchise/{{X-Men}}'': Sheltered world preserved, despite the immediate outside world being much much cooler.

* AnimalCrossing invokes the Coelant; [[RealLife below]].

* In the videogame ''FurFighters'' there is a whole hidden world (which you might actually miss) found by digging down with a seriously large drill. Once down there you find a futuristic Dinosaur society where the titular characters are stars in a children's comic book.
* The first three ''Franchise/TombRaider'' games has Lara Croft encounter a T-Rex at one point in areas where humans have not inhabited the area for ages. Lara technically doesn't have to kill the dinosaur in order to advance (she can just dodge its attacks while gathering up key items and then leave), but in the Anniversary remake, the T-Rex is a full fledged boss fight that can't be avoided.

* The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coelacanth Coelacanth]] was believed to have gone extinct in the Cretaceous period. Until they were found alive and well in 1938. They're still doing fine.
** Unfortunately, the Coelacanth is now an EndangeredSpecies again, due to pollution and a tendency for fishermen to kill them pointlessly and destroy the bodies instead of throw them back and risk catching them again because of their supposed horrible, garbage-oil flavor and protected status if you're caught with one without special science permits.
* TheOtherWiki has a whole list of them, both plants and animals. They are officially known as [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lazarus_taxon Lazarus Taxa]]
** Species ''thought'' to have re-emerged after vanishing from the fossil record, but which [[SubvertedTrope turn out to be unrelated to the fossils they resemble]], are nicknamed "Elvis Taxa".

* German zookeepers in the 1920s made a concerted effort to re-create the aurochs, extinct ancestor of domesticated cattle, by selectively breeding contemporary cattle for aurochs-like traits. Unfortunately, while the resulting pseudo-aurochs ''looked'' like the real thing, they lacked the necessary survival instincts to fend for themselves, preventing them from being reintroduced to the wild as intended. More recent attempts to re-engineer the aurochs have come much closer to replicating the original animal's genotype, but reintroduction of the species is still pending.

* In ''{{Rodan}}'', people discover ancient giant Pteranodon eggs that hatch into the titular monsters and begin terrorizing Japan.

* In the 1940's ''{{Superman}}'' cartoon "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Arctic_Giant The Arctic Giant]]", a "Tyrannosurus Rex" is [[HarmlessFreezing thawed out of a huge chunk of ice]] and goes berserk.

* Happens numerous times in ''TheMalazanBookOfTheFallen''. The T'lan Imass are supposed to be extinct, but they're not. The same applies to the Tiste Liosan, the Jaghut, and several other PrecursorRaces.

* In ''MalazanBookOfTheFallen'' species thought to have become extinct during the thousands and millions of years of backstory have a habit of popping up again. Some are prehistoric creatures patterned on real-life paleontology while others are fantasy species. A good rule of thumb is that anything said to be extinct isn't.