At the beginning of the 20th century, scientists
and laymen alike appear to have been peculiarly
confident that the world had been thoroughly explored
and most of its creatures named and documented. Few, if
any, large animals still awaited discovery. The
scientific unveiling of the giraffe-like okapi in 1901
was one of the earliest of this century's discoveries to
shake this belief. But many consider it to be the last
great find, and view the rediscovery of extinct animals
to be as likely as the alchemic conversion of iron into
gold. Since 1901, however, a whole host of new and
rediscovered creatures has turned up to contradict these
views-including a giant 7-ft-long forest hog from
Africa, a colossal Indonesian monitor lizard called the
Komodo dragon, the lobe-finned coelacanth fish
resurrected from 64 million years of supposed
extinction, the incredible megamouth shark, deep-sea
tube-dwelling worms over 8 ft tall with huge red
tentacles resembling strange alien flowers, plus the
extraordinary Vu Quang ox and giant barking deer both
discovered in Vietnam during the 1990s. And discoveries
continue to be made today, in the 21st century-ranging
diversely and dramatically from giant peccaries and
zombie worms to an entire new suborder of insects known
as the gladiators, a veritable jungle of new monkeys,
and an extraordinary chameleonesque snake. And nor can
we possibly forget the sensational rediscovery in North
America of the near-legendary, supposedly long-extinct
ivory-billed woodpecker. The Encyclopaedia of New and
Rediscovered Animals is the third, wholly-updated
edition of the very first-and still the definitive-book
to be devoted to the spectacular zoological discoveries
and equally amazing rediscoveries of the 20th century,
which attracted international acclaim and exemplary
reviews following its original publication in 1993 (when
it was entitled The Lost Ark), and its subsequent
republication in 2002 as an updated, greatly-expanded
second edition (entitled The New Zoo). This latest
edition also contains an in-depth survey of the 21st
century's most celebrated discoveries and rediscoveries
made during its first decade, plus an exhaustive,
significantly-increased bibliography, as well as the
only comprehensive collection of colour and b/w
illustrations of these spectacular animal species ever
published (including new, previously-unpublished
photographs, and several exclusive,
specially-commissioned full-colour paintings).
Unquestionably, The Encyclopaedia of New and
Rediscovered Animals provides good reason indeed for
believing that our world continues to holds many more
animal surprises in store for future revelation.
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