Image courtesy of (Rathe fael Chacón.
Joel Kontinen
The Lazarus effect is evident in tiny foxes in the Yucatan.
The tiny
animal was part of the mysterious Cozumel fox population, a potentially
undescribed species that had not been officially sighted in more than 20 years.
Park and
museum officials spotted and captured the fox in 2023 and, after a health
assessment, released it back into the wild. Researchers have now shared the
photographs and documented the encounter in a new study published May 4 in the
journal Neotropical
Biology and Conservation.
Although
the rediscovery confirms that Cozumel foxes are still alive, they are likely on
the brink of extinction, the study authors noted
.Cozumel
foxes are an example of insular dwarfism, an evolutionary process in which
larger animals, including fox-sized mammals, evolve to be smaller after colonizing islands,
where there are limited resources and less space than on the mainland. The
foxes aren't the only mammals that have shrunk on Cozumel over time; other
examples include the island's.critically endangered pygmy raccoons (Procyon
pygmaeus) and dwarf coatis.
The Darwinist
tend to picture this an evolutionary process, but it is not.
Source:
Patrick Pester 2026
.
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