Rare Plant Thought Extinct for 60 Years Suddenly Rediscovered in Australia

Scientists have confirmed the discovery of a rare plant species, Tilotus senarius, believed extinct for 60 years, in a remote area of Australia. The discovery was made after a photo taken on a mobile phone by Aaron Bin was uploaded to the digital nature platform iNaturalist, where botanist Anthony Bin identified the plant. This species has now been listed as “critically endangered,” opening the door for dedicated conservation budgets and plans.

Kathmandu, April 17—Scientists have found a rare plant in a remote part of Australia that was thought to have completely disappeared from the world nearly six decades ago. The breakthrough was made possible when a bird watcher uploaded a mobile phone photograph to the nature community website iNaturalist. This discovery underscores the growing importance of citizen participation and smartphone technology in modern biodiversity research and conservation.

Aaron Bin, a professional horticulturalist, was involved in attaching identification bands to the legs of birds in a remote outback region of Queensland, Australia. During this work, he spotted an unusual shrub species and photographed it. Later, when mobile network access was available, he shared the image on the nature enthusiast website iNaturalist. Among millions of photos on the platform, botanist Anthony Bin from the Queensland Herbarium took notice of this particular image. He recognized it as the rare plant scientifically known as Tilotus senarius.

Until now, this species had not been observed in the wild since 1967 and was believed to be entirely extinct. Interestingly, botanist Anthony Bin had first scientifically described and named the species a decade earlier based on historic collections. The details of this rediscovery, published in the “Australian Journal of Botany,” describe the plant as a small, delicate shrub with pink and purple flowers that resemble small fireworks when in bloom. This plant is found only in the rugged and rocky northern region of Australia known as the Gulf of Carpentaria.