14 DAY TRIAL // Conservationists are often going on and on about how humans have driven several plant and animals species to extinction, and about how many others will soon fall off the biodiversity map as well.
Still, every once in a while, some good news comes our way. Thus, it appears that, despite having been considered to be extinct for several decades now, an ocean dweller species known as the smoothtooth blacktip shark is alive and kicking.
In fact, the creature is a fairly common sight at fish markets in the Middle East, Grist reports.
The same source details that this shark species, whose more official name is Carcharhinus leiodon, was first documented by science back in 1902, when a researcher by the name Wilhelm Hein stumbled upon a specimen in Yemen in Western Asia.
Since no other smoothtooth blacktip shark was found in the area, specialists decided to list the species as an extinct one.
It was only later, when several dozen such creatures were found at fish markets in the Middle East, that they realized their assumption was wrong. In 2013, a paper describing the species was published in the journal Marine & Freshwater Research.
Despite not having gone extinct, smoothtooth blacktip sharks are not exactly having the time of their life either. On the contrary, they are endangered and could use some help surviving in the long run.