--- description: The bat reappeared in Papua New Guinea, according to a new study title: “Extinct” Bat Isn’t Actually Extinct image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt153bcbfbf1cef688/6986963fcd804d5ed0ccb517/163436740.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 'Extinct' Bat Isn’t Actually Extinct  by [Jack Linshi](/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 4, 2014 9:15 PM CUT  Flying Brown Long-eared Bat (Plecotus auritus) Flying Brown Long-eared Bat (Plecotus auritus)Yves Adams—Getty Images  by [Jack Linshi](/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 4, 2014 9:15 PM CUT When the New Guinea big-eared bat, which hadn’t been seen for over a century, was captured, it hadn’t even been hiding. In fact, student researchers Catherine Hughes and Julie Broken-Brow from the University of Queensland trapped the bat in Papua New Guinea in July 2012 while it was flying in an open area by a logged rainforest now overrun by grasslands, according to [their study](http://australianmuseum.net.au/journal/Hughes-2014-Rec-Aust-Mus-664-225232 "undefined") published in _Records of the Australian Museum_. The bat remained an unidentified species for nearly two years at the Papua New Guinea National Museum and Art Gallery until Dr. Harry Parnaby, a researcher at the Australian Museum, requested to loan the mystery mammal. He subsequently identified it as _Pharotis imogene_, a critically endangered species according to the IUCN Red List. With ears nearly twice the size of its face, the insectivore—so tiny you could lift it with a pair of chopsticks—had last been seen in 1890, said researcher Dr. Luke Leung [in a statement](http://www.uq.edu.au/news/article/2014/06/extinct%E2%80%99-bat-rediscovered-after-120-years-wilderness "undefined"). It’s not the first time a species has seemingly risen from the dead: the [La Palma giant lizard](http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/photos/lazarus-species-13-extinct-animals-found-alive/la-palma-giant-lizard "undefined"), for example, was rediscovered in 2007 after its 500-year long “extinction.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2823182/extinct-bat-isnt-actually-extinct/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2823182/extinct-bat-isnt-actually-extinct/"},"headline":"'Extinct' Bat Isn’t Actually Extinct","datePublished":"2014-06-04T21:15:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:10:23.499Z","description":"The bat reappeared in Papua New Guinea, according to a new study","url":"https://time.com/2823182/extinct-bat-isnt-actually-extinct/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Australia","Species","Papua New Guinea","animal"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt153bcbfbf1cef688/6986963fcd804d5ed0ccb517/163436740.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jack Linshi","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt153bcbfbf1cef688/6986963fcd804d5ed0ccb517/163436740.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"163436740","caption":"163436740","creditText":"Yves Adams—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2823182/extinct-bat-isnt-actually-extinct/","name":"'Extinct' Bat Isn’t Actually Extinct"}}]}] ```