We are facing a biodiversity crisis, although resolving this is hampered by how little we know about global diversity. Despite discovering approximately 18,000 new species each year, scientists estimate that we have only catalogued about 20% of life on Earth. At the same time, species are vanishing before we even know they exist. Others, already described, remain hidden from scientific observation for decades, with their status unknown, caught in a limbo between extant and extinct. Understanding and protecting these neglected species is at the heart of what we do at RARElab (https://rarelab.org/).
Among a wide range of other work, RARElab is dedicated to finding, studying, and conserving lost, rare, and understudied species. These include species that have yet to be described, have not been reliably observed in decades, are classified as data-deficient due to a lack of research, and are already endangered and at risk of extinction. Our mission is to bridge the gap between discovery and conservation by using cutting-edge research methods, including bioacoustics, remote sensing, camera traps, and machine learning, to locate and monitor these species.
Andrew J. Fairbairn
Annika Neuhaus
RARElab was founded by Andrew Fairbairn and Annika Neuhaus, two doctoral researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) with a shared passion for wildlife conservation. Andrew, an expert in ecology, conservation and conservation technology, and Annika, who specializes in behavioural and chemical ecology as well as mammal conservation in zoological institutions, have worked in diverse ecosystems from Germany to Iceland, the Caribbean, and Africa. Their global fieldwork experiences have provided them with unique insights into the challenges facing biodiversity and the urgent need for innovative approaches to species discovery, rediscovery and conservation. Together, they established RARElab to bridge the gap between traditional field biology and cutting-edge technology in the quest to discover and protect lost and understudied species.
The last known Passenger pigeon, once the most abundant bird in North America died in captivity in 1914. Image from the H. H. Brimley Collection, PhC.42, State Archives of NC. Public Domain.
The urgency of this work cannot be overstated. According to the IUCN Red List (2024), an estimated 18% to 31% of terrestrial vertebrates are threatened with extinction. Birds, the best-studied vertebrate group, have the lowest estimated extinction risk at around 12%, while nearly half of all amphibians may be under threat (IUCN 2024). Beyond these known endangered species, many others have simply disappeared from scientific records. There are an estimated 562 lost terrestrial vertebrates—species not observed in over 50 years—including 257 reptiles, 137 amphibians, 130 mammals, and 38 birds (Martin et al. 2022). Expanding this definition to include species not seen in ten years or more, the number of lost species exceeds 1,600 (re:wild 2025). For birds alone, 144 species could be considered lost (Rutt et al. 2024). More than 90% of these lost species occur in the tropics, where research is often scarce and conservation resources are limited (Martin et al. 2022).
West African Oyan, Poiana leightoni (VU). A lost species not reliably observed since the late 1980’s.
To address this crisis, we focus on four key areas:
As we face unprecedented challenges in biodiversity conservation, RARElab is teaming up with Opwall in a new partnership to demonstrate how combining different approaches and expertise can create more effective solutions for protecting our planet’s precious biodiversity.
Our partnership begins with an innovative bioacoustics project (focusing initially on Madagascar and Honduras) that leverages Opwall’s standardized monitoring protocols to evaluate the effectiveness and practical considerations of bioacoustic monitoring in tropical environments. This project will help establish best practices for using acoustic monitoring technology at large scales with limited training in challenging field conditions. From this first project we hope to develop a wide range of projects examining how technological applications can improve our knowledge of lost and under-studied species.
The partnership brings together RARElab’s expertise in cutting-edge research methods—including bioacoustics, remote sensing, and machine learning—with Opwall’s nearly 30-year history of conducting biodiversity research expeditions worldwide. Opwall’s unique student-funded model has enabled the creation of invaluable long-term datasets spanning multiple decades across various ecosystems, providing an ideal framework for understanding patterns and drivers of biodiversity change as well as testing and implementing innovative monitoring approaches.
We look forward to sharing updates about our joint projects and the discoveries that emerge from this exciting new partnership.
re:wild, lost species: by the numbers, accessed 28 August 2024, https://www.rewild.org/lost-species-by-the-numbers
IUCN, ‘The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2024-1’, IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, accessed 30 June 2024, https://www.iucnredlist.org/en.
Martin et al., ‘“Lost” Taxa and Their Conservation Implications’, Animal Conservation, 2022, acv.12788, https://doi.org/10.1111/acv.12788.
Rutt et al., ‘Global Gaps in Citizen-Science Data Reveal the World’s “Lost” Birds’, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 2024, https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.2778.
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