Tales from the Geek

Filed under the heading "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence," a saying that is usually misapplied in politics but has real meaning in science, is this from the Beeb for Thursday:

One of the rarest species of rabbit in the world has been spotted for only the third time in the last 35 years.

The Sumatran striped rabbit was photographed in late January on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, the Wildlife Conservation Society said.

The species is listed as critically endangered by the World Conservation Union, due to loss of habitat.

The rabbit was previously photographed in 2000, with the last sighting by a scientist back in 1972. ...

"This rabbit is so poorly known that any proof of its continued existence at all is great news, and confirms the conservation importance of Sumatra's forests," Mr Poole said.

Numerous studies name habitat loss as the primary threat to endangered species.