Perth, Jan 19: Ptilotus senarius (Amaranthaceae), a small slender shrub presumed extinct in the wild, has been rediscovered in northern Queensland after going unrecorded since 1967.
In June 2025, horticulturalist and bird bander Aaron Bean uploaded smartphone photos of an unusual plant to the citizen science platform iNaturalist while working on private property in Queensland’s Gilbert River region. Researchers later confirmed the identification after collecting a new specimen from the site.
The authors say the finding underscores iNaturalist’s growing value for conservation and biodiversity research—helping capture observations from hard-to-reach locations, share them instantly, and connect them with expert identifiers worldwide.
“Rediscoveries offer that opportunity to conduct follow-up, targeted surveys and consistent long-term monitoring to give us a better understanding of exactly where and how these species are distributed across the landscape” says study lead author Thomas Mesaglio from the UNSW School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences.
“iNaturalist has especially become an invaluable tool for recording biodiversity on private property, which can often be difficult to access by professional researchers,” Mesaglio said.
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