Several species have been assumed to exist, but due to a lack of evidence they can only be regarded as potential species. They have caused confusion, as they may have been a separate

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

, a

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

, an

introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived there ...

or a misidentification.

List of hypothetical species

Birds

Dominican green-and-yellow macaw The Dominican green-and-yellow macaw (''Ara atwoodi''), Atwood's macaw or Dominican macaw, is an extinct species of macaw that may have lived on the island of Dominica. It is known only through the writings of British colonial judge Thomas Atwoo ...

* Gallus giganteus *

Guadeloupe amazon The Guadeloupe amazon (''Amazona violacea'') or Guadeloupe parrot, is a hypothetical extinct species of parrot that is thought to have been endemic to the Lesser Antillean island region of Guadeloupe. Mentioned and described by 17th- and 18th- ...

* Guadeloupe parakeet *

Jamaican red macaw The Jamaican red macaw (''Ara gossei'') is a hypothetical species of parrot in the family Psittacidae that lived on Jamaica. History The only reported specimen was shot on Jamaica around 1765, and was later seen by a Dr. Robertson when it was st ...

* Lesser Antillean macaw *

Martinique amazon The Martinique amazon (''Amazona martinicana'') is a hypothetical extinct species of Caribbean parrot in the family Psittacidae. It is not known from any material remains, but was said to be similar to the red-necked amazon (''A. arausiaca'') fro ...

* Martinique macaw * Hypothetical relatives of the Rodrigues Parrot * Red-headed macaw *

White Dodo The dodo (''Raphus cucullatus'') is an extinct flightless bird that was endemic to the island of Mauritius, which is east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. The dodo's closest genetic relative was the also-extinct Rodrigues solitaire. The t ...

/Réunion solitaire (probable misidentification of the

Réunion ibis The Réunion ibis or Réunion sacred ibis (''Threskiornis solitarius'') is an extinct species of ibis that was endemic to the volcanic island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean. The first subfossil remains were found in 1974, and the ibis was firs ...

) *

Réunion swamphen The Réunion swamphen (''Porphyrio caerulescens''), also known as the Réunion gallinule or ' (French for "blue bird"), is a hypothetical extinct species of rail that was endemic to the Mascarene island of Réunion. While only known from 17th- ...

* Painted vulture

Dinosaurs

Archaeoraptor "Archaeoraptor" is the informal generic name for a fossil chimera from China in an article published in ''National Geographic'' magazine in 1999. The magazine claimed that the fossil was a " missing link" between birds and terrestrial theropod ...

Proavis Proavis refers to a hypothetical extinct species or hypothetical extinct taxon and was coined in the early 20th century in an attempt to support and explain the hypothetical evolutionary steps and anatomical adaptations leading from non-avian ther ...

Insects

Venezuelan poodle moth The Venezuelan poodle moth is an as-yet unidentified species of moth photographed in 2009 by Kyrgyzstani zoologist Dr. Arthur Anker in the Gran Sabana region of Venezuela. Anker initially captioned his photo as "Poodle moth, Venezuela", naming ...

*''

Battus polydamas antiquus ''Battus polydamas antiquus'' is an extinct subspecies of the Polydamas swallowtail within the butterfly family Papilionidae. It is only known by a drawing from 1770 by British entomologist Dru Drury. It was endemic to Antigua. There are 21 ''B ...

'' (Possibly based on a misidentification)

Mammals

Chilihueque The chilihueque or hueque was a South American camelid variety or species that existed in central and south-central Chile in Pre-Hispanic and colonial times. There are two main hypotheses on their status among South American camelids: the firs ...

Sumxu The ''sumxu'', Chinese lop-eared cat, drop-eared cat, droop-eared cat, or hanging-ear cat, all names referring to its characteristic feature of pendulous ears, was a possibly mythical, long-haired, lop-eared type of cat or cat-like creature, now c ...

Kting voar The kting voar, also known as the khting vor, linh dương, or snake-eating cow is a bovid mammal reputed to exist in Cambodia and Vietnam. The kting voar's existence as a real species should be regarded as questionable. Characteristics The k ...

Steller's sea ape Steller's sea ape is a purported marine mammal, observed by German zoologist Georg Steller on August 10, 1741, around the Shumagin Islands in Alaska. The animal was described as being around long; with a dog-like head; long drooping whiskers; ...

Marozi The marozi or "spotted lion" is variously claimed by zoologists to be a distinct race of the lion adapted for a montane rather than savanna-dwelling existence, a rare natural hybrid of a leopard and lion, or an adult lion that retained its child ...

Andean wolf The Andean wolf (previously described as ''Dasycyon hagenbecki'', though this now not an accepted taxon) is a purported south american canine that is falsely labelled a wolf. Various tests on the singular pelt have failed to provide a conclusive ...

Kallana Kallana ( ml, കല്ലാന) is a suspected species of dwarf elephants allegedly found in South India. Kaani tribals dwelling in the rainforests of the Western Ghats (Kerala, India) claim that there are two distinct varieties of elephants in ...

*Zhejiang unknown canid

Fish

Bathysphaera An illustration based on Else Bostelmann's reconstruction "''Bathysphaera intacta''", the "giant dragonfish" is species of fish that was described by William Beebe on 22 September 1932, being spotted by the biologist as he descended to a depth of ...

Bathysidus The five-lined constellation fish (''Bathysidus pentagrammus'') is species of fish that was described by William Beebe on 11 August 1934, being spotted by the biologist as he descended to a depth of 580 metres (1900 feet) of the coast of Bermuda. ...

* Bathyembryx

References

Parrots Hypothetical extinct species {{Animal-stub