Old Crypto Rat Story

In 1908, the native New Zealand rat was believed extinct. From a retrospective:

"Some little while ago Mr Robert Gibb, now Inspector of Apiaries, but formerly a school teacher with a decided leaning towards natural history, told a somewhat incredulous body of savants, through the columns of the Wyndham Farmer, that the native rat of New Zealand was not an extinct animal, as was generally supposed to be the case.
"He declared that he had seen the little rodents nibbling the roots and climbing trees in the native bush surrounding the school at Haldane, in the Waikawa district, and within half a mile of the sea coast, over which school he then presided.
"Mr Robert Hamilton, who resides in that district, corroborates Mr Gibb's statement, and declares that he has seen these animals frequently in the bush.
"They are, he says of a light greyish colour, and in shape resembling a cross between the common rat and a mouse.
"Mr Hamilton is confident that he can secure one or more of the animals alive."

Today, the rat has been synonymized with the Polynesian rat (Rattus exulans), so is no longer considered a distinct species.