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New species

About 18,000 species discovered

By Sandeep BhandariPublished 5 months ago 8 min read

Newly Discovered in 2023

with about 18,000 species discovered per year these are some of the species described by science in 2023 that got our attention because they're all so new many of them don't even have a common name yet welcome back to all about nature on my channel I try to bring nature related content that's both educational and entertaining if you like this kind of content then please consider liking the video leaving a comment or even subscribing to the channel I really appreciate your support discovered during Bat surveys in Peninsular Thailand and Malaysia this species of roundleaf bat has a different nose structure from similar species and a different pitch of vocalization it has been observed in Thailand the mainland of Malaysia and the northern part of Borneo though it likely occurs widely on the island of Borneo researchers also think that it may occur on the island of Palawan in the Philippines five new species of snail eeding snakes were described from surveys in Panama and Colombia this tree dwelling species was named in honor of the actor Leonardo DiCaprio thanks to his extensive work in bringing awareness to conservation the species is known from 16 localities in Panama and Columbia one of the localities is at a much higher elevation and has a different scale pattern after genetic research is complete it may turn out to be yet a new species on the Eastern slopes of the Ecuadorian Andes a new species of stream frog was discovered this species of stream frog has only ever been found once and it was enough for researchers to name it as a new species due to its unique coloration which is unlike any other species of stream frog its species name Tolan is in honor of the author JRR tolken as its color evokes the Magnificent creatures that seem to only exist in fantasy worlds in the tiny country of teor Lee the first ever species of bent toed gecko has been described researchers saw the geckos during the day in the lenara cave in ninoon Santana National Park but they were unable to catch them as they were very skittish they returned at night and managed to catch 10 eventually describing the new species Jim are mammals closely related to hedgehogs they're also called hairy hedgehogs or moonrats this species was described from the mountains of Eastern Mindanao where no scientific survey for mammals had ever been done before it was given the epithet intermedia because its size falls in the middle of the species within its genus discovered in the northeastern Indian state of misam the misam parachute gecko is one of now 14 known species of parachute gecko it was discovered in trees close to human dwellings parachute geckos have enlarged skin flaps that allow them to camouflage against trees or Glide between them this new species of orb weaver was found in Tasmania other similar speci specimens are in museum Collections and were collected in Southeastern Australia so the species may have quite a wide range unlike other orb weavers that hide in a leaf in their web this species constructs its own Hideout from silk and is morphologically different enough to not just be a new species but represent a whole new genus the spider makes its web every night then dismantles it during the day it was named after Tom Hardy the actor who plays Venom in the Marvel franchise this species of pikm squid was named after Kodama a tree Spirit from Japanese folklore and jiujitsu the martial art that involves maneuvering your opponent into submission similar to the Squid's hunting technique the species lives close to the Shoreline of okanawa where it inhabits coral reefs and seagrass beds where it hunts shrimp the llin crocodile noot was described in July of this year from the central Highlands of Vietnam it's only 6 cm long without the tail and represents the 39th known species of crocodile no its Latin name literally means lumpy merman from the Nolin and it's distinguished from other species by its coloration and the arrangement of its gland warts this new species of Palm from Borneo went undetected for a long time for several reasons for one it's quite small but also it has no visible fruit or flower it was discovered that this species of palm produces both its fruit and flowers underground how it gets pollinated is still a mystery the main distributor of the seeds is the bearded Pig which loves to dig up the Palm's bright red fruit vampire wasps are known for their parasitic reproductive Behavior the females lay their eggs on invertebrates like spiders and caterpillars once they hatch they feed on their host while it's still alive near aitos Peru a new species was described this year that looks interesting it almost seems to be smiling its Latin name means bigheaded japa of the Amazon paleontologist dug up some abelisaur fossils this year in Morocco they dated to 66 million years ago just before the asteroid impact that ended the reign of the dinosaurs at first they believed the dinosaur to be a juvenile chanos surus as as the species was known to inhabit the region at that time but after closer examination they realized the fossil had markings of fully developed adult bones it turned out that they had the fossils of not just one but two new species of abelisaur dinosaurs this small species of anemone is from the Gulf of Mexico it's quite small and hides in the crevices of rocks interestingly this species has been known about by divers and aquarists for decades but it lacked any formal description or taxonomic classification this year it was given the Latin name of 500 million years ago they are the only living seapods with an externalized bony structure before this year four species were known but in 2023 scientists nearly doubled the number of known species when they described three new species found off the coasts of three different islands in the South Pacific banatu American Samoa and vti levu Fiji because Nautilus are prized for their shell the new species may already be in danger of extinction from overt trapping this year a new species of giant crab spider also known as Huntsman was described in the northern Amazon of Ecuador this huge red spider is similar to some giant crab spiders found in Peru but can be distinguished by its reproductive system these rust colored spiders don't spin webs but rather wait in the underbrush for prey to pass by When the tide split open some Boulders in the moraki formation of New Zealand scientists were surprised to find a new species of ancient giant penguin another species in the genus kumimanu had been named in late 2017 but this was a new species kumimanu for say is the largest known species of extinct penguin likely weighing up to 160 kg and standing 1.6 M tall they probably had very similar Lifestyles to Modern Penguins though they were able to consume much larger prey this species of catfish was described this year from carala India it's air breathing and Subterranean living in underground water water channels and Wells but what really makes it unique is its lack of eyes and its red coloration scientists believe that the diversity of subterranean species is highly underestimated and many more species are waiting to be found skx tree frogs are among the most diverse clayes of neotropical amphibians with nearly 130 recognized species in in the Amazonian lowlands of central Peru this new species was described off of only two males that were collected they have cryptic coloration with bright orange blotches and spots on their groins posterior surface of the thighs and Shanks they differ from other skinx tree frogs by having a more rounded head that lacks the proboscis other species have their habitat is currently threatened by wildfires and its Latin name means groins of fire Harrison Ford's slander snake was discovered in otii National Park in the Peruvian Highlands only one was found and it was named after the actor to honor his environmental advocacy the specimen that was found measured just over 40 cm in length and was a pale yellow color with black stripes Harrison Ford also has a spider and an ant named after him basilosaurus are a family of extinct satation unlike any living Marine Mammal today they had Serpentine bodies and small hind lims a new species was described in Peru this year that was particularly unique it was described off of 18 fossilized bones mostly vertebrae and ribs and scientists noticed that the bones were particularly dense they believed that this new species likely relied on being heavier in order to remain underwater much like a manate or Duong scientists estimate that it weighed at least 85 tons making it heavier than any terrestrial animal that has ever lived they also estimate that it could have weighed as much as 340 tons making it twice the weight of the blue whale and the heaviest known animal to have ever existed the yupi Chena butterflies are found primarily in the lowlands of tropical North and South America the majority of the species are hard to distinguish with most having brown wings and yellow spots on their under wings they're one of the hardest groups of butterflies to classify as they're all so similar similar as genetic testing has improved scientists have finally been able to sort the different species out this year a new genus was established named after the JRR tolken villain Sauron two species have been placed into the sarona genus but scientists believe that there are likely many more to be described there were eight known species of pangin but this year some scientists have discovered a ninth species penguins are among the most trafficked animals on Earth their scales and claws are used in China for traditional medicine over the past few years researchers have been identifying seized animals genetically to see which species are being targeted they were surprised when a set of 27 scales and Claws showed significant genetic differences from the existing known species given the name Manis Mysteria this species is of Unknown Origin though it's most closely related to the Asian pangolins and is believed to be from Southeast Asia it's likely nearly physically identical to other species explaining why it hasn't been described Until Now ladies Tresses orchids are a common site around Tokyo these flowers have long spiraled flower stocks that look like flowing locks of hair but researchers noticed that some flowered a month earlier than others they took a closer look at the floral structure and examined their DNA and realized that what they all assumed to be one species of orchid was actually two very similar species the haijima ladi's dress's Orchid is less abundant but still common throughout the city Firefish or dartfish are stunningly colored tropical marine fish that are commonly kept in the home aquarium while the genus is small the species are well known in 2023 researchers noticed that some fish in museum collections that were labeled as hellick Firefish were slightly different their heads were mostly yellow with a distinct purple marking above the eyes and on top of the head genetic research was performed and it was described as a new species recently a lot of new gecko species have been described when researchers visited scafell Island a small tropical island about 30 km off the coast of Queensland Australia they were surprised to find a rather large new species of leaf tailed gecko measuring about 15 cm long this species has long slender toes for gripping the rocks that they live on they only have a suitable range of about 1.3 Square km which means that the species is already at risk of Extinction and that's it for today.

Nature

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    SBWritten by Sandeep Bhandari

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