Check out some amazing new species discovered in 2024

It’s that time of year when scientific organizations take a look at the most amazing new animals, plants, fungi and other species they’ve discovered in the past 12 months.

“Finding and describing new species is critical to understanding our planet’s biodiversity and protecting it from future loss” Shannon BennettThis was reported by the senior researcher of the California Academy of Sciences News release on the discovery of 138 new species by scientists in 2024. They range from the gobi, a fish that lives on sponges in Indonesian waters, to the endangered dahlia from Oaxaca, Mexico.

Bennett said only 10 of the world’s species have been discovered so far, and many of them may be important to the ecosystems in which they are found. “We cannot protect or care about what we do not know exists.”

Scientists from the Natural History Museum in London It reported that 190 new species were discovered in 2024but in addition to creatures, his list includes fossils such as the scavenger moth and the vegetarian piranha, named for its resemblance to the Eye of Sauron. The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Meanwhile, Kew Gardens in London and scholarly publishing Pensoft each published a top 10 list of their favorite discoveries in the past year.

A science news release from 2024 reveals some gems, including the world’s largest hummingbird and a new armadillo.

Here are some of the most interesting findings.

‘Starry Night’ gecko

This small lizard is found in the Ghats mountain range of southwestern India. Ishan Agarwal, a researcher at the Thackeray Wildlife Foundation who announced the discovery in March, said its back reminded researchers of a famous work by 19th-century Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh. “The stunning color of the new species is reminiscent of one of his most iconic paintings. Starry Night.”

Description of the new officially named species Cnemaspis vangoghiPublished in ZooKeys magazine. Its publisher, Pensoft, ranked it #1 on their list The 10 best new species of 2024. They were selected from among new species described in their journals and based on no particular criteria, but said it was a “completely arbitrary” and “fun way” to look back at the year’s weird and wonderful discoveries.

“Black-souled” Aphelandra

Despite this plant’s gorgeous pink flowers and spikes of 110 flowers each, Kew Gardens ranked it only 3rd in its top 10 list. Found in the dry forests of northwestern Colombia, it is related to the zebra plant, a popular cultivated plant from Brazil. A new species like its relative, Aphelandra almanac, Kew Gardens’ Sebastian Kettley and Martin Cheek, who compiled the list, wrote that it “has great potential as a houseplant”. “Unfortunately, the clearing of its habitat means that it is in danger of extinction.”

“Eye of Sauron” fish

The Natural History Museum’s inventory includes a number of interesting discoveries, including a vegetarian piranha called pacu from the Xingu River in Brazil. The museum’s scientists were there to document some of the yet-to-be-discovered freshwater animals. the controversial Belo Monte Dam. Rupert Collins, senior curator of fish at the museum, said one of the reasons such dam projects are moving forward is that the number of unique species that will be affected is underestimated. “Basically, we don’t really know what lives in these places. The new pacu was named Myloplus sauron Because of its resemblance to the Eye of Sauron from Peter Jackson’s film adaptations of JRR Tolkien The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

The cadet’s cleaning moth

Daisy Cadet discovered this unusual trust in her living room in Port Talbot, Wales and posted it on Instagram. One of her followers suggested she contact a British charity called Butterfly Conservation, which links her with the Natural History Museum. Some investigation revealed that it came from a piece of seed pod that got stuck in the boot of Cadet’s mother, Ashleigh, a professional photographer, while flying home from an assignment in central Guyana. Mark Sterling, a researcher at the Natural History Museum, helped identify it as a cleaner moth and name the new species. Carmenta brachyclados, announced the discovery in October.

A fish that lives in a sponge

Scientists at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco discovered 35 new fish in 2024, including this goby from Indonesian waters. A new species, although its closest relatives are free-living fish that inhabit shallow seabeds at depths of less than 10 meters Bathygobius meroin deeper waters, it makes its home in a large sponge between nine and 30 meters from the surface.

The largest hummingbird in the world

Although large animals are often easier to spot than small ones, it took until 2024 to discover the world’s largest, the southern giant hummingbird. It turns out that a different species of giant hummingbird led scientists to the discovery. Known species, Patagonia gigasbreeds along the Pacific coast of central Chile, but disappears after the breeding season. Researchers from the University of New Mexico, the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and the Centro de Ornitología y Biodiversidad University in Peru decided to follow them by wearing mini GPS backpacks. They found that the birds flew as far north as the Andes, Peru. There, they walk among a new species of giant hummingbird, a larger giant hummingbird that lives year-round at high altitudes. A new species has been named Patagonia chaski After the chascan ambassador of the Inca empire.

New Andean glass frog

The lavender-eyed green translucent frog was among two new glass frog species found in Ecuador’s southern Andes. Glass frogs are a group of amphibians whose hearts are visible through their transparent bellies. The most common was thought to be Buckley’s glass frog, found throughout much of the tropical Andes. But new research published in August showed that what were thought to be one species are actually several with different physical characteristics, calls, and genetics. One of the new species described above is named Marco Reyes’ glass frog. Centrolene markerAfter the late renowned herpetologist at Ecuador’s National Biodiversity Institute.

Guiana long-nosed armadillo

New species for 2024 include a number of mammals, including rats, mice and the first new armadillo species in 30 years. Like Buckley’s glass frogs, nine-banded armadillos were thought to have a wide range. But genetic tests show there are actually four species, including one that is slightly larger than the other three and lives in a part of northeastern South America called the Guiana Shield – the Guiana long-nosed armadillo. Dasypus guianensis.

A new parasitoid wasp from Texas

While many of these new species are found in fairly exotic locations, even North American cities have new creatures waiting to be discovered. A new type of bee, Chrysonotomy susbelliFound on the campus of Rice University in Houston. “You don’t have to travel to remote rainforests to find new and beautiful things—you just have to go out and look,” said Scott Egan, associate professor of biosciences. The wasp was found inside tumor-like growths created by a wasp called a gall wasp. Neuroterus bussaeon leaves of southern live oaks. It belongs to a group of parasitoid wasps that prey on the larvae of other insects, but this species is the first of its kind to target gall wasps.