Vampire hedgehog, dwarf pipe horse, and blob-headed fish are among new species identified in 2024.

The vampire hedgehog, dwarf pipe horse, and blob-headed fish are among hundreds of new species identified in 2024.

The diversity of species identified was quite eclectic, and new species names spanned a wide range of locations and formations – some even inspired by politicians or celebrities.

A new species of plant insect has been named after Vice President Kamala Harris (P. Kamalaharisai(and another after Harrison Ford)P. Harrisonfordi) for its commitments to climate science and environmental conservation, said California Academy of Sciences researcher Brad Balukian, who introduced 17 new species to the world. False A family from French Polynesia.

Actor and ecologist Leonardo DiCaprio has named a new species of snake after him. Researchers Discover the small copper-coloured snake in the Himalayas It is called the type Anguiculus dicaprioi.

Locations where scientists have discovered these species include Peru, the Ecuadorian Amazon, and the Greater Mekong region in South Asia. California Academy of Sciences Their scientists said they had reached results He crossed six continents and three oceans, resulting in the description of 138 new species of animals, plants and fungi.

“Finding and describing new species is vital to understanding our planet’s biodiversity and protecting it from further loss,” said virologist Shannon Bennett, head of science at the California Academy of Sciences.

The number of new species identified in 2024 cannot be counted or quantified from a single list. Researchers present their findings in various papers, conferences and among the scientific community. Consolidation just got trickier Because discoveries can be made by anyone, anywhere, but describe and identify a new species It requires a scientific process.

This process involves studying and analyzing the new specimen and similar organisms, then giving the species a new name. The type can be detected, but may not necessarily be described until years later.

When scientists describe a new species, they liken it to an “outer ball,” Bennett told CBS News. For the first time, the species is being properly recognized, and it finally has its place in the world, Bennett said.

Regardless, Bennett said, “scientists estimate that we have only identified one-tenth of all species on Earth.”

Here are some of the highlights of 2024.

The vampire hedgehog, a soft-furred hedgehog with “fang-like teeth”

according to Report from WWFThis year, 234 species were identified in the Greater Mekong region, which includes Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.

And he was among them Helumis spaghettia vampire hedgehog. The hedgehog’s soft fur and fang-like teeth inspired its scientific name. The word Ma cà rồng is Vietnamese for “vampire”.

The vampire hedgehog was first photographed in 2009 in the wild in Vietnam by a team from the Russian-Vietnamese Research Centre, as a new species as part of an international effort to review the taxonomy of the smaller hedgehog, WWF said.

Researcher Arlo Hinckley told WWF that the specimens that helped lead to the description of the vampire hedgehog were located at the Smithsonian. He stressed the importance of preserving samples collected from “poorly sampled areas” so that the “next generation” of researchers can make new discoveries that may have been overlooked.

The dwarf pipe horse is found off the coast of South Africa

Researchers at the California Academy of Scientists knew they might discover something new after local divers in South Africa’s Sodwana Bay told them about an unusual species. But scientists were worried they wouldn’t be able to spot the tiny dwarf pipe horse, which is roughly the size of a golf ball.

“South Africa’s coral reefs present very challenging diving conditions with extreme weather and heavy, choppy waves – we knew we only had one dive to find them,” said scientist and study co-author Richard Smith. In a press release Earlier this month.

But Smith and Graham Short were the scientists who originally described the genus of the dwarf pipehorse SELEX In 2021 – they are not deterred, according to the academy. Originally, the dwarf pipe horse was found in the cold temperate waters surrounding the North Island of New Zealand. The discovery of a new species in subtropical waters has expanded the range of the group.

“Fortunately, we spotted a camouflaged female in front of some sponges about a mile offshore on the sandy ocean floor,” Smith said in the press release.

They called the new species of pygmy pipehorse C- The kingThe academy said, after the local Zulu word for “chief.”

Bubble-headed fish baffle researchers

Of eight new fish species identified in Peru’s Alto Mayor region this year, the most shocking is the “bubblehead fish.” according to a report published This month by the non-profit group Conservation International.

In the summer of 2022, researchers with the group’s Rapid Assessment Program conducted a biological survey across a largely unstudied area of ​​the central region of Alto Mai, finding what were later determined to be at least 27 species new to science and 49 threatened with extinction. , for each IUCN Red List.

Among those who were new It was a “bubble-headed fish” in Chaytostoma Genus, which includes the rough-mouthed armored catfish. Conservation International said the team’s ichthyologists had never before seen a fish with an enlarged, bubble-like head.

“The function of this unusual structure remains a mystery,” the researchers said in a statement.

However, the researchers said the species was already familiar to Awajon indigenous people who were working with the rapid assessment program.