Top 10 New Species of 2016 | Have A Look !
Every year on the birthday of Carolus Linnaeus, the 18th century Swedish botanist who is considered the father of modern taxonomy, the International Institute for Species Exploration releases its list of the top new species from among about 18,000 found over the previous 12 months.
Angling for the ugliest anglerfish to a sparkling damselfly, here are the Top 10.
- Giant tortoise
Name: Chelonoidis donfaustoi
Location: Galapagos, Ecuador
No animals are more immediately associated with evolution or Charles Darwin than the giant tortoises of the Galapagos but a careful analysis shows that a small population of over 250 individuals in the eastern region of the island is genetically and morphologically different. This discovery has immediate, important conservation implications. The new species was named in honor of a park ranger known as “Don Fausto,” who worked 43 years to conserve the giant tortoises of Galapagos.
2. Giant Sundew
Name: Drosera magnifica
Location: Brazil
Believed to be the first new species of plant discovered through photographs posted on Facebook, the plant is also a record setter of the largest sundew ever seen in the New World, growing to 123 cm (48 inches
). With nearly 200 species, the sundew genus is one of the most species-rich groups of carnivorous plants. Although it is new to science, this sundew is considered to be critically endangered. It is a microendemic, known to exist only at the summit of a single mountain in Brazil, 1,550 meters (5,000 feet) above sea level. Although locally abundant, its habitat is isolated, limited and fragile.3. Hominin
Name: Homo naledi
Location: South Africa
Similar in size and weight to a modern human, and with humanlike hands and feet, the new species has a braincase more similar in size to earlier ancestors living 2 million to 4 million years ago, as well as shoulders, pelvis, and ribcage more closely resembling earlier hominins than modern humans. The exact age of the remains, once determined, will have implications for the early history of our genus.
4. Isopods
Name: Iuiuniscus iuiuensis
Location: Brazil
This isopod, just over 9 mm (a third of an inch) in length, builds spherical, irregularly shaped shelters in which it molts. While shedding its exoskeleton, it is especially vulnerable to predators. Some Palearctic isopods are known to build shelters, but this is a first for the New World. The new species is unique among its Brazilian cave-inhabiting relatives in having tapering plates at the base of its legs that give it a spiny appearance.
5. Anglerfish
Name: Lasiognathus dinema
Location: Gulf of Mexico
If this fish from the Gulf of Mexico, barely 50 mm (about two inches) long, were angling for ugliest among the Top 10 New Species, it might succeed. It was discovered during a Natural Resource Damage Assessment conducted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010. The unusual structure called the esca that is projected over their heads is home to symbiotic bacteria that are bioluminescent, producing light that is a rare commodity in the depths of the ocean and is presumed to attract prey. Either way, these are among the most unusual features of any fish in form and function.
6. Seadragon
Name: Phyllopteryx dewysea
Location: Australia
This new kind of marine fish, 240 mm (nearly 10 inches) in length, is a striking shade of ruby red with pink vertical bars and light markings on its snout. Only the third known species of seadragon, it is found in slightly deeper and more offshore waters than the related common or leafy seadragons. The discovery was made off the coast of Western Australia. Aside from its spectacular appearance, it is a reminder of what we have yet to discover about marine species diversity. If ruby red dragons nearly a foot long in shallow waters have escaped our attention, what else do we not yet know?
7. Tiny beetle
Name: Phytotelmatrichis osopaddington
Location: Peru
This species owes its charming Latin name to Paddington Bear, a lovable character who became a classic in children’s literature after he was introduced in 1958. Like him, the new beetle hails from Peru and was found making its home in the pools of water that collect in the hollows of plants, such as tree holes. The researchers hope the new species’ name will draw attention to the threatened Andean spectacled bear that inspired the Paddington books. This is a featherwing beetle, the family that includes the smallest known group of beetles and which is named for the distinctive shape of their wings. Most of them are found on the forest floor where they feed on decomposing materials. So far, the plants documented as hosts to the new species belong to the Zingiberales, an order of flowering plants that include ginger and banana among 2,000 others.
8. New primate
Name: Pliobates cataloniae
Location: Spain
This ape, nicknamed “Laia” by her discoverers, was a small female that lived about 11.6 million years ago in what is now Spain, climbing trees and eating fruit. It appears she was 4 to 5 kg (roughly 9 to 11 pounds) in weight, suggesting a diminutive height of about 43 cm (17 inches). Her discovery suggests greater morphological diversity existed at that time, in the Miocene, than previously thought, and raises the possibility that early humans could have been more closely related to gibbons than the great apes. Her name is a popular Catalan diminutive of the name “Eulàlia,” the original patron saint of the city of Barcelona.
9. Flowering tree
Name: Sirdavidia solannona
Location: Gabon
If we needed more examples of how species are just waiting to be discovered under our very noses, this is Exhibit A. This new tree species was found just feet from the main road at Monts de Cristal National Park in Gabon. But it probably eluded discovery because scientists focused on larger trees. The Sirdavidia solannona is less 20 feet high, with a diameter of just 4 inches. Interestingly, the new species’ flowers resemble those of certain Solanum, the genus of the nightshade family that includes potatoes and tomatoes, that are associated with the “buzz” pollination syndrome. If buzz pollination is confirmed, it would be the first example in this family or any other early-diverged flowering plant, and an unexpected example of convergent reproductive evolution.
10. Sparklewing
Name: Umma gumma
Location: Gabon
This new damselfly is just one of a staggering number of newly discovered dragonflies and damselflies from Africa. Sixty new species were reported in a single publication this year, the most for any single paper in more than a century and a surprising leap forward in knowledge for one of the better-known insect orders. Given that the genus name is Umma, it was quick work to give this lovely and delicate damselfly a name that might be familiar to rock-and-roll fans: the band Pink Floyd named its 1969 double album Ummagumma.
