Scientists pick top ten new species
Hippocampus satomiae is one of the ten new species
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Saturday, 23, May 2009 12:01
Scientists have today announced the top ten new species discovered last year.
The list includes a pea-sized seahorse, a four-inch snake and bacteria that live in hairspray.
Experts have also released an SOS – State of Observed Species – report card on human knowledge of Earth's species. In it, they report that 18,516 species new to science were discovered and described in 2007.
Among the top ten new species is a gigantic new plant species and genus of palm – Tahina spectablilis – found in northwestern Madagascar.
The plant actually "flowers" itself to death, scientists claim, producing a terminal inflorescence with countless flowers. After fruiting, the palm then dies and collapses.
Also on the list is a tiny seahorse – Hippocampus satomiae – with a standard length of 0.54 inches and an approximate height of 0.45 inches.
The species was first found near Derawan Island off Kalimantan, Indonesia and was named after the dive guide who collected specimens of the previously unknown species.
A caffeine-free coffee from Cameroon, Coffea charrieriana, is also named by scientists.
And, in the category of "spray-on new species" is an extremophile bacteria that was discovered in hairspray by Japanese scientists.
Another species on the list is the world's longest insect. The Phobaeticus chain is over 22 centimetres long and found in Borneo, Malaysia.
The world's smallest snake, the Barbados Threadsnake – Leptotyphlops carlae – also makes the list, measuring just over four inches in length.
The ghost slug – Selenochlamys ysbryda – was also a surprising find in the well-collected and densely populated area of Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales.
Also on the list is a snail – Opisthostoma vermiculum – found in Malaysia, represents a unique morphological evolution, with a shell that twists around four axes. It is endemic to a unique limestone hill habitat in Malaysia.
The other two species on the top ten list are fish – one found in deep-reef habitat off the coast of Ngemelis Island, Palau, and the other a fossilised specimen of the oldest known live-bearing vertebrate.
Commenting on the list, Quentin Wheeler, an entomologist and director of the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University, said: "Most people do not realize just how incomplete our knowledge of Earth's species is or the steady rate at which taxonomists are exploring that diversity.
"We are surrounded by such an exuberance of species diversity that we too often take it for granted."
The SOS report and list of top ten new species issued annually by ASU's International Institute for Species Exploration is part of its public awareness campaign to shine attention on biodiversity and the field of taxonomy.