Class of 2014 welcomes 221 new animal species

John Hopton for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online

The California Academy of Sciences has detailed the 221 new species they discovered in 2014. The species come from five continents and two oceans, and include finds in remote caves and the bottom of the sea. However, experts tell us that we can all find new species in our gardens too, and considering that we are still to meet 90 percent of the species on Earth perhaps we should be helping out.

The new species of plants and animal include 110 ants, 16 beetles, three spiders, 28 fishes, 24 sea slugs, two marine worms, 9 barnacles, two octocorals, 25 plants, one water bear and one tiny mammal. The discoveries help us to understand how life evolved as well as predicting what shape it may take in future. We can also make better conservation decisions because of what we learned in 2014.

“Academy scientists tirelessly explore the unexplored regions of Earth – not only to discover new species, but also to uncover the importance of these species to the health of our natural systems,” says Dr. Meg Lowman, the Academy’s Chief of Science and Sustainability. “Our findings help to sustain the future of life for our children and grandchildren.”

“Even in our own backyards,” she adds with deserved enthusiasm, “new discoveries abound!”

Across the world, three tiny ray spiders have been discovered in Southeast Asia, where the bio-diversity of the tropical forests in countries like the Philippines and Malaysia makes biologists feel as dwarfed by their task as the spiders are by their surroundings. The number of spider species alone is mind-blowing.

In Africa, a round-eared sengi, or elephant-shrew, was uncovered in the remote deserts of Namibia, a challenging environment for scientists and the find is the result of several years of work. Despite their small size, the creatures are more closely related to elephants, sea cows, and aardvarks than they are to true shrews.

“With only about a dozen new species of mammal discovered in the wild each year, it is amazing that the Academy has been involved in describing three new sengis in the last decade,” says Galen Rathbun, one of the world’s foremost experts on sengis and an Academy Fellow and Research Associate. “There are new and exciting insights into biodiversity awaiting discovery, even in a group as familiar as mammals.”

Meanwhile, over the other side of Africa on the island of Madagascar, entomologist Dr. Brian Fisher, who has worked in the biodiversity rich yet critically threatened region for more than 20 years, found and described 110 new species of ants. One that stands out is the hero ant, which has a range of special nest-building techniques, including the formation of a funnel-like nest to enhance oxygen exchange and protect the colony from suffocation. However, the name “hero” is due to the ants’ defense against predators which involves a brave lone ant tackling an intruder that approaches the entrance, taking them both over the lip of the nest.

“Some arboreal ants have been observed taking to the air to avoid a predator, but no type of ant is known to sacrifice itself alongside an invader,” says Fisher. “This remarkable species is one of thousands threatened by slash-and-burn agriculture in Madagascar. The more we know about this critically diverse region, the more we can do to help protect it.”

Among the dozens of marine life species is a gigantic deepwater worm eel. At nearly 50 inches from head to tail it is the largest of its kind; almost twice as long and three times heavier than any known worm eel. It is believed to live close to 1,000 feet beneath the ocean’s surface and was also found close to the Philippines.

Not all of the species are still with us, in fact at least one is long gone, but they can tell us more about species that we do have. An ancient fossil relative of the megamouth shark has been identified using teeth found in 23-million year old marine sediment California’s Central Valley. The teeth sat around in cabinets for decades after being found during digs in the 1960s and 70s, until finally the required work was done on them and the prehistoric shark was identified.

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