New Species News

October 14, 2016

New Species of Jurassic Reptile

Fossil from Oldest Ancestor of Modern Sea Turtles

New Large Prehistoric Shark Discovered

Not One, but Four Giraffe Species

Latest Headlines

updated 8:23am EDT

Ornamental Plants for Conserving Bees, Beneficial Insects

Oct. 13, 2016 — Insects play a vital role in ecosystem health, helping to aerate soil, keeping the natural system in balance, and preventing detrimental pests from taking over essential ... read more

Temporary Extinction Reprieve for Some Frogs

Oct. 12, 2016 — Australian scientists have good news for frog conservation: there may be longer than expected time to intervene before climate change causes extinction of some ... read more

Rainforest: Roads for Species Conservation?

Oct. 11, 2016 — The impact of old forest roads on the species diversity in the rainforest of Central Guyana has been the focus of recent research. Investigators reached the conclusion that ... read more

Iranian Coastal Waters: New Home to a Rarely Seen Venomous Sea Snake

Oct. 10, 2016 — Günther's sea snake (Microcephalophis cantoris), a rarely seen venomous sea snake with distribution thought to stretch from the Malay Peninsula to Pakistan, has now been ... read more

Flying Jewels Spell Death for Tarantulas: Study of a North American Spider Fly Genus

Oct. 5, 2016 — Spider flies are usually a rarely encountered group of insects, except in Western North America, where the North American ... read more

In the Belly of the Devil: New Rare Ant Species Found in the Stomach of a Poison Frog

Oct. 4, 2016 — While new ant species are usually discovered in surveys involving researchers searching through leaf litter, it turns out ... read more

Peccaries of Mesoamerica Now Highly Threatened, Warn Experts

Oct. 4, 2016 — Hunting, deforestation, and cattle ranching in Mesoamerica have become a triad of trouble for the white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari), an ecologically important species now ... read more

Enormous Biodiversity in Amazonia: Unexpected Biogeographical Boundaries

Oct. 5, 2016 — New information necessitates revising the scenarios on how the enormous species richness in Amazonia has evolved and which factors define ... read more

The Great Feeding-Frenzy: Species-Rich Food Webs Produce Biomass More Efficiently

Oct. 5, 2016 — Researchers have discovered a feedback in complex food webs: species-rich ecosystems favor large, heavy animals. Even though ... read more

Unexpected Biogeographical Boundaries Found in Amazonia

Oct. 4, 2016 — The new information necessitates revising the scenarios on how the enormous species richness in Amazonia has evolved, and which factors define species distributions, ... read more

Borneo Loggers Swap Chainsaws for Cheap Healthcare

NASA's DNA Sequencer Could Be A 'Game Changer' For Long-Term Missions

Genetically Engineered Mosquitoes to Fight Zika

How To Tell If Your Food Is Genetically Modified: It's Complicated

New Nematode Is Hermaphrodite: One of the Smallest Known Earthworms Found in Jaén

Oct. 13, 2016 — Around nine kilometres south of the city of Jaén (Spain), Spanish scientists have found a new species of nematode in the compost at a vegetable garden. The specimens found are extremely small, with ... read more

Choosing a Mate: It's the Brain, Not the Nose, That Knows

Oct. 4, 2016 — How does a male moth find the right type of female for mating when there are two similar types luring him with their pheromones? In many species, differences in the antenna used by the male to smell ... read more

Fossils Can Help Predict Future Species Survival

Sep. 27, 2016 — Many people are concerned about conservation of the planet's cute and cuddlies. But in a world of global climate change, sometimes we must prioritize which species we can and should save from ... read more

Caspian Terns Discovered Nesting 1,000 Miles Farther to the North Than Ever Recorded in Alaska

Sep. 23, 2016 — In the late summer of 2016, a field team monitored Caspian tern chicks through to fledging in Cape Krusenstern National Monument in Alaska. This discovery of Caspian terns breeding above the Arctic ... read more

Different Tree Species Use the Same Genes to Adapt to Climate Change, Researchers Find

Sep. 22, 2016 — Both pine and spruce use the same suite of 47 genes to adapt to geographic variation in temperature, and to appropriately time acquisition of cold hardiness -- a trait that allows plants to tolerate ... read more

Malaysia's Unique Freshwater Mussels in Danger

Sep. 21, 2016 — Peninsular Malaysia hosts at least three rare mussel species, one of which (Hyriopsis bialata) is not found anywhere else on the planet. Now investigators suggest that this species may be in danger. ... read more

To Understand the Oceans' Microbes, Follow Function, Not Form

Sep. 21, 2016 — A mathematician may have discovered a key to understanding the constantly changing distribution of microbial species in the world’s oceans—classify microorganisms by their biochemical function, ... read more

Plant Diversity Alleviates the Effects of Flooding on Crops

Sep. 20, 2016 — In grasslands, growing plants in higher diversity fields may help alleviate the negative impacts of flooding. This finding may extend to how we grow important food crops. In a long-term biodiversity ... read more

Whales Might Be Hidden, but These New Buoys Can Help Find Them

Sep. 14, 2016 — How do you find whales that dive so deep and spend so little time at the surface that some species have never been observed alive? Sometimes you just have to listen ... read more

Critical Information Needed in Fight to Save Wildlife

Sep. 8, 2016 — An international group of 22 scientists is calling for a coordinated global effort to gather important species information that is urgently needed to improve predictions for the impact of climate ... read more

New Reptile Species from 212 Million Years Ago

Sep. 8, 2016 — An extinct reptile related to crocodiles that lived 212 million years ago in present day New Mexico has been named as a new species, Vivaron haydeni, report ... read more

Living Together in Mud: New Bivalve Species Dwelling on a Sea Cucumber Discovered in Japan

Sep. 8, 2016 — Most bivalves live in sand or mud or attached to rock surface. However, a new bivalve species described from Japan lives on a sea cucumber that burrows in mudflats. This species is attached to the ... read more

Newly Described Amphipod Species Already Under Threat

Sep. 8, 2016 — Biologists have described a new amphipod species which is endemic to the Alps. While alpine lakes provide relatively undisturbed habitats for Gammarus alpinus, this species is being displaced by an ... read more

Crab from the Chinese Pet Market Turns out to Be a New Species of a New Genus

Sep. 7, 2016 — Shimmering carapaces make crabs attractive to pet owners. To answer the growing demand, fishermen collect and trade crustaceans, often not knowing what exactly they have handed over to their clients. ... read more

Flycatcher Genome Sheds Light on Causes of Mutations

Sep. 6, 2016 — A research team has determined the complete genetic code of 11 members of a flycatcher pedigree. Doing this, they have for the first time been able to estimate the rate of new mutations in birds. ... read more

New Deep-Reef Butterflyfish Species Discovered in Papahanaumokuakea Monument

Sep. 6, 2016 — Scientists have published a description of a new species of butterflyfish from deep reefs in the remote Northwestern Hawaiian ... read more

'Ghost Snake' Discovered in Madagascar

Sep. 2, 2016 — Researchers discovered a new snake species in Madagascar and named it 'ghost snake' for its pale grey coloration and elusiveness. The researchers named it Madagascarophis lolo, pronounced ... read more

Atlantic Cod's Sex Gene Has Been Revealed

Sep. 2, 2016 — Newly developed methods have made it possible to determine the Atlantic cod's gender genetically. This could increase profits on cod in aquaculture, say ... read more

Organized Poaching Is Decimating Madagascar's Sea Turtles

Sep. 1, 2016 — The illegal hunting of Madagascar's sea turtles is reaching a crisis level as a result of organized trafficking networks says a team of conservationists. The team asserts that the recent spike ... read more

Species Conservation Profile of a Critically Endangered Endemic for the Azores Spider

Sep. 1, 2016 — Subject to continuing population decline due to various factors, an endemic cave-dwelling spider from the Azores is considered as Critically Endangered. To provide a fast output potentially ... read more

Thursday, October 13, 2016