It’s that time of year when scientific organizations take a look at some of the most amazing new animals, plants, fungi and other species discovered in the past 12 months.

“Finding and describing new species is critical to understanding our planet’s biodiversity and protecting it from further loss.” Shannon Bennettsaid the chief scientist of the California Academy of Sciences The news release reports the discovery of 138 new species. By its scientists in 2024. They range from gobi, a sponge-dwelling fish in Indonesian waters, to an endangered dahlia in Oaxaca, Mexico.

So far, only about 10 of the world’s species have been discovered, Bennett said, and many of them may be important to the ecosystems in which they occur. “We cannot protect or care for what we do not know exists.”

Scientists at the Natural History Museum in London 190 new species are reported to be discovered in 2024.but his list includes living things as well as fossils such as a cleaning worm and a herbivorous piranha named for its resemblance to the Eye of Sauron. Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Meanwhile, Kew Gardens In London and Scientific Publishers Pensoft Each released a top 10 list of their favorite discoveries of the past year.

The science news release from 2024 also turns up some gems, including the world’s largest hummingbird and a new armadillo.

Here are some of the best finds.

‘Starry Night’ Gecko

This small lizard was found in the South Western Ghats, a mountain range in India. Announcing the discovery in March, Ishan Aggarwal, a researcher at the Thackeray Wildlife Foundation, said its back reminded researchers of a famous work by 19th-century Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh. “The striking coloration of the new species is reminiscent of one of his most famous paintings, starry night“

Description of new species, officially designated. Cnemaspis vangoghiwas published in the journal ZooKeys. Its publisher, Pensoft, ranked it #1 on their list. Top 10 new genres of 2024. He says they were chosen from new species described in his journals and not based on any particular criteria, but rather “completely arbitrary” and “a “The fun way.”

‘Black Spirit’ Aphilandra.

Despite this plant’s stunning pink flowers and up to 110 flowers each, Kew Gardens ranked it only number 3 on its top 10 list. Found in the dry forests of northwestern Colombia, it is related to the zebra plant, a popular cultivated plant in Brazil. Like its relative, the new generation, Aphelandra Almanegra “It has great potential as a houseplant,” wrote Sebastian Catley and Martin Gall of Kew Gardens, which compiled the list. “Unfortunately, the clearing of its habitat means it is at risk of extinction.”

‘Eye of Sauron’ fish

The Natural History Museum catalog includes a number of interesting finds, including a herbivorous piranha known as a pico from the Zango River in Brazil. Museum scientists were on hand to document freshwater animals, some as yet undiscovered, that may have been affected by its construction. The controversial Belo Monte Dam. Rupert Collins, a senior curator of fish at the museum, said one of the reasons such dam projects go ahead is because the number of unique species affected is underestimated. “Basically, we don’t fully know what lives in these places,” he said. The new pico has been named. Myloplus sauron Due to Peter Jackson’s resemblance to the Eye of Sauron from JRR Tolkien’s film adaptation Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Cadet’s cleaning bug

A girl named Daisy Cadet discovered the unusual insect in her room in Port Talbot, Wales and posted it on Instagram. One of his followers suggested contacting a British charity called Butterfly Conservation, which put him in touch with the Natural History Museum. Some sleuthing eventually revealed that it came from a piece of seed stuck in the boot of the cadet’s mother, Ashleigh, a professional photographer, when she was home from an assignment in central Guyana. Mark Stirling, a researcher at the Natural History Museum, helped identify it as a cleaning bug and name the new species. Carmenta brachyclidos, The discovery was announced in October.

A fish that lives in a sponge.

Scientists at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco discovered 35 new fish in 2024, including this goby from Indonesian waters. While its closest relatives are free-living fishes that live on the shallow seafloor at depths of less than 10 meters, the new species, Bathygobius meromakes its home in a large barrel sponge in deep waters between nine and 30 meters below the surface.

The largest hummingbird in the world

Although larger animals are often easier to find than smaller ones, it took until 2024 Discover the world’s largest northern giant hummingbird.. It turns out that a different species of giant hummingbird led scientists to the discovery. known species, Patagonia gigasnow called the southern giant hummingbird, breeds on the Pacific coast of central Chile but disappears after the breeding season. Researchers at the University of New Mexico, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and Centro de Ornitología y Biodiversidad in Peru decided to track them by attaching mini GPS backpacks. They discovered that the birds flew high in the Andes as far north as Peru. There, they roam among an even larger hummingbird, the new species, which lives at high altitude year-round. While the two species look similar, northern giant hummingbirds Long bill (around 40 mm or about five mm long) and long wings (Each wing is about 30 mm long compared to about 22 mm for the southern species). The new species, the northern giant hummingbird, has been scientifically named. Patagonia Chasci After the Chaski Messenger of the Inca Empire.

The New Andean Glass Frog

A green translucent frog with lavender eyes was among two new species of glass frog found in the southern Andes of Ecuador. Glass frogs are a group of amphibians whose hearts can be seen beating through their translucent abdomens. The most widely considered was Buckley’s glass frog, which is found in a large part of the tropical Andes. But new research Published in August. showed that what was thought to be one species was actually multiple, with different physical characteristics, calls and genetics. One of the new species, pictured above, has been named Marco Reyes’ glass frog. Centroline marcoraceaeafter the late renowned herpetologist at Ecuador’s National Institute of Biodiversity.

Guyana long-nosed armadillo

New species for 2024 include a number of mammals, including rats, mice and the first new species of armadillo in 30 years. Like Buckley’s glass frogs, the nine-banded armadillo was thought to have a very large range. But genetic testing shows that they are actually four species, including one that is slightly larger than the other three and lives in a part of northeastern South America known as the Guiana Shield—the Guiana long-nosed armadillo. Dasypus guianensis.

New parasitic wasp from Texas

While many of these new species were found in fairly exotic locations, North American cities also have new creatures waiting to be discovered. A new species of wasp, Chrysonotomia sisbiliiwas found on the campus of Rice University in Houston. “You don’t have to travel to remote forests to find new and beautiful things — you just have to step outside and look,” said Scott Egan, an associate professor of biosciences. This wasp was found inside the gall, a tumor-like growth, called a gall wasp. Neuroterus bussaeon leaves of southern live oak trees. It belongs to a group of parasitic wasps, which prey on the larvae of other insects, but is the first species known to target this type of leaf wasp.