Most Australians think of scorpions as exotic desert animals, but they are fairly widespread across the continent. Still, next to nothing is known about most local scorpion species.
Research suggests that only about 1,000 to 1,500 Príncipe scops owls exist in the wild.
Martim Melo
A local legend of a mysterious bird with big eyes grew into the discovery of the Príncipe scops owl. A biologist on the team tells the story of finding and cataloging this new species.
Te mokomoko a Tohu – Aotearoa New Zealand’s newest species of gecko.
Nick Harker/All rights reserved
A new gecko species in New Zealand was named te mokomoko a Tohu in consultation with a local Māori tribe. This could be a good example for how taxonomists might approach the naming of new species.
Researchers discovered five new species of black corals, including this Hexapathes bikofskii growing out of a nautilus shell more than 2,500 feet (760 meters) below the surface.
Jeremy Horowitz
Black corals provide critical habitat for many creatures that live in the dark, often barren, deep sea, and researchers are learning more about these rare corals with every dive.
To many people, Australia’s spider diversity is a source of fear. To arachnologists, it’s a goldmine, with most Australian spider species still yet to be discovered.
Kevin Thiele, The University of Western Australia et Jane Melville, Museums Victoria Research Institute
After more than 300 years of effort, scientists have documented fewer than one-third of Australia’s species. The remaining 70% are unknown, and essentially invisible, to science.
An ostracod, a small crustacean with more than 70,000 identified species.
Anna33/Wikimedia
We discovered 11 (and probably more) new species of stygofauna living in water underground. These animals are usually blind, beautifully translucent and long-limbed.
Jaime Bran/Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
This newly discovered ancient monk seal is challenging previous theories about how and where monachine seals evolved. It’s the biggest breakthrough in seal evolution research in about 70 years.
Peretti Museum Foundation / Illustration by Stephanie Abramowicz
Joseph Bevitt, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation
If albanerpetontids were around today, they’d easily fit in your hand. And although their bones are found all over the world, these unique amphibians eluded experts for a long time.
This stroke of serendipity shows how much there is still to be learned about the natural history of Australia. Surely more surprises are out there waiting for us.
A public debate recently erupted among global taxonomists. Strongly-worded ripostes were exchanged. A comparison to Stalin was floated. But eventually, they worked it out.
The male specimen discovered in the Natural History Museum, Vienna.
Alec Moore