tag:theconversation.com,2011:/global/topics/new-species-4906/articles new species – The Conversation2024-02-26T05:03:51Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2225992024-02-26T05:03:51Z2024-02-26T05:03:51ZSecrets in the canopy: scientists discover 8 striking new bee species in the Pacific<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577494/original/file-20240222-16-pcdtt5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4000%2C2000&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">James Dorey Photography</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>After a decade searching for new species of bees in forests of the Pacific Islands, all we had to do was look up. </p>
<p>We soon found <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2024.1339446/full">eight new species</a> of masked bees in the forest canopy: six in Fiji, one in French Polynesia and another in Micronesia. Now we expect to find many more. </p>
<p>Forest-dwelling bees evolved for thousands of years alongside native plants, and play unique and important roles in nature. Studying these species can help us better understand bee evolution, diversity and conservation.</p>
<p>Almost <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-023-02626-w">21,000 bee species are known to science</a>. Many more remain undiscovered. But it’s a race against time, as the twin challenges of habitat loss and climate change threaten bee survival. We need to identify and protect bee species before they disappear forever.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577774/original/file-20240225-24-qvx9ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A group of research students using stepping stones to cross a creek in the rainforest while carrying sampling nets on short poles" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577774/original/file-20240225-24-qvx9ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577774/original/file-20240225-24-qvx9ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577774/original/file-20240225-24-qvx9ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577774/original/file-20240225-24-qvx9ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577774/original/file-20240225-24-qvx9ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577774/original/file-20240225-24-qvx9ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577774/original/file-20240225-24-qvx9ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Searching for bees in the rainforest on Vanua Levu, formerly known as Sandalwood Island, the second largest island of Fiji.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">James Dorey Photography</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Introducing the new masked bees</h2>
<p><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/brv.12947">Pollinators abound in forests</a>. But scientific research has tended to focus on bees living closer to the ground.</p>
<p>We believe this sampling bias is replicated across much of the world. For example, another related Oceanic masked bee, <em>Pharohylaeus lactiferus</em> (a cloaked bee), was recently found in the canopy <a href="https://theconversation.com/phantom-of-the-forest-after-100-years-in-hiding-i-rediscovered-the-rare-cloaked-bee-in-australia-156026">after 100 years in hiding</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577776/original/file-20240225-30-ni8m63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Closeup of one of the new masked bees showing the yellow markings on its face" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577776/original/file-20240225-30-ni8m63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577776/original/file-20240225-30-ni8m63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577776/original/file-20240225-30-ni8m63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577776/original/file-20240225-30-ni8m63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577776/original/file-20240225-30-ni8m63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577776/original/file-20240225-30-ni8m63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577776/original/file-20240225-30-ni8m63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This masked bee was collected from a canopy-flowering mistletoe near Mount Nadarivatu on Viti Levu, Fiji.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">James Dorey Photography</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our <a href="https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4674.1.1">first decade of bee sampling</a> in Fiji turned up only one bee from the genus <em>Hylaeus</em>. This bee probably belonged in the canopy so we were very lucky to catch it near the ground. Targeted attempts over the next few years, using our standard short insect nets, failed to find any more. </p>
<p>But this changed when we turned our attention to searching the forest canopy. </p>
<p>Sampling in the canopy is physically challenging. Strength and skill are required to sweep a long, heavy net and pole through the treetops. It’s quite a workout. We limit our efforts to the edges of forests, where branches won’t tangle the whole contraption.</p>
<p>By lifting our gaze in this way, we discovered eight new bee species, all in the genus <em>Hylaeus</em>. They are mostly black with stunning yellow or white highlights, especially on their faces – hence the name, masked bees. </p>
<p>They appear to rely exclusively on the forest canopy. This behaviour is striking and has rarely been identified in bees before (perhaps because few scientists have been looking for bees up there). </p>
<p>Because the new species live in forests and native tree tops, they’re likely to be vulnerable to land clearing, cyclones and climate change. </p>
<p>More work is needed to uncover the secrets hidden in these dense tropical treetops. It may require engineering solutions such as canopy cranes and drones, as well as skilful tree-climbing using ropes, pulleys and harnesses.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/move-over-honeybees-aussie-native-bees-steal-the-show-with-unique-social-and-foraging-behaviours-200536">Move over, honeybees: Aussie native bees steal the show with unique social and foraging behaviours</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Michener’s missing links</h2>
<p>The journey of bees across the Pacific region is a tale of great dispersals and isolation.</p>
<p>Almost 60 years ago, world-renowned bee expert <a href="https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/catalog/787658">Charles Michener described</a> what was probably the most isolated masked bee around, <em>Hylaeus tuamotuensis</em>. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577779/original/file-20240225-16-iay0de.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Searching for bees on Fiji’s highest peak, Mount Tomanivi, here two researchers are picking a path through dense undergrowth while carrying nets on short poles" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577779/original/file-20240225-16-iay0de.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577779/original/file-20240225-16-iay0de.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577779/original/file-20240225-16-iay0de.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577779/original/file-20240225-16-iay0de.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577779/original/file-20240225-16-iay0de.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577779/original/file-20240225-16-iay0de.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577779/original/file-20240225-16-iay0de.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fiji’s highest peak, Mount Tomanivi, is home to unique bee species.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">James Dorey Photography</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The specimen was found in French Polynesia. At the time, Michener said that was “entirely unexpected”, because the nearest relatives were, as the bee flies, 4,000km north in Hawaii, 5,000km southwest in New Zealand, and 6,000km west in Australia. </p>
<p>So how did it get there and where did it come from?</p>
<p>Our research helps to answer these questions. We found eight new <em>Hylaeus</em> species including one from French Polynesia. Using genetic analysis and other methods, we found strong links between these species and <em>H. tuamotuensis</em>. </p>
<p>So Michener’s bee was probably an ancient immigrant from Fiji, 3,000km away. A journey of that magnitude is no mean feat for bees smaller than a grain of rice.</p>
<p>Of course, there are <a href="https://geoscienceletters.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40562-016-0041-8">more than 1,700 islands in the Pacific</a>, which can serve as stepping stones for bees on their long journeys. </p>
<p>We don’t yet know how many new <em>Hylaeus</em> species might exist in the South Pacific, or the routes they took to get to their island homes. But we suspect there are many more to be found.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/phantom-of-the-forest-after-100-years-in-hiding-i-rediscovered-the-rare-cloaked-bee-in-australia-156026">Phantom of the forest: after 100 years in hiding, I rediscovered the rare cloaked bee in Australia</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Our Pacific emissaries</h2>
<p>The early origins of Fijian bees – both <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/03721426.2020.1740957">ground-dwelling <em>Homalictus</em></a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2012.10.018">forest-loving <em>Hylaeus</em></a> – can be traced to the ancient past when Australia and New Guinea were part of one land mass, known as Sahul. The ancestors of both groups then undertook epic oceanic journeys to travel from Sahul to the furthest reaches of the Pacific, where they diversified. But the <em>Hylaeus</em> travelled furthest, by thousands of kilometres.</p>
<p>These little emissaries have similarly brought together researchers across the region. We resolved difficulties sampling and gathering knowledge by working with people across the Pacific, including Fiji, French Polynesia, and Hawaii. It shows what can be accomplished with international collaboration. </p>
<p>Together we are making great strides towards understanding our shared bee biodiversity. Such collaborations are our best chance of discovering and conserving species while we can.</p>
<p><em>We would like to thank Ben Parslow and Karl Magnacca for their contribution to this article. We would further like to thank our collaborators and their home institutions, the Hawiian Department of Land and Natural Resources, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, University of the South Pacific, the South Australian Museum and Adelaide University.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222599/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>James B. Dorey has received funding for this work from The Playford Trust as a PhD and Honours scholarship recipient, Flinders University through the AJ and IM Naylon PhD Scholarship, and the Australian Government through the New Colombo Plan . He is affiliated with both Flinders University and the University of Wollongong.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amy-Marie Gilpin is affiliated with the School of Science and Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University. Funding to publish this work was in part provided by Western Sydney University. Amy-Marie is also a member of the IUCN Wild Bee Specialist Group Oceania. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Olivia Davies does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>By lifting their gaze to the treetops rather than poking around on the ground, researchers discovered eight new species of masked bees.James B. Dorey, Lecturer in Biological Sciences, University of WollongongAmy-Marie Gilpin, Lecturer in Invertebrate Ecology, Western Sydney UniversityOlivia Davies, Flinders UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1388872020-07-26T19:54:37Z2020-07-26T19:54:37ZHow a scientific spat over how to name species turned into a big plus for nature<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349162/original/file-20200723-17-108f6f8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4928%2C3275&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Taxonomy, or the naming of species, is the foundation of modern biology. It might sound like a fairly straightforward exercise, but in fact it’s complicated and often controversial.</p>
<p>Why? Because there’s no one agreed list of all the world’s species. Competing lists exist for organisms such as mammals and birds, while other less well-known groups have none. And there are more than 30 definitions of what constitutes a species. This can make life difficult for biodiversity researchers and those working in areas such as conservation, biosecurity and regulation of the wildlife trade.</p>
<p>In the past few years, a public debate erupted among global taxonomists, including those who authored and contributed to this article, about whether the rules of taxonomy should be changed. Strongly worded ripostes were exchanged. A comparison to Stalin was floated.</p>
<p>But eventually, we all came together to resolve the dispute amicably. In a paper <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3000736">published this month</a>, we proposed a new set of principles to guide what one day, we hope, will be a single authoritative list of the world’s species. This would help manage and conserve them for future generations.</p>
<p>In the process, we’ve shown how a scientific stoush can be overcome when those involved try to find common ground. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Baby crocodile emerging from egg." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/348831/original/file-20200722-25-hpoxlx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/348831/original/file-20200722-25-hpoxlx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348831/original/file-20200722-25-hpoxlx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348831/original/file-20200722-25-hpoxlx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348831/original/file-20200722-25-hpoxlx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348831/original/file-20200722-25-hpoxlx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348831/original/file-20200722-25-hpoxlx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Scientists worked out a few differences over how to name species.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Laurent Gillieron/EPA</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How it all began</h2>
<p>In May 2017 two of the authors, Stephen Garnett and Les Christidis, published an <a href="https://www.nature.com/news/taxonomy-anarchy-hampers-conservation-1.22064">article in Nature</a>. They argued taxonomy needed rules around what should be called a species, because currently there are none. They wrote: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>for a discipline aiming to impose order on the natural world, taxonomy (the classification of complex organisms) is remarkably anarchic […] There is reasonable agreement among taxonomists that a species should represent a distinct evolutionary lineage. But there is none about how a lineage should be defined. </p>
<p>‘Species’ are often created or dismissed arbitrarily, according to the individual taxonomist’s adherence to one of at least 30 definitions. Crucially, there is no global oversight of taxonomic decisions — researchers can ‘split or lump’ species with no consideration of the consequences.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Garnett and Christidis proposed that any changes to the taxonomy of complex organisms be overseen by the highest body in the global governance of biology, the International Union of Biological Sciences (<a href="https://www.iubs.org/">IUBS</a>), which would “restrict […] freedom of taxonomic action.” </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/taxonomy-the-science-of-naming-things-is-under-threat-106691">Taxonomy, the science of naming things, is under threat</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>An animated response</h2>
<p>Garnett and Christidis’ article raised hackles in some corners of the taxonomy world – including coauthors of this article. </p>
<p>These critics rejected the description of taxonomy as “anarchic”. In fact, they argued there are detailed rules around the naming of species administered by groups such as the International Commission on Zoological <a href="https://www.iczn.org/">Nomenclature</a> and the International Code of <a href="https://www.iapt-taxon.org/nomen/main.php">Nomenclature</a> for algae, fungi, and plants. For 125 years, the codes have been almost universally adopted by scientists. </p>
<p>So in March 2018, 183 researchers – led by Scott Thomson and Richard Pyle – wrote an animated response to the Nature article, published in <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.2005075">PLoS Biology</a>. </p>
<p>They wrote that Garnett and Christidis’ IUBS proposal was “flawed in terms of scientific integrity […] but is also untenable in practice”. They argued:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Through taxonomic research, our understanding of biodiversity and classifications of living organisms will continue to progress. Any system that restricts such progress runs counter to basic scientific principles, which rely on peer review and subsequent acceptance or rejection by the community, rather than third-party regulation.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In a separate paper, another group of taxonomists <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319422386_What_really_hampers_taxonomy_and_conservation_A_riposte_to_Garnett_and_Christidis_2017">accused</a> Garnett and Christidis of trying to suppress freedom of scientific thought, likening them to Stalin’s science advisor Trofim Lysenko.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Sea sponge under a microscope" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/348826/original/file-20200722-25-11fp31v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/348826/original/file-20200722-25-11fp31v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348826/original/file-20200722-25-11fp31v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348826/original/file-20200722-25-11fp31v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348826/original/file-20200722-25-11fp31v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348826/original/file-20200722-25-11fp31v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348826/original/file-20200722-25-11fp31v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Taxonomy can influence how conservation funding is allocated.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Queensland Museum</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Finding common ground</h2>
<p>This might have been the end of it. But the editor at PLoS Biology, Roli Roberts, wanted to turn consternation into constructive debate, and invited <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.2005249">a response</a> from Garnett and Christidis. In the to and fro of articles, we all found common ground. </p>
<p>We recognised the powerful need for a global list of species – representing a consensus view of the world’s taxonomists at a particular time.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/summer-bushfires-how-are-the-plant-and-animal-survivors-6-months-on-we-mapped-their-recovery-142551">Summer bushfires: how are the plant and animal survivors 6 months on? We mapped their recovery</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Such lists do exist. The <a href="https://www.catalogueoflife.org/">Catalogue of Life</a>, for example, has done a remarkable job in assembling lists of almost all the world’s species. But there are no rules on how to choose between competing lists of validly named species. What was needed, we agreed, was principles governing what can be included on lists. </p>
<p>As it stands now, anyone can name a species, or decide which to recognise as valid and which not. This creates chaos. It means international agreements on biodiversity conservation, such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (<a href="https://cites.org/">CITES</a>) and the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (<a href="https://www.cms.int/">CMS</a>), take different taxonomic approaches to species they aim to protect.</p>
<p>We decided to work together. With funding from the IUBS, we <a href="https://www.cdu.edu.au/news/experts-gather-lead-darwin-day">held a workshop</a> in February this year at Charles Darwin University to determine principles for devising a single, agreed global list of species. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Pengiuns embracing each other." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349297/original/file-20200724-35-rv9gfs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349297/original/file-20200724-35-rv9gfs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349297/original/file-20200724-35-rv9gfs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349297/original/file-20200724-35-rv9gfs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349297/original/file-20200724-35-rv9gfs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349297/original/file-20200724-35-rv9gfs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349297/original/file-20200724-35-rv9gfs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The sparring scientists came together to develop agreed principles.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Participants came from around the world. They included taxonomists, science governance experts, science philosophers, administrators of the nomenclatural (naming) codes, and taxonomic users such as the creators of national species lists.</p>
<p>The result is a draft set of ten principles that to us, represent the ideals of global science governance. They include that:</p>
<ul>
<li>the species list be based on science and free from “non-taxonomic” interference</li>
<li>all decisions about composition of the list be transparent</li>
<li>governance of the list aim for community support and use</li>
<li>the listing process encompasses global diversity while accommodating local knowledge.</li>
</ul>
<p>The principles will now be discussed at international workshops of taxonomists and the users of taxonomy. We’ve also formed a working group to discuss how a global list might come together and the type of institution needed to look after it.</p>
<p>We hope by 2030, a scientific debate that began with claims of anarchy might lead to a clear governance system – and finally, the world’s first endorsed global list of species.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>The following people provided editorial comment for this article: Aaron M Lien, Frank Zachos, John Buckeridge, Kevin Thiele, Svetlana Nikolaeva, Zhi-Qiang Zhang, Donald Hobern, Olaf Banki, Peter Paul van Dijk, Saroj Kanta Barik and Stijn Conix.</em></p>
<p><a href="https://bushfires2020.netlify.app"><img src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/1103/Explore.gif?1594552012" width="100%"></a></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/138887/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephen Garnett receives funding from International Union for Biological Sciences, the Australian Research Council and the National Environment Science Program</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Les Christidis receives funding from the International Union for Biological Sciences. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard L. Pyle receives funding from U.S National Science Foundation, NOAA (U.S.), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Scott Thomson is affiliated with the Chelonian Research Institute and the IUCN Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group. The first is a not for profit organisation, </span></em></p>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.Stephen Garnett, Professor of Conservation and Sustainable Livelihoods, Charles Darwin UniversityLes Christidis, Professor, Southern Cross UniversityRichard L. Pyle, Associate lecturer, University of HawaiiScott Thomson, Research associate, Universidade de São Paulo (USP)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/616652016-06-29T19:46:34Z2016-06-29T19:46:34ZThe Earth’s biodiversity could be much greater than we thought<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/128234/original/image-20160627-28373-1xm7slf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">How many species of frog are in the picture? Genetics often says 'more than we thought'. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Michael Lee (Flinders University & South Australian Museum)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>After centuries of study, you’d think we’d have at least a rough idea of how many different species of life exist on Earth. This is becoming even more pressing as biodiversity disappears at an increasing pace <a href="http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20121101-a-looming-mass-extinction">due to human impacts</a>. Some species are going extinct even before we discover them. </p>
<p>Scientists have named nearly <a href="http://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=126374">2 million species</a>, but the estimated total number out there has ranged from 3 million to 100 million. Consensus recently congealed around the <a href="https://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2010/07/02/how-many-species-are-there/">lower end</a> of this range, with one widely touted study proposing a precise figure of <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.1001127">8.7 million</a> species (excluding bacteria strains, which are too tricky to count). </p>
<p>If so, we’ve made sizeable inroads into cataloguing the planet’s biodiversity, with <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-so-many-australian-species-are-yet-to-be-named-59237">perhaps 20% done</a>.</p>
<p>But in correspondence published in <a href="http://rdcu.be/i4rk">Nature</a> this week, we suggest this consensus may underestimate the Earth’s biodiversity by a factor of ten.</p>
<p>If so, the task of describing and understanding biodiversity is far more Herculean than ever imagined. In the 300 years since the Swedish naturalist <a href="http://www.britannica.com/biography/Carolus-Linnaeus">Carolus Linnaeus</a> pioneered scientific classification, we might have managed to recognise only 2% of Earth’s biodiversity. </p>
<h2>Species are often not what they seem to be</h2>
<p>Species are one of the fundamental units of biodiversity. Each species represents an independent evolutionary lineage and irreplaceable gene pool.</p>
<p>For example, the domestic dog, <em>Canis lupus</em>, is a separate species from the golden jackal, <em>Canis aureas</em>, since these two groups do not normally interbreed nor exchange genes. But spaniels and dalmatians are merely different breeds of the same species, <em>Canis lupus</em>, which can readily get together to produce mongrels.</p>
<p>Sometimes different species can be hard to tell apart. An extreme case involves <a href="http://mappingignorance.org/2014/04/30/better-look-twice-importance-cryptic-species/#note-1482-7">cryptic species</a>. These are separate species that are very similar outwardly, yet are true species that never interbreed. They thus possess distinct gene pools evolving in independent directions.</p>
<p>Cryptic species are often revealed only by laborious studies that <a href="http://jbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/jbiol60">integrate fieldwork, ecology and genetics</a>.</p>
<p>Our DNA studies on what appeared to be widespread single species of Australian gecko revealed that each consists of up to <a href="http://www.sciencealert.com/many-more-lizards-to-discover">ten cryptic species</a>. Each is restricted to a small region, never interbreeding with adjacent regions at any time over the last 10 million years. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/128271/original/image-20160627-28349-6kw81c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/128271/original/image-20160627-28349-6kw81c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/128271/original/image-20160627-28349-6kw81c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=146&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128271/original/image-20160627-28349-6kw81c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=146&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128271/original/image-20160627-28349-6kw81c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=146&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128271/original/image-20160627-28349-6kw81c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=184&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128271/original/image-20160627-28349-6kw81c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=184&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128271/original/image-20160627-28349-6kw81c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=184&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">DNA from the tiny Clawless Gecko <em>Crenadactylus</em> from northern Australia shows it was not one but at least ten different species; eight are shown here.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Brad Maryan (Western Australian Museum), Glenn Shea (University of Sydney), and Glenn Gaikhorst</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Despite looking very alike, these cryptic gecko species are much more genetically distinct from each other than, say, humans and chimps. So they are definitely proper species, despite being very similar in appearance (sometimes almost indistinguishable).</p>
<p>Cryptic species have recently been found in some of the biggest and well-studied marine creatures such as <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2014/02/scientists-discover-new-whale-species/">beaked whales</a> and <a href="http://www.southernfriedscience.com/what-does-the-new-species-of-hammerhead-mean-for-shark-science-and-conservation/">hammerhead sharks</a>. </p>
<p>On land, scientists have only just realised that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/radical-conservation/2015/jul/23/forest-elephants-evidence-science-species-ivory-crisis">African elephants</a> are probably not a single species but two cryptic species: a bush (savannah) elephant and a forest elephant. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/128249/original/image-20160627-28366-175hsrt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/128249/original/image-20160627-28366-175hsrt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/128249/original/image-20160627-28366-175hsrt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128249/original/image-20160627-28366-175hsrt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128249/original/image-20160627-28366-175hsrt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128249/original/image-20160627-28366-175hsrt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128249/original/image-20160627-28366-175hsrt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128249/original/image-20160627-28366-175hsrt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The African bush elephant, <em>Loxodonta africana</em>.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Michael Lee (Flinders University and South Australian Museum)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/128250/original/image-20160627-28388-lnlfq9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/128250/original/image-20160627-28388-lnlfq9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/128250/original/image-20160627-28388-lnlfq9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128250/original/image-20160627-28388-lnlfq9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128250/original/image-20160627-28388-lnlfq9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128250/original/image-20160627-28388-lnlfq9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128250/original/image-20160627-28388-lnlfq9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128250/original/image-20160627-28388-lnlfq9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The African forest elephant, <em>Loxodonta cyclotis</em>.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Richard Ruggiero/USFWS</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Most of life consists of small invertebrates, especially <a href="http://tolweb.org/treehouses/?treehouse_id=3923">arthropods</a> – such as insects, spiders and crustaceans – which are much more poorly known than elephants and sharks.</p>
<p>With so few taxonomists and so many invertebrates, only very obviously different groups are picked out as separate species. This sorting is usually based on visual inspection alone, with no genetic analysis. These first-pass species are known as <strong>morphospecies</strong> and they make up the bulk of known biodiversity. </p>
<p>When scientists take a closer look at invertebrate morphospecies using DNA methods, they usually find multiple species. These might look rather similar, but never interbreed and haven’t done so for millions of years.</p>
<p>For example, what was once thought to be a single species of malaria-carrying mosquito turned out to be at least <a href="http://www.scientistsagainstmalaria.net/vector/anopheles-gambiae">seven different species</a>. A major agricultural pest (the tobacco whitefly) was revealed to be <a href="https://bmcgenomics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2164-14-401">31 cryptic species</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/128254/original/image-20160627-28382-1voxdwl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/128254/original/image-20160627-28382-1voxdwl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/128254/original/image-20160627-28382-1voxdwl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128254/original/image-20160627-28382-1voxdwl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128254/original/image-20160627-28382-1voxdwl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128254/original/image-20160627-28382-1voxdwl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128254/original/image-20160627-28382-1voxdwl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128254/original/image-20160627-28382-1voxdwl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Biodiversity bites back! The malaria-carrying mosquito, <em>Anopheles gambiae</em>, turned out to be at least seven distinct species.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">CDC/James Gathany</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Looking at every known species in such genetic detail will be an immense task, even given the promise of techniques such as rapid <a href="http://www.ibol.org/about-us/what-is-dna-barcoding/">DNA barcoding</a>. But when we do so, cryptic species should prove to be <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn12293-hidden-species-may-be-surprisingly-common/">the rule</a>, rather than the exception, across the majority of life. </p>
<h2>Millions more species</h2>
<p>Most of the 2 million known species are morphospecies. The prediction that there are <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.1001127">8.7 million species</a> on Earth, and other similar estimates, are extrapolations from this 2 million figure (or lower earlier figures such as <a href="http://www.unep.org/newscentre/default.aspx?DocumentID=2649&ArticleID=8838">1.2 million</a>). </p>
<p>Yet, a torrent of new genetic evidence indicates that many currently known morphospecies could represent up to ten or more cryptic species, all very similar to one another but nevertheless real species with separate gene pools. Most estimates of global species diversity have not accounted for this.</p>
<p>Hence, the 2 million morphospecies already described could easily turn out to represent perhaps 20 million real species, if we ever get around to analysing their DNA. This tenfold increase would swell estimates of Earth’s total biodiversity by a similar magnitude, e.g. from 8.7 million to 87 million.</p>
<h2>Why taxonomy is vital for humanity</h2>
<p>Does it really matter? Are there any consequences to treating, for example, African elephants as one morphospecies, or properly recognising them as two similar yet distinct species?</p>
<p>We think there can be profound consequences. Lumping all African elephants into a single species could lead to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/radical-conservation/2015/jul/23/forest-elephants-evidence-science-species-ivory-crisis">terrible conservation decisions</a>. </p>
<p>For example, we might not be concerned that elephants in the forest were declining, as long as plenty remained on the savannah. Forest elephants might be allowed to perish, leading to the loss of a distinct species. We might compound the problem by translocating elephants from the savannah into dense forest, a foreign habitat for this species, and wonder why they weren’t thriving. </p>
<p>Similarly, knowing whether a pesky mosquito is one species or several is crucial information that can improve millions of lives. Cryptic mosquito species can differ in behaviour, habitat and <a href="http://www.scientistsagainstmalaria.net/vector/anopheles-gambiae">ability to transmit malaria</a>.</p>
<p>The ongoing efforts to properly count and identify the species on Earth are therefore much more than an obscure academic exercise.</p>
<p>Knowing how many life forms exist on Earth is one of the most fundamental scientific questions that can be asked. Our efforts to answer it will greatly benefit humanity in diverse and important ways, from conservation to agriculture to health.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/61665/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mike Lee's research, which includes taxonomy, is supported by the Australian Research Council, the South Australian Museum, and Flinders University</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul Oliver is based at the Australian National University and has been involved in taxonomic research since 2004. He has received funding from the Australian Research Council, Australia Pacific Science Foundation and Australian Biological Resources Survey.</span></em></p>The Earth is full of many varied species from the largest mammals to the tiniest organisms. But we now think there could be ten times more species than was originally thought.Mike Lee, Professor in Evolutionary Biology (jointly appointed with South Australian Museum), Flinders UniversityPaul Oliver, Postdoctoral Researcher in Biodiversity and Evolution, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/602152016-06-01T15:00:39Z2016-06-01T15:00:39ZWhat dragonflies say about our ignorance of the natural world<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124491/original/image-20160530-7700-w1bb54.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">This massive dragonfly, the Swordbearer Emperor _Anax gladiator_, is named for the blade-like spike at its tail tip.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Copyright Jens Kipping</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Of the 8.7 million species of animals, plants and fungi thought to live on Earth, we have only named <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21886479">1.2 million</a>: 86% of the natural world is uncharted. </p>
<p>For most people, both this incredible richness and our ignorance are hard to fathom. Imagine that each of the 6.5 million species thought to live on land – the rest is marine – had an equal share of it. Each species’ plot – also that of the human species – would cover an area only one-quarter the size of Manhattan. Expressed this way, we as humans have not just far overstepped our bounds, but mapped only the equivalent of Europe, India and China, which make up about 14% of global land surface. </p>
<p>What’s worse, the habits and status of only 80,000 species are known well enough to really assess our impact on them. Of those, <a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/">29% risk extinction</a>. So, returning to the metaphor, the species that we’re actually familiar with equal only the combined area of Spain, France and Turkey. And if 29% of all species died out, that would equate to the entire New World voided of life. </p>
<p>In other words: while we’ve had an apocalyptic impact on the biosphere already, it has been charted as well today as the globe was in Columbus’s day. This matters because knowing other species can provide a moral counterweight to life’s runaway exploitation: intact biodiversity is the undeniable proof that humans can inhabit Earth without destroying it. </p>
<p>That’s why naming species is important. Names harness the power of recognition. They acknowledge the other exists. They introduce familiarity. As someone once exclaimed to me, “you don’t notice species until you know they can have a name!” </p>
<p>In an era of extinction, there are no greater priorities than to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Arr2k7dwzSU">uncover our millions of cohabitants</a> and to <a href="http://jrsbiodiversity.org/grant/stellenbosch_dragonflies/">share our knowledge</a> of these species. This can be done through research, <a href="https://freshwaterblog.net/2015/06/01/discovering-the-dragonflies-and-damselflies-of-eastern-africa/">books</a>, websites, Red Lists of threatened species, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/africanfreshwater">field courses</a>, teaching materials and other media. But while every human relies on this knowledge, even if only by reaping the benefits of agriculture and medicine, few see its advance as their primary responsibility.</p>
<p>Few animals can raise that moral awareness of biodiversity better than dragonflies, literally rising from healthy freshwaters in colour and splendour.</p>
<h2>Breaking the anonymity trap</h2>
<p>Most of what is unknown is not just unseen, but not even being looked for.</p>
<p>There are 6,000 named dragonfly and damselfly species worldwide. These charismatic aquatic insects are regarded as well-known. But last December we published <a href="https://science.naturalis.nl/media/medialibrary/2015/12/60NewDragonflies_fullsize2.pdf">60 new species</a> in one article. This added one species to every 12 known ones in Africa. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124481/original/image-20160530-7722-39d5bo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124481/original/image-20160530-7722-39d5bo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124481/original/image-20160530-7722-39d5bo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124481/original/image-20160530-7722-39d5bo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124481/original/image-20160530-7722-39d5bo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124481/original/image-20160530-7722-39d5bo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124481/original/image-20160530-7722-39d5bo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Known from only one site near Cape Town, the endangered damselfly <em>Spesbona angusta</em> needs all the ‘Good Hope’ (<em>Spes Bona</em> in Latin) it can get.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Copyright Jens Kipping</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Of course these species existed already, but were not noticed and documented before. Most unknown species may seem indistinct or concealed, requiring meticulous lab-work to uncover, but the 60 were found in accessible places all over Africa and are often recognisable even from a photo.</p>
<p>This May, English nature broadcaster Sir David Attenborough was given a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMDnPUXTcdc&feature=youtu.be">new dragonfly species</a> from Madagascar for his 90th birthday. In the <a href="http://www.nature.com/polopoly_fs/1.19870!/menu/main/topColumns/topLeftColumn/pdf/533172a.pdf">scientific journal <em>Nature</em></a> I explain that both the dragonfly and Attenborough’s legacy stand for a selfless and unconditional love of nature.</p>
<p>I am often asked what the “use” of dragonflies is. They are not studied because they are not proxies of human psyche and society like ants and apes. They are not feared and persecuted like mosquitoes and snakes. They do not feed people like fish, nor pollinate crops like bees.</p>
<p>Rather, the beauty and sensitivity of these creatures – and so many others – stand for the state and needs of nature before our own. Like the instant sense of insignificance when counting stars, biodiversity stretches our perspective on life. Each species is a world parallel to our own, evoking a sense of being among equals.</p>
<h2>What’s in a name</h2>
<p>If species embody sustainability and names give them faces, those tags best be memorable. The sparklewing damselfly <em>Umma gumma</em>, named for the rock band Pink Floyd’s album “<a href="http://www.allmusic.com/album/ummagumma-mw0000191310">Ummagumma</a>” (slang for making love), is <a href="http://www.esf.edu/top10/">a special favourite.</a> The longleg dragonflies <em>Notogomphus kimpavita</em> and <em>N. gorilla</em> were named for the patron saint and conservation flagship of their Angolan and Ugandan regions respectively.</p>
<p>But who is out discovering species and introducing them to mankind? Nature is held hostage by humanity’s growing demands and so conservationists barely have time to find out who they really work for. Environmental consultancy is captive to the market. Many biologists have retreated into the lab. Without funds for discovery and disclosure, even natural history museums are giving up.</p>
<p>Only nine of our 60 new dragonflies were found while one of us worked for a university or museum. The other 33 were found while doing consultancy and 18 were found by a teacher. Much of the best biodiversity research and outreach now comes from devoted amateurs and academics working in their free time, showing how close biodiversity is to the human heart.</p>
<p>In a society governed by money, charity is what we do for others for free. But just as we cannot expect volunteers to protect the environment or eradicate poverty alone, we cannot continue life’s elementary and enlightening exploration without support. Nature needs more explorers.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/60215/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Klaas-Douwe B. Dijkstra receives funding from the JRS Biodiversity Foundation, USA.</span></em></p>There are 6,000 named dragonfly species worldwide but recently 60 new species were found showing how much more we can learn.Klaas-Douwe B. Dijkstra, Honorary research associate Naturalis Biodiversity Center and, Stellenbosch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/529052016-01-19T19:33:04Z2016-01-19T19:33:04ZWe discovered 20 new fish in northern Australia – now we need to protect them<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/108484/original/image-20160119-31814-ecx00x.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The remote rivers of northern Australia could be home to untold numbers of new and threatened fish. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Matthew Le Feuvre</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>We recently discovered <a href="https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/discovered-a-treasure-trove-of-new-fish">20 new species</a> of fish in the Kimberley region of north-west Australia (one of them has been named after writer <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-04/new-fish-species-named-after-author-tim-winton/7066422">Tim Winton</a>). </p>
<p>But that’s only the start of the story. At a time when the federal government is redoubling efforts to <a href="http://industry.gov.au/ONA/WhitePaper/index.html">develop northern Australia</a>, our discovery is a timely reminder of how little we know about our country. </p>
<p>A 2014 CSIRO <a href="https://publications.csiro.au/rpr/pub?pid=csiro:EP147168">report</a> found 1.4 million hectares of land in northern Australia could be irrigated. Underlying this expansion would be approximately 90 large dams and numerous smaller water-regulating structures such as weirs. </p>
<p>While this <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-need-a-smarter-debate-on-developing-northern-australia-16846">could boost the northern Australian economy</a>, impacts on aquatic ecosystems from altered flow regimes, habitat modification and reduced water quality are likely to be significant. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/108485/original/image-20160119-31795-5u0sdc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/108485/original/image-20160119-31795-5u0sdc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/108485/original/image-20160119-31795-5u0sdc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/108485/original/image-20160119-31795-5u0sdc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/108485/original/image-20160119-31795-5u0sdc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/108485/original/image-20160119-31795-5u0sdc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/108485/original/image-20160119-31795-5u0sdc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/108485/original/image-20160119-31795-5u0sdc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The long-nosed sooty grunter is found in a single river in the Kimberley.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Matthew Le Feuvre & James Shelley</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Threatened waterways</h2>
<p>Fish are the most researched group of species living in Australia’s freshwater ecosystems. As such, we can use them as indicators of how much we know about these environments. </p>
<p>To date, <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/geb.12397/abstract">research effort</a> has been focused on south-east Australia. What stands out is a lack of research across much of the country, particularly in the north. </p>
<p>Despite this, northern Australia’s freshwater fish fauna is very diverse and includes many fish found across tiny areas. Unfortunately the lack of research means that for many of northern Australia’s fishes, all we know is that they exist. </p>
<p>Under the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act, 16% of Australia’s freshwater fish are <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicthreatenedlist.pl?wanted=fauna">listed as threatened</a>. But most of the species analysed are from the rivers of south-east Australia, which are most affected by people.</p>
<p>In a <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/geb.12397/abstract">recent study</a> we identified another 55 potentially vulnerable species that meet the criteria for conservation listing. </p>
<p>When we mapped the already listed and potentially vulnerable fish species, we found hotspots for fish conservation in the Kimberley, the Wet Tropics and Arnhem Land. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/108477/original/image-20160118-31831-sm842w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/108477/original/image-20160118-31831-sm842w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/108477/original/image-20160118-31831-sm842w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/108477/original/image-20160118-31831-sm842w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/108477/original/image-20160118-31831-sm842w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/108477/original/image-20160118-31831-sm842w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=610&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/108477/original/image-20160118-31831-sm842w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=610&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/108477/original/image-20160118-31831-sm842w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=610&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Map a) shows the number of currently listed threatened fish. Map b) shows the number of species that we identified as potentially vulnerable. Map c) shows river condition (1=best quality; 8=worst). Map shows d) freshwater fish research effort across Australia (red=most effort).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Matthew Le Feuvre, Tim Dempster, James Shelley and Steve Swearer</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While often overlooked, Australia’s freshwater fish are almost as unique as our kangaroos and koalas: 74% of these fish are found nowhere else in the world. </p>
<p>If enigmatic northern Australian species, such as the saratoga (<em>Scleropages leichardti</em>), the long-nosed sooty grunter (<em>Hephaestus epirrhinos</em>) or the Prince Regent gudgeon (<em>Hypseleotris regalis</em>) are lost, we contribute to an <a href="http://fl.biology.usgs.gov/pdf/Burkhead_2012_Extinction_rates_in_North_American_fishes.pdf">ongoing global freshwater fish extinction crisis</a>. Australia’s freshwater fish deserve adequate protection.</p>
<h2>Exploring the north</h2>
<p>The Kimberley in northern Western Australia is rugged, remote, pristine and holds a number of species found nowhere else. We decided to investigate the region’s freshwater fishes.</p>
<p>Before our project began, we knew that the region was <a href="http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2011/f/z02816p064f.pdf">home to 50 species of freshwater fish</a>, or almost a quarter of Australia’s freshwater fish species. Eighteen of these are found only in the Kimberley region.</p>
<p>Over the past three years, we spent nine months surveying over 70 sites on 17 of the Kimberley’s rivers. We found that many of the endemic species are potentially particularly vulnerable if their environment were to change. For example, the long-nosed sooty grunter is large, found in a single river, rare and exclusively carnivorous, making it vulnerable to extinction.</p>
<p>Excitingly, we also uncovered 20 new species of freshwater fish. This increases the known freshwater fish species in Australia by roughly 10% and, with 70 species in total, it makes the Kimberley the most diverse region for freshwater fish. </p>
<p>Many of the new species are large, clearly distinct fish, which could be identified as new species when we observed them from the riverbank. We found most of these new species in rivers we could only access by helicopter. </p>
<p>Put simply, due to the difficultly and expense of sampling the remote Kimberley wilderness, we just haven’t looked hard enough in the region’s rivers. Entire river systems in the Kimberley remain unsampled and we should not be surprised to uncover more species unknown to science.</p>
<h2>What else is out there?</h2>
<p>Our findings raise questions about the environmental sustainability of developing northern Australia. If we can find 20 new species of freshwater fish in nine months of fieldwork in the Kimberley, how many more species are present across the rest of northern Australia? </p>
<p>Fish are big and easy to find compared to most of the smaller aquatic life. They represent the conspicuous tip of the iceberg of what lives in our rivers. What happens if we investigate more cryptic or poorly known taxa such as amphibians or invertebrates?</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/108486/original/image-20160119-31828-17bn2pg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/108486/original/image-20160119-31828-17bn2pg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/108486/original/image-20160119-31828-17bn2pg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/108486/original/image-20160119-31828-17bn2pg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/108486/original/image-20160119-31828-17bn2pg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/108486/original/image-20160119-31828-17bn2pg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/108486/original/image-20160119-31828-17bn2pg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/108486/original/image-20160119-31828-17bn2pg.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Prince Regent gudgeon.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Matthew Le Feuvre & James Shelley</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>How can we manage and protect species we don’t know exist? Before we develop the north, we need to know what’s out there.</p>
<p>The majority of northern rivers remain in relatively good condition, so there is ample opportunity to ensure that species are not lost as a result of development. Fortunately, most major developments are a decade or more away, so there is time to gather this information. </p>
<h2>Learning from the south</h2>
<p>Many rivers in southern Australia have <a href="http://103.11.78.131/sites/default/files/archived/native-fish/The-Status-Threats-and-Management-of-freshwater.pdf">been degraded</a> by habitat modification, altered flow patterns, invasive species, barriers to fish movement, reduced water quality and overexploitation. </p>
<p>Many fish species are threatened. Of 46 species found in the Murray-Darling Basin, 19 are listed as <a href="http://www.mdba.gov.au/sites/default/files/pubs/MDBA-Fish-species-book.pdf">threatened at the state or national level</a>.</p>
<p>What have we learned? </p>
<p><a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/1313099?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">River flow</a>, infrastructure and <a href="https://theconversation.com/high-tech-fertilisers-and-innovation-have-to-come-to-the-great-barrier-reefs-rescue-47857">land use</a> all need to be actively managed to maintain healthy rivers and allow key ecological processes, such as migrations and the inundation of floodplains, to continue. We need to be vigilant to prevent alien species invading. </p>
<p>A major source of conflict in the Murray-Darling Basin Plan was the allocation of water to the environment. Considering the <a href="https://theconversation.com/dam-it-all-river-futures-in-northern-australia-17131">environment as a stakeholder</a> at the beginning of this process could have avoided future conflicts. </p>
<p>These practices will need to be adapted to the highly seasonal rainfall of northern Australia, which will be challenging. Intact rivers with particularly high numbers of species found nowhere else may be good candidates for freshwater protected areas, which are <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-are-there-no-true-freshwater-protected-areas-in-australia-32966">rare in Australia</a>.</p>
<p>We need to ensure that our unique freshwater fishes are properly conserved. <a href="http://www.nespnorthern.edu.au/topics/rivers-and-wetlands/">With research and good planning</a>, we can ensure we do not repeat the sins of the past in northern Australia.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/52905/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew Le Feuvre receives funding from the Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment and the Hermon Slade Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>James Shelley receives funding from the Herman Slade Foundation, Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment, Australian Biological Resource Study, Winifred Violet Scott Charitable Trust, Australasian Systematic Botany Society + Society of Australian Systematic Biologists. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephen Swearer receives funding from the Hermon Slade Foundation and the Winifred Violet Scott Charitable Trust. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tim Dempster receives funding from the Hermon Slade Foundation and the Winifred Violet Scott Charitable Trust. </span></em></p>A score of new fish species discovered recently in northern Australia remind us how little we know about our country.Matthew Le Feuvre, PhD candidate, School of BioSciences, The University of MelbourneJames Shelley, PhD candidate, School of Biosciences, The University of MelbourneStephen Swearer, Professor of Marine biology, The University of MelbourneTim Dempster, Associate professor in Marine Biology, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/421792015-05-21T10:09:41Z2015-05-21T10:09:41ZAn animal that could rewrite the family tree: one of the top new species of 2015<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82516/original/image-20150521-5925-zzh4p7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Is it a ... or a ....? Dengrogramma enigmatica, discovered in deep water off the coast of Victoria, doesn't quite fit in anywhere in the animal family tree. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jørgen Olesen</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It is that time of year <a href="https://theconversation.com/top-ten-species-reveal-process-of-discovery-and-further-mysteries-about-life-on-earth-27031">again</a>, when the International Institute for Species Exploration based at the State University of New York announces the <a href="http://www.esf.edu/top10/">Top 10 new species</a>.</p>
<p>This year the announcement has been timed to honour the birthday of Carolus Linnaeus, the founder of modern taxonomy, who was born on 23 May 1707. Linneaus not only established the system we still use to classify species, he and his students made a heroic start by naming 4,400 animal and 7,700 plant species. Linneaus would be astonished to know that modern scientists named 18,000 new species just last year, and that current estimates are that 10 million species still await discovery. </p>
<p>With that context, it should be clear that the Top 10 species of the year are ambassadors for this massive endeavour and were chosen both to highlight the passion of the scientists involved and to activate the imagination of people who do not usually think about taxonomy. The classification of the world’s diversity is critical to understanding our planet and to the preservation of life on earth.</p>
<p>I have found a couple of themes to organise this year’s Top 10. I’ll call them eggs and branches – what species do with their eggs is key to their identity and behaviour, and the evolutionary branches they sit on is no mere metaphor, as some of them live and grow on or look exactly like actual branches. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82504/original/image-20150521-5937-15cnod0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82504/original/image-20150521-5937-15cnod0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82504/original/image-20150521-5937-15cnod0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82504/original/image-20150521-5937-15cnod0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82504/original/image-20150521-5937-15cnod0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82504/original/image-20150521-5937-15cnod0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82504/original/image-20150521-5937-15cnod0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82504/original/image-20150521-5937-15cnod0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Chicken from Hell.
’</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mark A. Klingler, Carnegie Museum of Natural History</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So let’s start with the egg theme, and the new dinosaur that is an Oviraptorosaur (or “egg thief” lizard). Originally thought to be egg-eaters, it is now believed that fossils found among nests and broken egg-shells belong to feathered dinosaurs who were protecting their young. These early dinosaurs were part of the transition to birds but are not exactly birdlike: about the size of a small car, and found in a geologic region known as the Hell Creek Formation, the scientists who named <em><a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-26653799">Anzu wyliei</a></em> have dubbed it the “chicken from Hell”.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82508/original/image-20150521-5960-1sw4l5m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82508/original/image-20150521-5960-1sw4l5m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82508/original/image-20150521-5960-1sw4l5m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=113&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82508/original/image-20150521-5960-1sw4l5m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=113&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82508/original/image-20150521-5960-1sw4l5m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=113&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82508/original/image-20150521-5960-1sw4l5m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=142&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82508/original/image-20150521-5960-1sw4l5m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=142&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82508/original/image-20150521-5960-1sw4l5m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=142&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The nest of a wasp that feeds its young on paralysed spiders.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Merten Ehmig</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Speaking of hellish things to do with your eggs, the next species is a wasp that uses corpses to feed and protect her eggs. That’s right, the eggs of <em><a href="http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/spider-eating-bone-house-wasp-deuteragenia-ossarium-uses-ant-corpses-ward-off-nest-predators-1455145">Deuteragenia ossarium</a></em> are laid inside paralysed spiders packed into a hollow stem, with the creative twist of packing the end of the stem with a pile of dead ants. The ants produce a chemical signature that confuses parasites that want to harm their young brood. The species name “ossarium”, or a place for the bones of the dead, comes from this unique behaviour. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82514/original/image-20150521-5940-1s539xd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82514/original/image-20150521-5940-1s539xd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82514/original/image-20150521-5940-1s539xd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82514/original/image-20150521-5940-1s539xd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82514/original/image-20150521-5940-1s539xd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82514/original/image-20150521-5940-1s539xd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82514/original/image-20150521-5940-1s539xd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82514/original/image-20150521-5940-1s539xd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Extraordinary sand circles produced by the white-spotted pufferfish.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Yoji Okata</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82515/original/image-20150521-5934-g8xm63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82515/original/image-20150521-5934-g8xm63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82515/original/image-20150521-5934-g8xm63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82515/original/image-20150521-5934-g8xm63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82515/original/image-20150521-5934-g8xm63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82515/original/image-20150521-5934-g8xm63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82515/original/image-20150521-5934-g8xm63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82515/original/image-20150521-5934-g8xm63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Yoji Okata</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The white-spotted pufferfish is so obsessed with protecting their eggs that they build intricate circles in the sand that are so large (2 metres) and so beautiful that scientists spent 20 years wondering what they were for. The discovery of the culprit led to the identification of this new species of fish, which has been <a href="http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20141205-new-pufferfish-named">filmed</a> doing its thing in the seafloor near Japan. The ridges and grooves built by the male pufferfish protect the eggs from turbulence.</p>
<p>A new species of fanged frog found in Indonesia has made the Top 10 due to a conspicuous lack of eggs. Most frogs release eggs and sperm into the water where fertilisation occurs outside the body. Only a handful of frogs break this rule and fertilise their eggs internally, but these either produce eggs ready to grow or tiny froglets. <em><a href="http://www.sci-news.com/biology/science-limnonectes-larvaepartus-tadpole-bearing-frog-indonesia-02379.html">Limnonectes larvaepartus</a></em>, the new frog found in Indonesia, is the only frog known that gives birth to tadpoles. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82511/original/image-20150521-5925-1dsr72a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82511/original/image-20150521-5925-1dsr72a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82511/original/image-20150521-5925-1dsr72a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82511/original/image-20150521-5925-1dsr72a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82511/original/image-20150521-5925-1dsr72a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82511/original/image-20150521-5925-1dsr72a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82511/original/image-20150521-5925-1dsr72a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82511/original/image-20150521-5925-1dsr72a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The only frog to give birth to live tadpoles.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jimmy A. McGuire</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I’m going to stretch my egg theme for the next species by explaining that it provided the germ of an idea. The Moroccan flic-flac spider was actually discovered by a bionics expert, for whom the species is named. <em><a href="http://www.senckenberg.de/root/index.php?page_id=5210&kid=2&id=3095">Cebrennus rechenbergi</a></em> is a type of huntsman spider that lives in the Moroccan desert. It hides in silk-lined burrows during the day and is active at night. However, its claim to fame is a unique mode of locomotion whereby it cartwheels like a gymnast when disturbed and the movement is so unique and efficient, Prof. Dr. Rechenberg used it as the inspiration for a new robot called a Tabbot. You can view films of both the spider and robot <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHo32JrkDRk">here</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82506/original/image-20150521-5940-7a3ui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82506/original/image-20150521-5940-7a3ui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82506/original/image-20150521-5940-7a3ui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=310&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82506/original/image-20150521-5940-7a3ui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=310&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82506/original/image-20150521-5940-7a3ui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=310&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82506/original/image-20150521-5940-7a3ui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82506/original/image-20150521-5940-7a3ui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82506/original/image-20150521-5940-7a3ui.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The flic-flac spider in full cartwheel.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Prof. Dr. Ingo Rechenberg, Technical University Berlin</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So that’s it for the egg theme, and time to think about branches. </p>
<p>A new plant (<em>Balanophora coralliformis</em>) found in the Phillipines is a root parasite, which means it draws its nutrition from other plants and is incapable of photosynthesis. This means it does not have chlorophyll, so it isn’t green, and has branching tubers that make it look like a brown coral living in the forest. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82505/original/image-20150521-5963-lpup8g.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82505/original/image-20150521-5963-lpup8g.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82505/original/image-20150521-5963-lpup8g.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82505/original/image-20150521-5963-lpup8g.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82505/original/image-20150521-5963-lpup8g.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82505/original/image-20150521-5963-lpup8g.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82505/original/image-20150521-5963-lpup8g.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82505/original/image-20150521-5963-lpup8g.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Not a coral, but a plant.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">P.B. Pelser & J.F. Barcelona</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I love the way that life surprises us – the Top 10 list includes both a plant that does not bother with photosynthesis and an animal that does. <a href="http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/solarpow">Solar-powered sea slugs</a> harvest algae from coral and sequester them in their gut in order to supplement their diet with nutrients from sunlight. The Japanese sea slug <em>Phyllodesmium acanthorhinum</em> has both a branched gut to hold these miniature solar cells and a branched body shape. With vivid colours and graceful movements, they are so beautiful they were recently named the <a href="http://rfbolland.com/okislugs/phylac1a.html">Opisthobranch of the Week</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82512/original/image-20150521-5925-nr50mm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82512/original/image-20150521-5925-nr50mm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82512/original/image-20150521-5925-nr50mm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82512/original/image-20150521-5925-nr50mm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82512/original/image-20150521-5925-nr50mm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82512/original/image-20150521-5925-nr50mm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82512/original/image-20150521-5925-nr50mm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82512/original/image-20150521-5925-nr50mm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A solar-powered sea slug.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Robert Bolland</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I just <a href="http://theconversation.com/miracle-birth-thrills-tallangatta-locals-6932">love stick insects</a>, so the inclusion of a stick insect in the Top 10 has my full approval. <em>Phryganistria tamdaoensis</em> was found in the Tam Dao National Park in Vietnam and belongs to a group known as “giant sticks”. Let’s face it, some of these creatures are so big they look more like <a href="http://www.sci-news.com/biology/science-phryganistria-heusii-yentuensis-worlds-second-longest-insect-vietnam-02363.html">branches</a>. The Tam Dao Giant Stick was cultivated in captivity for years before being named and has already been <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f75kZWT07bQ">filmed</a> by another stick insect lover.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82510/original/image-20150521-5937-kmxc58.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82510/original/image-20150521-5937-kmxc58.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82510/original/image-20150521-5937-kmxc58.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82510/original/image-20150521-5937-kmxc58.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82510/original/image-20150521-5937-kmxc58.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82510/original/image-20150521-5937-kmxc58.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82510/original/image-20150521-5937-kmxc58.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82510/original/image-20150521-5937-kmxc58.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jonathan Brecko</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82513/original/image-20150521-5940-lmy3si.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82513/original/image-20150521-5940-lmy3si.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82513/original/image-20150521-5940-lmy3si.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=883&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82513/original/image-20150521-5940-lmy3si.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=883&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82513/original/image-20150521-5940-lmy3si.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=883&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82513/original/image-20150521-5940-lmy3si.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1110&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82513/original/image-20150521-5940-lmy3si.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1110&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82513/original/image-20150521-5940-lmy3si.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1110&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A bromeliad used as a Christmas decoration.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">A. Espejo</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>High in the branches of the cloud forests of Mexico, a colourful plant known as a bromeliad grows on trees and rocky cliffs. Growing up to 1.5 m tall, <em><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f75kZWT07bQ">Tillandsia religiosa</a></em> was used to decorate Christmas scenes by villagers long before science gave it a name. </p>
<p>Last but not least is a species whose very name (<em>Dendrogramma enigmatica</em>) refers to the branching diagrams we use to draw evolutionary trees (see its picture at the top of this post). Found in Australia in my own state of Victoria, this species has several claims to fame. It may represent an entirely new phylum, which means a major new branch on the tree of life. </p>
<p>Discovered in 1986, the species took so long to name precisely because its existence led to further questions about the origins of multicellular organisms. When we say that its closest relative might be either a Ctenophore or a Cnidarian we are entering the realm of deep time and issues surrounding the evolution of the first animals, a topic I’ve <a href="https://theconversation.com/ctenophores-semaphore-information-about-earliest-animals-21459">explained before</a>. With similarities to Precambrian faunal groups, the placement of this new species may result in the movement of extinct kingdoms. Their taxonomic description as “<em>incertae sedis</em>” literally gave me chills: the Latin phrase indicates that nobody on earth knows where this species belongs, yet.</p>
<p><em><a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0102976">Dendrogramma enigmatica</a></em> is one of two species found on the deep ocean floor, at up to 1000 metres below the surface. With a single mouth opening and no gonads, they look like mushrooms, although they are definitely animals. If we had access to DNA many questions about their origins could be answered, but these specimens were preserved in a way that kept their cell structures intact but destroyed the DNA. </p>
<p>The branches of the tree of life look just like the branches in the lobes of <em>D. enigmatica</em>. As an enigma this species illustrates both the challenges we face in the classification of life, and the connections we see among all living things when we look more closely.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/42179/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<h4 class="border">Disclosure</h4><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Susan Lawler has received funding from the Australian Research Council in the past.
She is a member of the Society of Australian Systematic Biologists. </span></em></p>The top 10 new species for 2015 include a crop-circling fish, a murderous wasp, and an animal that’s got scientists confounded.Susan Lawler, Head of Department, Department of Environmental Management & Ecology, La Trobe UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/382762015-03-04T02:45:41Z2015-03-04T02:45:41ZNewly discovered moth is enigmatic evolutionary wonder<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/73709/original/image-20150303-31833-gax4eo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Male enigma moth, a new species discovered on Kangaroo Island. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">George Gibbs</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The discovery of a new family of moth is one of the most exciting finds in entomology in the past 40 years. It was found not in some remote and unexplored region of Australia, but right in our backyard on Kangaroo Island in South Australia. The island that is only 100km from Adelaide and 13km from the mainland, that has been settled since 1836 and is one of the loveliest destinations for a holiday.</p>
<p>This family of moths (<em>Aenigmatineidae</em>) contains a single genus (<em>Aenigmatinea</em>) and single species (<em>Aenigmatinea glatzella</em>) which, to date, is found at a single site close to the beach on a single type of native pine tree (<em>Callitris gracilis</em>). Details of the discovery were first published earlier this year in the journal <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/syen.12115/abstract">Systematic Entomology</a>.</p>
<p>The moth – whose less technical name is the Enigma moth – is small with wings that are about 4mm long, and looks more like a <a href="http://www.ento.csiro.au/education/insects/trichoptera.html">caddis-fly</a> than a moth. Despite their size they are exceptionally beautiful, with the males golden and females metallic purple.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/73726/original/image-20150304-31839-qzii1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/73726/original/image-20150304-31839-qzii1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/73726/original/image-20150304-31839-qzii1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/73726/original/image-20150304-31839-qzii1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/73726/original/image-20150304-31839-qzii1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/73726/original/image-20150304-31839-qzii1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/73726/original/image-20150304-31839-qzii1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/73726/original/image-20150304-31839-qzii1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A specimen of the Engima moth.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">You Ning Su, CSIRO</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What’s in a name?</h2>
<p>The genus name, <em>Aenigmatinea</em>, (along with its common name) reflects the enigmatic nature of the moth’s morphology. The moth has an odd mixture of physical characters that made it difficult to place within an evolutionary framework: its wings and genitalia showed it to be primitive -– but how primitive? </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/73729/original/image-20150304-31848-l6eg5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/73729/original/image-20150304-31848-l6eg5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/73729/original/image-20150304-31848-l6eg5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/73729/original/image-20150304-31848-l6eg5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/73729/original/image-20150304-31848-l6eg5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/73729/original/image-20150304-31848-l6eg5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/73729/original/image-20150304-31848-l6eg5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/73729/original/image-20150304-31848-l6eg5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Richard Glatz hunting the Enigma moth on Kangaroo Island.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Janine Mackintosh</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The most primitive moths have jaws, with one of the first steps in the evolution of advanced moths and butterflies being the development of a tongue. <em>Aenigmatinea</em> has neither – its mouth parts are almost entirely reduced.</p>
<p>The solution to the puzzle was to rely on the moth’s DNA and compare its sequence to potential relatives. The answer was intriguing -– the moth’s closest relatives have a tongue and <em>Aenigmatinea</em> has lost its tongue over time.</p>
<p>The “–tinea” part of the generic name refers to the name that Swedish botanist <a href="http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/science-of-natural-history/biographies/linnaeus/">Carl Linnaeus</a> gave small moths when he first created the <a href="http://www.amentsoc.org/insects/glossary/terms/binomial-naming-system">binomial naming system</a> that we use for all moths and animals.</p>
<p>What about the specific name, “glatzella”? This a little pun of the type that taxonomists often like. The moth’s head is partially bald -– a little male pattern baldness -– and “glatze” is German for “bald head”.</p>
<p>Glatzella also honours the moth’s discoverer Richard Glatz, the South Australian entomologist, who has fallen in love with Kangaroo Island and who for 15 years, in his own time, has documented the island’s insect fauna.</p>
<h2>Why the excitement?</h2>
<p>Primitive moths, those in which there is a single genital opening in the female, comprise less than 1% of extant <a href="http://www.ento.csiro.au/education/insects/lepidoptera.html">lepidopteran species</a> (moths and butterflies), but represent much of its physical diversity. The discovery of a new family of moths tells us about the early steps that led to the evolution of the more typical moths and butterflies, which are more familiar.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/73730/original/image-20150304-31855-d70l5p.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/73730/original/image-20150304-31855-d70l5p.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/73730/original/image-20150304-31855-d70l5p.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/73730/original/image-20150304-31855-d70l5p.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/73730/original/image-20150304-31855-d70l5p.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/73730/original/image-20150304-31855-d70l5p.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/73730/original/image-20150304-31855-d70l5p.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/73730/original/image-20150304-31855-d70l5p.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Close examination of the tiny Enigma moth.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alan Landford,CSIRO</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Discoveries of new families of anything are a big deal. Families are three rungs from the bottom of the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/order">taxonomic ladder</a> -– above genera and species. New species and new genera of moths and butterflies are discovered every week, but it has been 40 years since a new family of primitive moths and butterflies have been discovered anywhere in the world.</p>
<p>The second reason this is exciting is because it highlights what a special place Australia is and what a special responsibility we have to take care of it. In Europe it is a big deal to identify and name a new species of moth; in Australia, we have tens of thousands of new species to name, and untold numbers of species that remain to be discovered.</p>
<p>This picture is duplicated, to a greater or lesser extent, for virtually every insect order. With so much collecting and naming to do before we have a good picture of our insect fauna, how can we possibly make informed decisions about which areas of our environment merit protection.</p>
<h2>The discovery</h2>
<p>This discovery is also exciting because it highlights the importance of citizen science and the interplay between people working in a private capacity and professional researchers.</p>
<p>The authors on the paper describing the new moth are a miscellany of characters. Richard Glatz is professional entomologist but has a private passion for the insect-life of Kangaroo Island. Andy Young is not professionally trained, but is a superbly gifted field-worker, who also lives on Kangaroo Island, with a great eye for unusual moths.</p>
<p>Richard and Andy were insightful enough to know they had discovered something interesting and generous enough to know they needed additional help to develop the discovery into a paper.</p>
<p>In 2009 they sent the only two moths they had collected to one of us (Ted Edwards, who works in an honorary capacity at the Australian National Insect Collection (<a href="http://www.csiro.au/Organisation-Structure/National-Facilities/Australian-National-Insect-Collection.aspx">ANIC</a>)).</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/73732/original/image-20150304-31829-3cl8c.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/73732/original/image-20150304-31829-3cl8c.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/73732/original/image-20150304-31829-3cl8c.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/73732/original/image-20150304-31829-3cl8c.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/73732/original/image-20150304-31829-3cl8c.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/73732/original/image-20150304-31829-3cl8c.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=577&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/73732/original/image-20150304-31829-3cl8c.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=577&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/73732/original/image-20150304-31829-3cl8c.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=577&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ted Edwards with some of the collection at the Australian National Insect Collection.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alan Landford, CSIRO</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Realising the moth was unique, we sent it to Denmark to Niels Kristensen, the guru of primitive moth taxonomy, at the University of Copenhagen, who recognised it was a new family of moths.</p>
<p>A team of collectors from Australia and New Zealand, some professional entomologists and some experienced but self-trained amateurs, then joined Richard and Andy on Kangaroo Island to find additional specimens required for production of a scientific paper.</p>
<p>Researchers at the Department of Zoology at the University of Melbourne generated DNA sequences of the moth, which were then analysed in Finland. With these data, the moth was formally described by Niels and Ted and they produce their paper over a six month period, with emails sent back and forth across the world.</p>
<p>The paper was accepted late in 2014, a few weeks before Niels Kristensen passed away, a life tragically cut short with so many projects remaining uncompleted.</p>
<p>Having a major scientific paper produced collaboratively by private individuals and professional scientists is unusual. But surely this is a recipe to repeat and who knows what other insects may be discovered in Australia’s back yard.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/38276/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Douglas Hilton is a founder and member of the research advisory committee of the Australian Lepidoptera Research Endowment.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ted Edwards was a paid member of staff of CSIRO..</span></em></p>Amateurs and experts worked together to unravel the mystery of a new moth, the first discovery of its kind in 40 years.Douglas Hilton, Director, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute & Professor of Medical Biology, and an honorary principal fellow in the Department of Zoology at the University of Melbourne, Walter and Eliza Hall InstituteTed Edwards, Honorary Fellow, Australian National Insect Collection, CSIROLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/338112014-11-05T06:14:55Z2014-11-05T06:14:55ZFrom Beyonce the fly to Darth Vader the beetle, naming species can help save them<p>What do Beyonce, Hitler, David Attenborough, Darth Vader and GoldenPalace.com all have in common? They all have species named after them. In the case of Beyonce it is an Australian horse fly whose striking golden behind apparently inspired the scientists to give this species the scientific name <a href="https://theconversation.com/beyonce-is-a-fly-but-why-4958"><em>Scaptia beyonceae</em></a>.</p>
<p>Most species do not have such frivolous scientific names. Last week a new species of frog was described <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/new-species-of-leopard-frog-discovered-in-new-york-city-9826519.html">from New York City</a>. It has been named <em>Rana kauffeldi</em>, in honour of the American herpetologist Carl Kauffeld who in the 1930s predicted a new species of leopard frog would be found on the east coast of the US.</p>
<p>What’s in a name? And why don’t scientists simply number species? The scientific name is not an arbitrary label, well at least not the first part, which tells us the genus of the species. From knowing this we can start to understand the evolutionary relatedness between species. </p>
<p>For example, chimpanzees and bonobos both come from the genus <em>Pan</em>; whereas humans are from <em>Homo</em>. Thus, as a scientist I know that chimpanzees and bonobos are closer to each other than they are to humans. Scientific names according to the naming rules for species must be unique and show evolutionary relatedness; that is, relate to the importance of common ancestor species.</p>
<p>The reason we need scientific names and not just common names is to permit scientists to precisely identify the species they are investigating. Returning to our New Yorker <em>Rana kauffeldi</em>, there are 15 species of leopard frog and in many countries common names are generic or vary by region. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/63647/original/pw2dd6pf-1415121193.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/63647/original/pw2dd6pf-1415121193.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/63647/original/pw2dd6pf-1415121193.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=831&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/63647/original/pw2dd6pf-1415121193.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=831&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/63647/original/pw2dd6pf-1415121193.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=831&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/63647/original/pw2dd6pf-1415121193.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1044&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/63647/original/pw2dd6pf-1415121193.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1044&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/63647/original/pw2dd6pf-1415121193.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1044&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Guigó. Or is it Sauá?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Callicebus_nigrifrons_Minas_Gerais.jpg">Claudio Marcio Lopes</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I have spent many years <a href="http://www.salford.ac.uk/environment-life-sciences/about/environment-and-life-sciences-news/eagle-below-you!-new-monkey-alarm-cries-discovered">studying titi monkeys in Brazil</a> of which there are more than 20 species, but in Minas Gerais where I study them they are all referred to in Portuguese as <em>guigó</em>. Once I was giving a talk at the University of São Paulo in Brazil about my titi monkey research and I noticed a look of puzzlement on the audience’s faces until I showed a slide of my study animal when the audience collectively shouted out <em>sauá</em>. If I had use the monkey’s scientific name I would have avoided ten minutes of bemused expressions.</p>
<h2>Naming rights</h2>
<p>The second part of a scientific name is chosen by whoever first described the species in a scientific journal, and this is where opportunity lies. Many species names refer to physical characteristics, such as <em>Artibeus hirsutus</em> for the hairy fruit eating bat, its geographic location <em>Ovis canadensis</em> for bighorn sheep or after an appropriate eminent scientist such as <em>Rhinoderma darwinii</em> for Darwin’s frog. A successful taxonomist may <a href="http://www.economist.com/node/5494618">sell the rights</a> to a person or a company to award a species its name.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/63649/original/xt6nbkvm-1415122462.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/63649/original/xt6nbkvm-1415122462.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=610&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/63649/original/xt6nbkvm-1415122462.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=610&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/63649/original/xt6nbkvm-1415122462.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=610&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/63649/original/xt6nbkvm-1415122462.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=767&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/63649/original/xt6nbkvm-1415122462.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=767&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/63649/original/xt6nbkvm-1415122462.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=767&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Meet Wunderpus photogenicus.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wonder_octopus.jpg">Jenny Huang</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Golden Palace titi monkey (<em>Callicebus aureipalatii</em>) is a case in point. This online gambling site in 2004 paid US$650,000 to name the species and the funds were used for the conservation of the monkey’s habitat in Bolivia. There are now <a href="http://treefoundation.org/2013/10/13/name-a-species-save-a-forest-new-tardigrade-species/">websites</a> where you can bid to <a href="http://www.irisauction.com/">name species</a>. </p>
<p>Some people have criticised this approach to raising funds for species conservation as being <a href="http://www.wired.com/2007/09/selling-the-rig/">vulgar and too commercial</a>, liking it to how sponsorship has taken over sport. When I was a child there was “The FA Cup”, these days it is the “The FA Cup with Budweiser” – a change that has generated a lot of money for football. </p>
<p>Yet such sporting examples are ephemeral: the FA Cup will not always belong to the same sponsor. Scientific names are permanent however, and can only be changed in accordance with the rules of the International <a href="http://iczn.org/code">Code of Zoological Nomenclature</a>. Thus, while it may be extremely unpalatable to think there is a beetle, which in 1937 was named <em>Anophthalmus hitleri</em> – the rules do not permit a name change.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/63628/original/232zym4v-1415115409.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/63628/original/232zym4v-1415115409.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=979&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/63628/original/232zym4v-1415115409.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=979&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/63628/original/232zym4v-1415115409.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=979&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/63628/original/232zym4v-1415115409.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1231&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/63628/original/232zym4v-1415115409.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1231&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/63628/original/232zym4v-1415115409.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1231&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Call me Adolf.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Anophthalmus_hitleri_HabitusDors.jpg">Michael Munich</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There has been alarm that some companies, which do considerable environmental damage, might use species naming as a form of greenwashing. What I would like to suggest here is that rather than paying a one-off fee to name a species companies would need to pay into an environmental endowment fund. Thus, the impact of their funds would be positive for the environment in the long-term.</p>
<p>Each year approximately 15,000 new species are given a formal scientific name, creating lots of sponsorship opportunities. Of course companies will prefer to sponsor charismatic species such as monkeys, dolphins or parrots. While such species aren’t as common as new insects, there should be enough to go around. In Brazil, a new primate species is discovered on average once a year. </p>
<p>Since funds would be to protect the sponsored species’ habitat this will result in the protection of the non-cute species in that habitat. Thus, sponsored animals would become what we conservation biologists call <a href="http://conservationmagazine.org/2001/07/selecting-effective-umbrella-species/">umbrella species</a>, inadvertently sheltering others in their habitat.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/33811/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert John Young does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>What do Beyonce, Hitler, David Attenborough, Darth Vader and GoldenPalace.com all have in common? They all have species named after them. In the case of Beyonce it is an Australian horse fly whose striking…Robert John Young, Professor of Wildlife Conservation, University of SalfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/317402014-09-16T13:00:23Z2014-09-16T13:00:23ZWhat’s in your porcini packet? You may find a new species … or three<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/59121/original/q33c3thw-1410847309.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">That's a tasty-looking risotto, but it might also contain mushroom species not yet known to science.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/blogumentary/4138726549">Chuck Olsen/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Mycologists – scientists who study fungi – estimate there are up to <a href="http://www.amjbot.org/content/98/3/426.full">five million species</a> of fungi on Earth. Of these, only about 2%, or 100,000 species, have been formally described. So where are the other 98% of fungi hiding? </p>
<p>At least three, it seems, were hiding in a supermarket packet of dried porcini mushrooms from China. Mycologists Bryn Dentinger and Laura Suz from the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, UK, used DNA sequencing to identify three new species in a packet of dried porcini mushrooms purchased from a supermarket, and <a href="https://peerj.com/articles/570">report their findings</a> in the journal PeerJ today. </p>
<p>The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) is a DNA region commonly used to identify fungi. (In fact, it’s been <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22454494">called</a> the “universal DNA barcode marker for fungi”.) In their PeerJ paper, Dentinger and Suz compared previously published ITS sequences for porcini and discovered significant differences in three of their packet of dried mushrooms, enough to mark them as new species. </p>
<p>Their work also highlighted the use of modern DNA sequencing technologies for identifying species in food, and for monitoring foods for quality and adherence to international regulations, such as the <a href="http://www.cbd.int/">Convention on Biological Diversity</a>. </p>
<h2>Fungi really are fascinating</h2>
<p>Like an apple, a mushroom is the fruit of the fungus. It’s not the apple tree. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/59116/original/tf79dfr3-1410844555.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/59116/original/tf79dfr3-1410844555.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/59116/original/tf79dfr3-1410844555.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/59116/original/tf79dfr3-1410844555.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/59116/original/tf79dfr3-1410844555.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/59116/original/tf79dfr3-1410844555.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/59116/original/tf79dfr3-1410844555.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/59116/original/tf79dfr3-1410844555.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Typical porcini (<em>Boletus edulis</em> var. <em>clavipes</em>) in its natural habitat. This is not one of the newly discovered species (which are only known from the dried remains in the packet).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bryn Dentinger</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Most of the fungus grows below the ground, in a vast network of root-like tubes called hyphae. How vast, you might ask? Well, in a case known as the “<a href="http://www.crystalfalls.org/humongou.htm">humongous fungus</a>”, a single clone (individual) of the honey mushroom (<em>Armillaria ostoyae</em>) has been shown to cover more than 900 hectares in Malheur National Forest in Oregon, USA. Estimates place the age of this gigantic fungal network at more than 2,000 years.</p>
<p>In Australia, some of our fungi are a little more modest in size, though perhaps bigger than you might guess. Nicole Sawyer and John Cairney at the University of Western Sydney have estimated the size of individuals of the Australian Elegant Blue Webcap (<em><a href="http://australianfungi.blogspot.com.au/2010/07/38-cortinarius-rotundisporus.html">Cortinarius rotundisporus</a></em>) at more than 30m in diameter – about the size of tennis court.</p>
<p>Despite the impressive size of some species, new species of fungi don’t get the same recognition as a new species of mammal, bird or reptile. But discoveries of novel species are the new norm in modern mycology – a change being driven by advances in our ability to sequence DNA.</p>
<p>It’s very important to better understand fungi, as they underpin the terrestrial biology of Earth. They associate with the vast majority of plants in a symbiosis called <a href="http://archive.bio.ed.ac.uk/jdeacon/microbes/mycorrh.htm">mycorrhiza</a>. </p>
<p>Living both within plant roots, and out in the soil, they gather nutrients for the plant, and protect it against diseases and water stress, enhancing plant growth in exchange for sugars the plant produces via photosynthesis. </p>
<p>Without their fungal assistants, plants as we know them would not exist. Other fungi are vital decomposers and return nutrients stored in organic matter to the soil. While the most fungi are beneficial, some fungi are devastating plant pathogens, while a small number of fungi can cause disease in humans such as ringworm, <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21976604">trichosporonosis</a> or <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/fungal/diseases/aspergillosis/index.html?s_cid=cs_748">aspergillosis</a>.</p>
<h2>Close human relationships</h2>
<p>Humans have also recruited an array of fungi to their cause. Products produced by fungi are used in medicine – many antibiotics come from fungi – and the production of a range of food products including soy sauce, blue cheese, bread, beer and wine. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/59122/original/89tycg7r-1410848024.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/59122/original/89tycg7r-1410848024.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/59122/original/89tycg7r-1410848024.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/59122/original/89tycg7r-1410848024.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/59122/original/89tycg7r-1410848024.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/59122/original/89tycg7r-1410848024.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/59122/original/89tycg7r-1410848024.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/59122/original/89tycg7r-1410848024.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Some of the new porcini species reported in PeerJ today.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bryn Dentinger</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Numerous new fungi related to <em><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC358230/">Malassezia</a></em> (a yeast that causes dandruff in humans) have been found in marine subsurface sediments in the South China Sea by Chinese researchers from Zhongshan (Sun Yatsen) University, while scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in the US found the same <em>Malassezia</em>-like species from the Peru Trench in the Pacific Ocean. </p>
<p>The work in the Peru Trench used environmental RNA sequencing to guarantee that sequences observed were from environmental samples, and not contaminants from human skin. </p>
<p>Recent advances in modern DNA sequencing technology routinely yield millions of DNA fragments (reads) that can be quickly and accurately identified using classification tools. One such tool is the recently released <a href="http://rdp.cme.msu.edu/classifier/classifier.jsp">Warcup</a> ITS fungal identification set developed by CSIRO scientists in collaboration with the Ribosomal Database Project (<a href="http://rdp.cme.msu.edu/index.jsp">RDP</a>) and partners from the Western Illinois University and the Los Alamos National Laboratory in the US.</p>
<p>The Warcup ITS dataset allows identification, to species level, of thousands of ITS sequences within minutes. </p>
<p>The use of modern DNA technologies and classification tools may allow development of bioactive compounds for medicine, enhanced agricultural productivity, environmental damage repair, industrial applications such as biofuels and enzymes, along with food identification and potentially new food sources … sometimes in places you’d least expect.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/31740/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Mycologists – scientists who study fungi – estimate there are up to five million species of fungi on Earth. Of these, only about 2%, or 100,000 species, have been formally described. So where are the other…Nai Tran-Dinh, Research scientist, CSIRODavid Midgley, Research scientist, CSIROLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/266162014-05-13T13:05:07Z2014-05-13T13:05:07ZThe beautiful new jellyfish identified in the Gulf of Venice<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/48364/original/k7mcydgf-1399977286.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Thousands of the new Pelagia benovici have been spotted.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Fabrizio Marcuzzo</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A bloom of new jellyfish started appearing in the Gulf of Venice last autumn. They were first detected by a fisherman from Chioggia in north-east Italy when hundreds of the beautiful yellow species filled his nets. News of this reached my team at the University of Salento’s <a href="http://jellyrisk.eu/en/#.U3Io2q1Ta7k">MED-JELLYRISK</a> and <a href="http://www.marine-vectors.eu/">VECTORS</a> projects through <a href="http://www.perseus-net.eu/en/jellyfish_map/index.html">a citizen-science initiative</a> we run that gets locals to report jellyfish sightings along the Italian coasts.</p>
<p>When photos of the new jellyfish started to filter through, it was immediately clear that we were dealing with a previously undescribed species. To an expert eye, the differences were manifest. The white horseshoe-shaped, ribbon-like gonads, the yellow-ochre colour of the jellyfish umbrella, the pronounced warts on its surface and the long and delicate, transparent arms were distinctive elements. They altogether indicated the jellyfish was something new to any species that’s previously been categorised.</p>
<h2>Manifold differences</h2>
<p>To investigate further, I asked colleagues from the Chioggia marine station to collect and send me some specimens. As well as being able to describe the anatomical features more distinctively and accurately, we carried out <a href="https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3794.3.7">molecular analyses</a> to confirm the jellyfish belonged to a new species within the genus <em>Pelagia</em>. This involved DNA barcoding, which compares short sequences of the jellyfish’s DNA with other, similar, species. It works like the barcode sequence of stripes commercially adopted by supermarket scanners to rapidly distinguish between different products.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/48367/original/hv98hn3t-1399978237.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/48367/original/hv98hn3t-1399978237.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=290&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/48367/original/hv98hn3t-1399978237.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=290&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/48367/original/hv98hn3t-1399978237.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=290&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/48367/original/hv98hn3t-1399978237.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/48367/original/hv98hn3t-1399978237.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/48367/original/hv98hn3t-1399978237.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Striking differences between Pelagia noctiluca (A) and the new Pelagia benovici (B).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Fabrizio Marcuzzo</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The new species bears similarities to the <em>Pelagia noctiluca</em>, also known as the mauve stinger for its purple glow and stinging abilities. But there are visible and genetic differences, and the species is distinct from other species contending to be part of the <em>Pelagia</em> species recorded from other areas of the world. This is why we’ve dubbed it the <em>Pelagia benovici</em>.</p>
<h2>New kid on the block</h2>
<p>The most interesting issue is that the North Adriatic sea is one of the most investigated areas of the world as there are several marine stations in the area. This means that it is impossible for such a conspicuous jellyfish with large population numbers to have remained unnoticed until now. It would hardly be more remarkable to discover a new chimp species in London’s Hyde Park. </p>
<p>Clearly, this jellyfish has been involuntarily introduced by humans. The Gulf of Venice is a renowned hotspot for bioinvasions in the Mediterranean Sea, which are often brought about through the ballast water of ships or when harvested species are transported for aquaculture purposes and additional, unwanted alien species are carried along with them.</p>
<h2>Managing their impact</h2>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/invasive-species">Invasive species</a> can have a large impact on the environment they are entering. It’s hard to say what the exact impact of the new <em>Pelagia benovici</em> will be, as our knowledge of it is still limited and our efforts have so far focused on identifying it. But, in general, non-indigenous species can affect the biodiversity and functioning of an ecosystem, potentially displacing or threatening native species with key roles.</p>
<p>Human activities can also be impaired by new species, where they find suitable conditions to proliferate. They can cause the collapse of fisheries, as happened in the 1980s in the Black Sea, after the introduction of a voracious comb jellyfish. Tourism may also be affected, when stinging species arrive. </p>
<p>This was the case with the large <em>Rhopilema nomadica</em> jellyfish that entered the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal over 20 years ago. In 2011, outbreaks of <em>Rhopilema</em> clogged the cooling pipes of a coastal power plant, <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/photo/5964941/jellypowertelaviv">forcing energy shutdown in Tel Aviv</a>. Similarly, a nuclear power plant was shut down in <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-13971005">Scotland in 2011</a> and <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/02/world/europe/sweden-jellyfish-nuclear-shutdown/">Sweden in 2013</a> by outbreaks of the moon jellyfish, <em>Aurelia aurita</em> in the North Sea.</p>
<p>Our MED-JELLYRISK project is planning strategies to minimise the impact of jellyfish on human activities like tourism and fishing, as well as health. As more jellyfish are spotted and new species emerge, we are testing out anti-jellyfish nets and how to create safe swimming zones in areas where they find best conditions to proliferate.</p>
<p>Reports of the <em>Pelagia benovici</em> have dried up in the last couple of months, but jellyfish are erratic – they can be present in their millions, disappear and then suddenly come back. Our citizen science projects will help keep tabs on them and we are currently extending them to include all the countries around the Mediterranean with its diverse, ever-changing sea life.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/26616/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stefano Piraino has received research funding from the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) for the VECTORS project and from the ENPI CBCMED programme for the MED-JELLYRISK project. Additional technical and logistic support and use of facilities was obtained from the FP7 EU projects COCONET and PERSEUS, and from the Italian project RITMARE.</span></em></p>A bloom of new jellyfish started appearing in the Gulf of Venice last autumn. They were first detected by a fisherman from Chioggia in north-east Italy when hundreds of the beautiful yellow species filled…Stefano Piraino, Professor of Zoology, University of SalentoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.