To many people, Australia’s spider diversity is a source of fear. To arachnologists, it’s a goldmine, with most Australian spider species still yet to be discovered.
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Articles on New species
Displaying 1 - 20 of 27 articles
Between 250 and 200 million years ago, a whole host of bizarre horseshoe crabs had evolved in two distinct groups. Only one of these groups survives.
After more than 300 years of effort, scientists have documented fewer than one-third of Australia’s species. The remaining 70% are unknown, and essentially invisible, to science.
We discovered 11 (and probably more) new species of stygofauna living in water underground. These animals are usually blind, beautifully translucent and long-limbed.
This newly discovered ancient monk seal is challenging previous theories about how and where monachine seals evolved. It’s the biggest breakthrough in seal evolution research in about 70 years.
If albanerpetontids were around today, they’d easily fit in your hand. And although their bones are found all over the world, these unique amphibians eluded experts for a long time.
The discovery that gentoo penguins are actually four distinct species has important implications for their conservation.
This stroke of serendipity shows how much there is still to be learned about the natural history of Australia. Surely more surprises are out there waiting for us.
The extraordinary story of a stingray, its discovery and its uncertain fate in the Yemen war.
The sugar glider is an icon of the Australian bush. But discovering it’s actually three distinct species has big consequences for its conservation.
The extinct Mukupirna - which translates to ‘big bones’ - is estimated to have been more than four times larger than any living wombat.
South Africa is home to four other seahorse species, but this was the first time a pygmy seahorse had been observed in South Africa, let alone Africa.
“I arrived in Perth and bought a foam mattress for the back of my car – my bed for half of the trip. I stocked up on tinned food, and I headed north in search of these tiny eight-legged gems.”
Scientists thought there was only one sixgill sawshark species – until now.
This newly discovered species is the oldest one known to resemble today’s penguins in both size and leg proportions, unlike its giant co-habitants at the time.
Six months after huge floods swept Queensland we can start to appreciate the huge effect they had on native species.
New species are being discovered all the time, which only adds to the problem of knowing how many there are on the planet today. It also helps to know what we mean by species.
The largest of these frogs could sit happily on your thumbnail. The smallest is just longer than a grain of rice.
With their jewel-like colours, Colombia’s poison frogs are coveted by collectors. Does naming their species help protect them or make them a target for trophy hunters?
How can there be boom in new species discoveries while others are dying out at unprecedented rates?
Top contributors
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Adjunct Assoc. Professor, The University of Western Australia
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Associate professor, University of Sydney
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Professor, Pangea Research Centre, UNSW
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Adjunct Asssociate Professor, James Cook University
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Adjunct assistant professor, Southern Cross University
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Adjunct associate professor, The University of Queensland
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Lecturer in Modern British History, Newcastle University
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Professor of Evolutionary Biology, University of York
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Director of the Australian National Insect Collection, CSIRO
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Professor, Research Institute for Environment & Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University, Charles Darwin University
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Research Fellow, Department of Biology & Biochemistry, University of Bath
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Provost and Vice President, Charles Darwin University
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Professor chair in Tropical Ecology and Conservation, University of Salford
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Curator Vertebrates, Te Papa Tongarewa
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Senior research scientist, Western Australian Museum
