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.
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Articles on New species
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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?
What drives the emergence and disappearance of species? By modeling the fundamental processes of evolution and ecology on geographical scales, new research spotlights topography and climatic shifts.
Scientists have been naming species after well-known people since the 18th century, often in a bid for publicity. But the issue deserves attention – 400,000 Australian species are yet to be described.
Scientific fieldwork that happens underground and underwater in spectacular but dangerous caves opens a window on a largely unknown world.
In defence of 'cryptozoologists': we have a lot to learn from their curiosity and sense of wonder.
A four-year puzzle has ended with the discovery of a new species of sunfish. These famously strange-looking animals are the largest bony fish in the oceans.
The planet has seen five 'mass extinctions' over the past half billion years, but each was followed by an explosion in biodiversity.
Australian taxonomy resources number around 70 million specimens, valued at over AU$5 billion. That's big science.
Top contributors
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Adjunct Senior Lecturer, University of Western Australia
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Senior Lecturer, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney
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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 chair in Tropical Ecology and Conservation, University of Salford
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Senior research scientist, Western Australian Museum
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University of Western Australia
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PhD student, Murdoch University
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Moran Professor of Conservation and Development, University of Cambridge
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Professor of Marine Biology, Texas A&M University
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Robert K. Colwell is a Friend of The Conversation.
Distinguished Research Professor, University of Connecticut
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Professor of Ecology, Universidade Federal de Goias
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Associate Professor, University of Saskatchewan
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PhD, University of Saskatchewan
