New Species Discovered in 2022
Beginning:
This evergreen world of ours is a reservoir of immense biodiversity. Each ecosystem reflects the conditions of a different region of the world. There are some species whose range exists only in certain regions of the world, while some species are spread all over the world. There is no shortage of efforts by scientists to discover new species constantly. Like other years, 2022 also saw the discovery of new species of animals, discussed in the world mirror. Today's discussion is about some important new species of animals discovered last year.
What is species?
Identification of organisms in scientific circles is always species-specific. It is never asked how many living things there are in the world, it is asked how many species of living things there are in the world. A species refers to a group of organisms most similar in characteristics, capable of producing fertile offspring by mating among themselves, but unable to produce fertile offspring by mating with other members. For example, human is a species, dog is a species, tiger is a species, lion is a species etc.
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Our world is a reservoir of biodiversity; Image Source: The Week |
Southern maned sloth:
Scientific name: Bradypus crinitus
Place of origin: Brazil
Most newly discovered species are plants, invertebrates, fish, or amphibians. Being small in size, the animals remain invisible to human eyes. But occasionally large animals are also added to this list.
IIn 2022, scientists found one such sloth species in Brazil. Earlier it was thought that only one species of sloth exists in that place. But a taxonomic review of morphology and DNA suggests that two species of sloth exist at the site; Northern (B. torquatus) and Southern (B. crinitus).
Both species exist only in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, meaning the species is endemic to Brazil in biological terms. Among them, the southern maned sloth is found in Rio de Janeiro and Espirito Santo, while the northern maned sloth lives in the Bahia and Sergipe regions.
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Southern Maned Sloth; Image Source: Andreia Martins. |
Lizard:
Scientific name: Lygodactylus fritzi
Place of origin: Madagascar
In 2022, the discovery of a new species led to the discovery of a total of 8 miniature lizards, no larger than the index finger, from Madagascar. Scientists said, this Lygodactylus fritzi (lizard) belongs to Domerguella genus. It is believed that the eight species discovered are endangered.
The scientific name of this reptile is Lygodactylus fritzi after the renowned reptile taxonomist, Dr. U Fritz, Director of the Dresden Zoological Museum, Germany.
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Lagodastilo Fritzi; Image source: P.-S. Gehring. |
Crab (Playa Scorpion):
Scientific Name: 1. Paruroctonus soda 2. P. conclusus
Place of Origin: United States
Two high-school students of the California Academy of Sciences in the United States have recently discovered two new species of crabs. When the two students named 'Harper Forbes' and 'Prakriti Jain' failed to identify the species, they thought of resorting to science-related platform iNaturalist. However, as a research and field-work project, they are their researcher Dr. When brought to Lauren Esposito, she identified a crab as a new species. Its scientific name is P. conclusus. The trio then took the other animal to iNaturalist and it too was declared a new species. The scientific name of the animal is Paruroctonus soda.
These two new species are found only in central and southern California in the United States. Although this species exists in other parts of the world, it is still undiscovered. The scientific name 'soda' is given because it was found near Soda Lake in California, and the word 'conclusus' means 'confined' or 'closed'. Because, it has not been found anywhere else in the world except California's Soda Lake.
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P. soda her young on her back; Image Source: Prakrit Jain. |
Giant killback slug:
Scientific name: Limax pseudocinereoniger
Place of origin: Montenegro
A slug is a type of snail in the order Mollusca. This large slug, found in the European country of Montenegro, is the size of a medium-sized carrot! The length of this brown-grey creature is about 20 cm.
A team of scientists discovered this new species in Tara Canyon, the largest and deepest canyon in Europe. At first they thought the animal belonged to the species L. cinereoniger. But morphological and genetic analysis showed that the two species are different and their reproductive organs are also different.
The first part of the animal's scientific name, 'pseudo-', is derived from the Greek language, meaning fake or disguise. Because, the first slug to see is L. cinereoniger. seems to be of the species.
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Giant Killback Slug; Image Source: Pierre Escoubas. |
Bernio's Oldfield Rat:
Scientific name: Thomasomys burneoi
Place of origin: Ecuador
A new species of Andean rat has been discovered in a remote part of Ecuador's Sangai National Park.
The mouse is named 'burneoi' after the famous Ecuadorian mammal expert Santiago F. After Bernio.
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Oldfield Rat of Bernio; Image Source: Jorge Brito. |
Jiangxi Giant Salamander:
Scientific name: Andrias jiangxiensis
Place of Origin: China.
Amphibious salamanders known as living fossils can grow up to 2 meters long. According to a 2018 study, there are at least five different species of Chinese giant salamanders. 2019 comes with more shocking information. According to a paper, giant salamanders (A. sligoi) from southern China are essentially a separate species, and the largest amphibian in the world.
The new species, discovered in China's Jiangxi province, is different from the giant salamander species in southern China. It is scientifically named after its place of origin, Jiangxi.
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An adult giant salamander; Image Source: Murong Yi. |
Chiriqui fire salamander:
Scientific name: Bolitoglossa cathyledecae
Place of origin: Panama
Scientists in Panama have discovered a new species of brightly colored salamander. The newly discovered amphibian differs from its closely related species salamanders in terms of coloration, structure of lateral feet, number of upper leg teeth, geneticists said. This salamander is listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List. A team of scientists discovered this new species while exploring the Cordillera de Talamanca Mountains and La Amistad International Park in Panama. It is believed that this area of the world has the highest species diversity of salamanders.
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Chiriqui fire salamander; Image Source: Marcos Ponce. |
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