The new species provide a glimpse of how much scientists have still
to learn about life on Earth.
They estimate that there are up to 10 million species still left to
be discovered on our planet and are now calling for a major new
push to identify them over the next 50 years.
Last year, there were 18,000 new species registered with the
International Institute for Species Exploration, based at Arizona
State University.
A committee of international scientists has now selected a Top Ten
list of the most unusual and exceptional identified during
2013.
Scientists have now discovered approximately 1.2 million species
but say there are up to 10 million left to be found, without
including the countless bacteria and other microbes.
Many species are under threat from pollution, hunting and loss of
their habitat.
They have proposed a new mission to send 2,000 taxonomists around
the world to search for new species and are calling for funding for
300 biodiversity inventory projects.
Professor Wheeler added: “For decades, we have averaged 18,000
species discoveries per year which seemed reasonable before the
biodiversity crisis.
“Now, knowing that millions of species may not survive the 21st
century, it is time to pick up the pace.
“Until we know what species already exist, it is folly to expect we
will make the right decisions to assure the best possible outcome
for the pending biodiversity crisis."
Top 10 New Species of 2013
Lilliputian Violet (Viola
lilliputana)
Country: Peru
Known only from a single locality in an Intermontane Plateau of the
high Andes of Peru, this is one of the smallest violets in the
world. It grows in the dry puna grassland eco-region. Specimens
were first collected in the 1960s, but the species was not
described as a new until 2012. The entire above ground portion of
the plant is barely 1 centimetre tall. Named after the race of
little people on the island of Lilliput in Jonathan Swift's
Gulliver's Travels.
Lyre
Sponge (Chondrocladia
lyra)
Country: NE Pacific Ocean; USA: California
A carnivorous, harp-shaped sponge discovered in deep water, more
than 11,000 feet deep, of the northeast Pacific Ocean off the coast
of California. The harp-shaped structures or vanes number from two
to six and each has more than 20 parallel vertical branches, often
capped by an expanded, balloon-like ball. This unusual form
maximizes the area on which it can capture plankton, which it
eats.
Lesula
Monkey (Cercopithecus
lomamiensis)
Country: Democratic Republic of the Congo
Discovered in the Lomami Basin of the Democratic Republic of the
Congo, the lesula is an Old World monkey well known to locals but
newly known to science. This is only the second species of monkey
discovered in Africa in the past 28 years. Researchers describe the
shy lesula as having human-like eyes. More easily heard than seen,
the monkeys perform a booming dawn chorus. Adult males have a
large, bare patch of skin on the buttocks, testicles and perineum
that is coloured a brilliant blue. Although the forests where the
monkeys live are remote, the species is hunted for bush meat and
its status is vulnerable.
The No to
the Mine Snake (Sibon
noalamina)
Country: Panama
Discovered in the highland rainforests of western Panama, the snake
is nocturnal and hunts soft-bodied prey including earthworms and
amphibian eggs, in addition to snails and slugs. This harmless
snake defends itself by mimicking the alternating dark and light
rings of venomous coral snakes. The species is found in the
Serranía de Tabasará mountain range where ore mining is degrading
and diminishing its habitat. The species name is derived from the
Spanish phrase "No a la mina" or "No to the mine."
Ochroconis
anomala - Cave
art fungi
Country: France
In 2001, black stains began to appear on the walls of Lascaux Cave
in France. By 2007, the stains were so prevalent they became a
major concern for the conservation of precious rock art at the site
that dates back to the Upper Palaeolithic. Relatives of this fungi
occur in the soil and are associated with the decomposition of
plant matter. As far as scientists know, this fungus, one of two
new species of the genus from Lascaux, is harmless.
