The outgoing year brought many discoveries in zoology. The “dog-faced” bee, the tapir frog, the magic wrasse, and a number of other amazing creatures have not come across the eyes of man before. About the most interesting animals discovered in 2022
Key Points
Monster from eternal darkness
A Victorian Museums Research Institute expedition to the Cocos Islands has collected data on deep-sea animals, many of which may be from as-yet unrecorded species.
The real discovery was a previously unknown eel that lives at a depth of about five kilometers. It is covered with transparent gelatinous skin. The monster lives in pitch darkness, so its eyes are poorly developed. And, which is unusual for fish, the females of this eel do not spawn, but give birth to live young.
In addition, a valuable scientific “catch” includes a spider fish Bathypterois guentheri with long fins, so that it seems as if it moves along the bottom like on stilts. And also fish – a bat (batfish) – a deep-sea stingray with expressive eyes, a conger – a kind of eel, an ominous lizard fish and others. However, most likely, all of them are representatives of already known taxa, although they are rare. But that doesn’t make it any less impressive.
Dog Bees
Bee Leioproctus zephyr
Taxonomists describe thousands of new species every year. The vast majority of discoveries are made on small fauna – insects, arthropods and other invertebrates.
Among such novelties of the past year is the “dog-faced” bee. Leioproctus zephyr lives in Western Australia . It is distinguished by an elongated crest on the clypeus (or clypeus) – a chitinous plate on the head.
Entomologist Keith Prendergast decided that this feature made the bee look like a dog (when viewed from the side), and named the new species after her sheepdog named Zephyr. In general, according to scientists, only in Australia there are more than two thousand endemic species of bees. And many of them have not yet been described.
Frog from “Harry Potter”
Tapir frog Synapturanus danta
Look for larger animals in hard-to-reach places. An expedition from the Field Museum of Natural History ( Chicago , USA ) spent several days in the Amazon peatlands in the Putumayo River basin to catch two male frog Synapturanus danta. The female was never found.
The second part of the name of the species in the language of the local Indians means “tapir”. That is how the locals call this amphibian. However, many social media users compared him to the chocolate frog from Harry Potter.
Brothers but not relatives
Sloth Bradypus squirmed
Sometimes it is possible to describe new species of large animals. This usually happens when biologists take a closer look at already known animals. And it turns out that those who were previously taken for “siblings” are actually “cousins”.
This is how was discovered the collared sloth Bradypus crinitus last year. After studying the structure of the body and analyzing the DNA, this species was isolated from the taxon B. torquatus.
Both are endemic to the Brazilian Atlantic forests, only torquatus lives to the north, and crinitus lives to the south. These three-toed animals have a collar of dark wool, and the head looks like a coconut because of the “hairstyle”. These two species are expected to be recognized as endangered soon.
Singing in the dark
View of miniature owl Otus bikegila (Principe’s owl)
Last year gave us a new owl. More precisely, an owl. A previously unknown Otus bikegila was discovered in a natural park on the island of Principe, which is part of the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe – this state occupies an archipelago off the coast of Central Africa.
The view was discovered thanks to the characteristic vocalization – a set of rapidly repeating short sounds, similar to the chirping of insects. Pairs of scoops at nightfall often scream like that – a duet.
She Decides “Gender”
JE Randall / Yi-Kai Tea, Ahmed Najeeb, Joseph Rowlett, Luiz A. Rocha /
Cirrhilabrus finifenmaa fish discovered in the Maldives area
The lion’s share of taxonomic discoveries takes place underwater. For example, they found a rainbow-colored fish that changes gender as it grows up.
The magic wrasse (this is the common name of the genus) was hiding in the so-called mesophotic zone of the Indian Ocean near the Maldives. This twilight space at a depth of 40-70 meters is the least convenient for research and therefore extremely little studied by marine zoologists.
The new species was named Cirrhilabrus finifenmaa, which can be translated as “magic wrasse with a pink veil.” Like other members of the genus, these fish are born females and then become males, acquiring a bright color. They need it to impress the opposite sex during the mating season.
The most stylish crustacean
Fluffy crab found in Australia
“In a sea sponge beret and fluffy coat, this crab must be one of the most stylish crustaceans in our oceans,” Discover Wildlife writes about the newly discovered Lamarckdromia beagle. An individual washed ashore in Western Australia, after which she took her place in the annals of science.
The crab belongs to the Dromiidae family, whose representatives use sea sponges for defense, preferring those that produce unpleasant chemicals to deter predators.
“Beagle” in the designation of this species refers not only to a breed of dogs with similar colors, but also to a historical ship with that name – on it Charles Darwin made a trip, as a result of which he created the theory of evolution.
