Tag Archives: species

Dancing Peacock Spider

Arachnologists have discovered a new species of peacock spider (genus Maratus) in the vicinities of Mount McIntyre and Nangwarry in Australia. Maratus nemo. Image credit: Joseph Schubert. Maratus is a relatively large genus of jumping spiders found in Australia and China. Commonly referred to as peacock spiders, they have a …

Read More »

New Screech Owls Identified

Ornithologists from the United States, Brazil and Finland have described two new species of the owl genus Megascops from the Amazon and Atlantic forests. The Alagoas screech owl (Megascops alagoensis) in Brazil. Image credit: Gustavo Malacco. Megascops is the most species-rich owl genus in the Americas, with 21 species currently …

Read More »

Extinct Species of Goose

University of Queensland’s Dr. Anthony Romilio has examined the ‘Meidum Geese,’ a painting from the Chapel of Itet at Meidum in Egypt. A Meidum goose (left), life reconstruction (center) and a modern red-breasted goose (right). Image credit: A. Romilio / Tambako the Jaguar. The Meidum Geese painting was found in …

Read More »

Bacteriophage Species

A team of biologists from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, the European Bioinformatics Institute and the Universidad de los Andes has identified 142,809 species of bacteriophages — viruses that infect and replicate in bacteria — living in the human gut. Camarillo-Guerrero et al. introduce the Gut Phage Database, a collection of …

Read More »

Extinct Marsupials

Dr. Laura Chornogubsky, a paleontologist in the Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales ‘Bernardino Rivadavia’ and CONICET, has described one new genus and three new species in the marsupial family Polydolopidae. Kramadolops maximus, the youngest known species of polydolopid marsupial. Image credit: Gabriel Lío. Polydolopidae is a family of extinct marsupials …

Read More »

New Ancient Caiman

A new genus and species of caimanine alligatorid being named Chinatichampsus wilsonorum has been discovered by a team of paleontologists from Virginia Tech, the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of Iowa. Holotype of Chinatichampsus wilsonorum: (A) cranium in dorsal view; (B) interpretive line drawing; gray areas indicate …

Read More »

New Species of Bat

An international team of researchers has discovered a new dichromatic species of bat in the Guinean Nimba Mountains belonging in the genus Myotis. An artist’s impression of Myotis nimbaensis. Image credit: Patricia Wynne. Myotis is the most speciose genus of bats with over 120 living species and a range that …

Read More »

Fossils Found In Cuba

A new species of small vulture that lived during the Quaternary period in the Greater Antilles has been identified from fossils found in western Cuba. Hypothetical reconstruction of the Emslie’s vulture (Cathartes emsliei). Image credit: William Suárez. “Two species of New World vultures (family Cathartidae) form part of the modern …

Read More »

Wild Bee Discovered

An international team of scientists has discovered a new species of the bee genus Lasioglossum living in sand dunes in Israel. Head of a female of Lasioglossum dorchini. Image credit: Nahal Alexander / A. Pauly. Lasioglossum is a genus of wild bees in the family Halictidae (commonly referred to as …

Read More »

New Hermit Crab Discovered

Marine biologists from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History have described a new species of the hermit crab genus Cancellus from a deep bank in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico. Cancellus heatherae, female holotype, shield length – 4 mm: (A) habitus, dorsal; …

Read More »
Bizwhiznetwork Consultation