Amazon Rainforest
Amazon Rainforest> Certain creatures, such as pigeons and squirrels, are all too common. However, some have developed and flourished in settings that are rarely seen by humans, such as isolated areas of the Amazon Rainforest and the ocean’s depths.
The Earth is teaming with life, even in the middle of what scientists are calling the sixth mass extinction, brought on by human-caused climate change. An estimated 8,000 times a year, scientists discover new species and report them to their colleagues in scientific publications.
The list that follows is not all-inclusive. Rather, what follows is a list of some of the most attractive and, naturally, most endearing newly found creatures in 2023.
1. Peru’s Vampire Wasp
In a wildlife reserve outside of the Peruvian city of Iquitos, a team of researchers from Finland and the United States set up insect traps that resembled tents last year. Hundreds of insects, including many novel species known as vampire wasps, were caught in the traps.
Out of all the specimens, one particularly enormous wasp caught our attention. From the front, it appears to be a hybrid between an elderly man with a dishevelled beard and the Predator. The scientists recognised the insect as a new species of Darwin wasp, a diverse family found all over the world, in an article that was published this month on ZooKeys.
The new species was given the name Capitojoppa amazonica. For obvious reasons, the word “capito” originated from the mediaeval Latin word meaning “big head.” “Joppa” honours the Joppa genus, the wasps’ lesser cousins. Its location is described as “the largest and most diverse rainforest on Earth” in the word “amazonica.”
The life cycle of Capitojoppa amazonica is unknown, but the specifics will undoubtedly be graphic. It is common for members of this family of wasps to deposit their eggs in the vulnerable hosts of spiders and caterpillars. The wasp larvae consume themselves from the inside out when the eggs hatch.
2. Morocco’s Kem Kem Abelisaur
Kem Kem Abelisaur, often referred to as Unnamed Abelisaurids, is a throwback to time travel to precisely 66 million years ago. Two ancient bones were found by researchers in Morocco near the edge of phosphate mining. The bones were discovered in layers that belonged to the time just before an asteroid struck Earth, ending the dinosaurs’ dominance.
The scientists, under the direction of English palaeontologist Nick Longrich, concluded that the bones belonged to the abelisaurid family, which also included the North American Tyrannosaurus rex. The large bones suggested that the abelisaurid Chenanisaurus barbaricus, which was then extant in Morocco, might be the juvenile form of this species, according to the researchers. But as they looked more closely, they saw that the texture of the bone was typical of an adult.
Ultimately, the researchers concluded that the bones belonged to two distinct abelisaurid species. The species were probably distant cousins of Tyrannosaurus rex and coexisted with the bigger species, Chenanisaurus barbaricus.
3. Lightbulb Anemone, United States: Although scientists don’t usually find new animals first, it takes a researcher to give a new species a prestigious Latin name. Although “the lightbulb anemone” has long been popular among scuba divers and aquarium owners, the species has never before been described in scholarly literature.
A group of scientists from Florida and Ohio published a study earlier this month that provides a description of the Bellactic lux and compiles all the data that ocean enthusiasts have accumulated over the years. The transparent marine animal is found in the Gulf of Mexico, where it hides in rocky nooks and stings and entangles its victims. The species might occasionally just measure a half inch across, and its bulbous tentacle tips help to identify it.
4. Oceania’s Nautilus spp.
Among the planet’s oldest surviving species are nautilids. They initially appeared approximately 500 million years ago, coinciding with the initial plant migration from the water to the land. They share a family tree with octopi and squid, but unlike their cousins, they are protected by an outer shell made of rock.
Of the once-widely distributed nautiloids, Nautilus is the only genus that still exists today. Every member of the group lives in the South Pacific. A group of marine biologists described three new species of Nautilus that they had discovered on reefs off the coast of Vanuatu, American Samoa, and Viti Levu, Fiji, in a report that was published in January of this year. The number of surviving Nautilus species increased from four to seven almost twice as a result of the new classifications.
These species might already be going extinct, even if the scientific community is just learning about them. The need for nautilus shells in jewellery-making has resulted in excessive hunting of the species.
5. Ecuador’s Giant Crab Spider
An insect moving across the Ecuadorian Amazon at night on the forest floor can never feel completely secure. Squatting on a bush or on the side of a tree trunk, a massive being with eight eyes, eight legs, and a fuzzy-red tummy waits to devour its prey. This enormous crab spider is prepared to strike the bug at any time.
Diego Cisneros and Pedro Peñaherrera-R. On a midnight walk close to the Tiputini Biodiversity Station in Ecuador, Heredia came upon this enormous crab spider, a member of the genus Sadala.
Despite being the first of its kind in Ecuador, nine additional species of spiders can be found in neighbouring nations. In fact, one resides in the same region where Capitojoppa amazonica was found. Who knows? The spider might be a wasp larvae host if it is unlucky.
