‘Hell herons’, metallic beetles, tiny shrimp: Scientists are busy describing unusual species and creatures despite Covid restrictions
Six new dinosaurs, an Indian beetle named after Larry the cat and dozens of crustaceans critical to the planet’s carbon cycle were among 552 new species identified by scientists at the Natural History Museum this year.
In 2021, researchers described previously unknown species on the tree of life, from a pair of giant carnivorous dinosaurs known as spinosaurs, dubbed the “riverbank hunter” and “hell heron”, to five new snakes that include the Joseph, who was identified with the help of a 185-year-old painting.
With international travel to field sites restricted, scientists at the London-based museum focused on describing the existing collections and species that roamed the Earth millions of years ago.
“It’s been a fantastic year for describing new dinosaurs, especially from the UK,” said Susannah Maidment, the museum’s senior researcher in paleobiology, who helped describe some of the new findings. “While we’ve known about the UK’s dinosaur heritage for over 150 years, the application of new techniques and new data from around the world are helping us uncover a hidden diversity of British dinosaurs.”
Spinosaurs were among the four UK dinosaur species described by researchers, along with a new iguanodon with an unusual snout from the Isle of Wight and Pendraig milnerae , the first known carnivorous dinosaur from the UK.
copepods
More than half of the new species identified at the museum this year were copepods, small shrimp-like creatures found in fresh and salt water. They form much of the zooplankton on which krill, fish and other invertebrates feed, playing a key role in the ecology and carbon cycle of the planet.
Due to their abundance, copepods are among some of the biggest carbon sinks in the oceans. Scientists have described 291 species this year, many from a collection created over six decades by French researchers Claude and Françoise Monniot.
“Copepods are not only free-living, but many are parasitic and can be found living in virtually every other major animal group,” said Professor Geoff Boxshall, a researcher in the museum’s life science department who identified Copepods. South Korea. colleague, Il-Hoi Kim.
“The huge Monniot collection was made available to Il-Hoi Kim and myself, and as we both recently retired, we theoretically had time to finally examine it. However, the collection was so large that it was a little daunting, but then Covid-19 arrived and completing the series of articles became my final project.”
other species
Other newly identified species include 52 wasps, 13 moths, seven crabs, six flies and five amphipods. Beetles emerged in a big way, as in 2020, with 90 new species described. They included a pair of metallic purple and green beetles from India, a monochromatic beetle with a large pair of mandibles from the Philippines, and a swamp-loving beetle named after Larry the Cat, the Downing Street Vulture.
A new Southeast Asian cricket, known for its song before the animal was seen, was eventually determined to be a species found in Singapore, now known as mecopoda simonodoi , whose copy has been in the museum since 1984.
Five new plant species have been identified in East Africa: known as jewelery or touch-me-not, they generally produce delicate pink or white flowers, except a few species have switched to red flowers to attract birds rather than butterflies for pollination.
In addition to plants, eight new species of algae, six parasitic worms and three diatoms, unicellular algae were identified.
By Patrick Greenfield. Article in English