Motley News

Darwin’s bark spider (Caerostris darwini) was discovered in Madagascar. It makes some of the largest webs known, reaching 25 metres across, and produces silk that is more than two times stronger than silk made by any other spider.

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Saltoblattella montistabularis is a cockroach that jumps just like a grasshopper. Prior to its discovery, jumping cockroaches were known only from the Late Jurassic Period, around 150 million years ago.

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A transmission electron micrograph (TEM) of Halomonas titanicae, a new bacterium found growing on the wreck of the RMS Titanic, which sunk in 1912 after striking an iceberg. The bacterium consumes iron-oxide that forms on the wreck.

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Tyrannobdella rex means “tyrant leech king”. This new species has a single jaw with enormous teeth and was found up the nose of a person, attached to their nasal mucous membrane. Scientists know of up to 700 leech species but suspect thousands more exist.

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Walter’s duiker (Philantomba walteri) was first found in a bushmeat market in West Africa. The discovery surprised scientists, as antelopes are considered to have been well studied. Its appearance in the market underscored the impact the bushmeat trade can have on rare species.

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Psathyrella aquatica is a mushroom that lives underwater. The gilled fungus was found in the cold, flowing waters of the upper Rogue River in Oregon, US, and can spend up to 11 weeks fruiting under the water’s surface.

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The mushroom (Mycena luxaeterna) is bioluminescent, emitting a bright yellow-green light. Found in the Atlantic forest of São Paulo, Brazil, the tiny 8mm diameter fungus was given the Latin name for “eternal light” after a movement in composer Mozart’s “Requiem”.

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The pollinating cricket (Glomeremus orchidopilus) is the only animal that pollinates the endangered orchid Angraecum cadetii on Réunion in the Mascarene Archipelago in the Indian Ocean. It is also the only cricket or grasshopper species that pollinates a flower.

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At two metres long, the Philippines fruit-eating Golden spotted monitor (Varanus bitatawa) is the longest new species included in this year’s top ten, announced annually to commemorate the anniversary of the birth of Carolus Linnaeus, who initiated the modern system of classifying plant and animals.

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The pancake batfish (Halieutichthys intermedius) was found in the Gulf of Mexico, and walks along the sea floor using its fleshy fins. It is one of the top ten new species of 2010 announced by the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University.

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From BBC