A feathered dinosaur from North and South Dakota, a species of pufferfish from Japan, a cartwheeling spider from Morocco, a ‘walking stick’ from Vietnam, and a photogenic sea slug, are among the species identified by taxonomy experts from the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) as the top 10 new creatures described in 2014.
ESF scientists release the top 10 list each year in conjunction with the May 23 birthday of Carolus Linnaeus, the ‘Father of Taxonomy.’ His work in the mid-18th century was the beginning point for “modern” naming and classification of plants and animals.
The honorees are chosen from among an estimated 18,000 species described for the first time each year. The purpose of the list is to draw attention to biodiversity and the science and institutions engaged in its exploration.
1. Anzu wyliei, a raptor dinosaur from the Cretaceous of western North America:
This is an artist’s impression of Anzu wyliei. Image credit: Mark Klingler / Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
Anzu wyliei lived in western North America during the Cretaceous period, about 66 million years ago.
At 3.3 m (11 feet) long and 1.5 m (5 feet) tall at the hip, the dinosaur would have resembled a gigantic flightless bird, more than a typical theropod dinosaur such as Tyrannosaurus rex.
It weighed an estimated 200 to 300 kg (440 to 660 pounds). Its jaws were tipped with a toothless beak, and its head sported a tall, rounded crest similar to that of a cassowary. Among their bird-like features were feathers, hollow bones and a short snout with a parrot-like beak.
Three partial skeletons of Anzu wyliei were recovered from the Hell Creek Formation in North and South Dakota.
2. The Moroccan flic-flac spider (Cebrennus rechenbergi):
Cebrennus rechenbergi is a nocturnal spider native to the Morocco’s southeastern desert, Erg Chebbi. It belongs to Sparassidae, a family of spiders known as huntsmen due to their speed and mode of hunting.
This species uses a gymnast’s trick to escape from threatening situations: it cartwheels its way out of danger.
When danger comes calling, the spider first assumes a threatening posture. If the danger persists, the spider runs and, about half the time that running turns into cartwheeling which is twice as fast. Terrain is not a challenge: the spider can spin across flat ground as well as up and down hills.
3. Dendrogramma enigmatica, a sea-dwelling, mushroom-shaped organism from the waters off Australia:
Specimens of Dendrogramma enigmatica and Dendrogramma discoides (with *). Image credit: Just J et al.
Dendrogramma enigmatica and a second new species, Dendrogramma discoids, are multicellular and mostly non-symmetrical animals that look rather like mushrooms, with a dense layer of gelatinous material between the outer skin cell and inner stomach cell layers.
The best information suggests that they are related to the phylum Cnidaria (jellyfish, corals, sea anemones and hydras) or Ctenophora (comb jellies) or both, but the animals lack evolutionary novelties unique to either and could be an entirely new phylum.
Copenhagen University researcher Dr Jørgen Olesen and his colleagues collected these unusual organisms at 400 and 1,000 m deep on the Australian continental slope off eastern Bass Strait and Tasmania in 1986.
4. The white-spotted pufferfish (Torquigener albomaculosus):
A male white-spotted pufferfish (right) biting on the left cheek of a female. Image credit: Yoji Okata.
Intricate circles with geometric designs about 6 feet (2 m) in diameter, found on the seafloor off the coast of Amami-Ōshima Island, Japan, were as weird and unexplained as crop circles.
They turn out to be the work of a new species of fish – the white-spotted pufferfish (Torquigener albomaculosus).
A spawning nest of the white-spotted pufferfish (Torquigener albomaculosus) found on a sandy bottom along the south coast of Amami-Oshima Island in the Ryukyu Islands. Image credit: Yoji Okata.
Males construct these circles as spawning nests by swimming and wriggling in the seafloor sand. The nests, used only once, are made to attract females. The nests have double edges and radiating troughs in a spoke-like geometry.
The design isn’t just for show. Scientists discovered the ridges and grooves of the circle serve to minimize ocean current at the center of the nest. This protects the eggs from the turbulent waters and possibly predators too.
5. Phryganistria tamdaoensis, a ‘walking stick’ from Vietnam:
Phryganistria tamdaoensis, male. Image credit: Joachim Bresseel / Jerome Constant.
While Phryganistria tamdaoensis is not the world’s longest insect, it belongs to a family known as giant sticks. At 9 inches in length, the species is compelling evidence that, in spite of their size, more giant sticks remain to be discovered and our knowledge of these masters of camouflage is far from complete.
Phryganistria tamdaoensis gets its name from the beautiful Tam Dao National Park in a mountainous area in the northwestern part of Vietnam.
6. Phyllodesmium acanthorhinum, a sea slug from Japan:
Phyllodesmium acanthorhinum. Image credit: Robert Bolland.
Phyllodesmium acanthorhinum is 1.7-2.8 cm (0.7-1.1 inches) long, and resides in the Japanese islands.
According to scientists, this species is a ‘missing link’ between sea slugs that feed on hydroids and those specializing on corals.
Phyllodesmium acanthorhinum also contributes to a better understanding of the origin of an unusual symbiosis in other species of the genus. Related sea slugs have multi-branched guts in which algae called zooanthellae live. These algae have a primary symbiotic relationship with the corals on which the sea slugs feed. Once sequestered in the gut, the photosynthetic algae produce nutrients of benefit to the host.
7. Balanophora coralliformis, a parasitic plant from Mt. Mingan, Luzon, Philippines:
Balanophora coralliformis. Image credit: Peter Pelser et al.
Balanophora coralliformis is, so far, known from fewer than 50 plants, all found between 4,800 and 5,600 feet (1,465 and 1,735 m) elevation on the southwestern slopes of Mt. Mingan in mossy forest areas.
The plant has elongated, repeatedly branching, and rough-textured aboveground tubers. These peculiar tubers give this root parasite from the Philippines a coral-like appearance distinct from the more typical underground tubers of related species.
8. Limnonectes larvaepartus, a fanged frog from the Indonesian island of Sulawesi:
Limnonectes larvaepartus is unique among frogs in having both internal fertilization and birth of tadpoles. Top: male, left, and female. Bottom: an adult male observed calling while perched on the edge of a small pool 2 m away from a 2 m wide stream; several tadpoles were present in the pool including the two visible within the yellow circle. Image credit: Jimmy McGuire.
Limnonectes larvaepartus is the only frog known that gives direct birth to tadpoles.
Fewer than a dozen of the world’s 6,455 frog species have internal fertilization and all except this species lay fertilized eggs or give birth to tiny froglets.
Limnonectes larvaepartus is about 1.5 inches (40 mm) long. It lives in natural and disturbed forest habitats, often in areas occupied by one to five other species of the same genus. The frog is found above flowing streams in leaf litter, grassy vegetation, or on rocky substrates.
9. The bone-house wasp (Deuteragenia ossarium):
A female of Deuteragenia ossarium in its natural ecosystem in South-East China. Image credit: Michael Staab.
Deuteragenia ossarium is about a half-inch (1.5 cm) in length. It is found in Gutianshan National Nature Reserve in eastern China.
According to entomologists, this species has a unique way to protect its offspring. The wasp constructs nests in hollow stems with several cells, each separated by soil walls. It kills and deposits one spider in each cell to provide nourishment for her developing young. Once her egg is laid, she seals off the cell and hunts a spider for the next cell. Rather than provisioning the final or vestibule cell with a spider, she fills it with bodies of dead ants, thus creating a chemical barrier to the nest.
Deuteragenia ossarium is the first animal known to take this approach to securing the front door to a nest.
10. Tillandsia religiosa, a beautiful bromeliad plant from Mexico:
Tillandsia religiosa. Image credit: Rodrigo Hernandez-Cardenas et al.
During Christmas celebrations in Mexico, elaborate altar scenes or ‘nacimientos’ depicting the birth of Christ are assembled by villagers. In Sierra de Tepoztlán, Tlayacapan, San Jose de los Laureles, and Tepoztlán, Tillandsia religiosa is frequently incorporated in the display.
The species is known from the northern region of the state of Morelos, where it grows on rocky cliffs or vertical walls in tropical deciduous, coniferous, oak, and cloud forests.
The plant occurs between 6,000 and 7,000 feet (1,800 – 2,100 m) elevation. It blooms from December to March.
