Every year, researchers catalog a swath of species that are new to science.
It’s no surprise, considering one study estimates that 80 percent of existing species on Earth haven’t been documented.
Distinct calls led researchers to discover that these tree hyraxes are a separate species from their neighbors.
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Native to West and Central Africa, these small, furry mammals will either screech or bark from the trees. Researchers weren’t sure if there were multiple species of tree hyrax until they identified genetic differences.
It was declared extinct over 150 years ago — but new research suggests the mouse has been alive this whole time.
DNA analysis of the Shark Bay Mouse, which is native to Australia, showed that it was indistinguishable from that of the Gould’s Mouse, which was thought to be extinct.
Though they like to burrow underground, the calls of these “zombie frogs” can be heard in the Amazon during heavy rains.
Three new species in the genus Synapturanus were described in the German research journal Zoologischer Anzeiger in July.
A new species of fanged frog seemed indistinguishable from others in its genus like the Giant Luzon fanged frog (above), until researchers took a closer look.
Called Rice’s whale, the species was once thought to be a subspecies of the Bryde’s whale.
It turns out the Rice’s whale is critically endangered, with fewer than 100 remaining in the wild.
These sponges live at popular dive spots along the California coast, but it wasn’t until this year that a researcher catalogued four species that were previously undocumented.
These monkeys, native to Myanmar, were found to have distinct enough qualities to be their own species after researchers looked at skull samples.
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