Mata-mata turtle, nanochameleon, chocolate frog and 7 more new species discovered recently (11 photos)

The species diversity of our planet is so great that scientists annually discover some species of living beings that were previously unknown. Over the past 10 years, several dozen new species have been discovered in the world.





Many of them were immediately included in the Red Book.

Six-eyed stingray

In 2020, a Russian-Japanese group of researchers discovered a unique stingray in the Kuril Islands area. It has three pairs of light spots on its back, which is why it is nicknamed Bathyraja sexoculata, which literally means “six-eyed.” This species of stingray is similar to representatives of other genera, but it is distinguished from the rest by the sequence of the CO1 gene.



Mata mata turtle

Scientists discovered this smiling reptile back in the 18th century, but in 2020 it was found that there are two types of such turtles, which were previously mistaken for one. The first of them - Chelus fimbriatus - lives in the Amazon basin and stays in shallow water. And the second one - Chelus orinocensis - lives in the Orinoco River valley and differs from the first one in its lighter color and rounded shape of the shell.





Flying couscous

2020 was rich in discoveries. At the same time, Australian scientists described two new species of giant flying cuscus, now making a total of three: Petauroides minor, Petauroides armillatus and Petauroides volans. They live in different parts of Australia, and differ from each other only in DNA molecules.



Featherwing beetle

This type of beetle was described in 2019. It is very small in size, but at the same time has a rather long mustache. Scientists considered them to look like long braids, so they named the beetle in honor of environmental activist Greta Thunberg - Nelloptodes gretae. The insect lives in Kenya and has neither eyes nor wings.



Chocolate frog

In 2022, researchers from Peru described a new species of frog - Synapturanus danta. It is dark brown in color, which is why it has been nicknamed “the frog from Harry Potter” on social media. The small amphibian lives in Peru.



Nanochameleon

The “nano” particle is here for a reason: this reptile is recognized as the tiniest in the world, its length does not exceed 30 millimeters. The scientific name is Brookesia nana and the species was first described in 2021 by German herpetologists. Nanochameleons are found only in the montane rainforests of northern Madagascar.



Tosanoid Aphrodite

This species of marine fish was discovered in the Atlantic Ocean in 2018. Tosanoides aphrodite has a bright color that literally attracts the eye! That's why they named this fish in honor of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty.



Ramari

This species of beaked whale was described in 2021 and was discovered in the Pacific Ocean. It hides from predators at a depth of 2 thousand meters, and lives mainly in the Southern Hemisphere. An adult Mesoplodon eueu can reach 5.3 meters in length. It differs from other representatives of the genus of belted teeth by the presence of fangs at the tip of the lower jaw, a higher skull and a shorter beak.



Sloth

In 2022, researchers discovered a new sloth species in Brazil, Bradypus crinitus. Its head looks like a huge coconut; Bradypus crinitus differs from representatives of other genera of sloths only in the structure of the skull: the line of the forehead is flatter, and the zygomatic arches protrude a little further to the side. To date, the lifestyle of this species of sloths has been little studied.



Kotolis

This animal has not yet been identified as a separate species, but since 2019, when a photo of an unusual cat living on the island of Corsica appeared on the Internet, scientists have been studying it. The Kotolis is larger than the average domestic cat, has wide ears, large paws, short whiskers, large teeth and a dark colored tail.