NEW SPECIES

After Years of Searching, Scientists Finally Found This Coconut-Cracking Giant Rat

The vika is the subject of folk songs and nursery rhymes, but scientists had never found a real specimen before.

The ‘Yoda Bat’ Gets an Even Cuter Name

Here comes the happy tube-nosed fruit bat.

Australian Scientists Discover First New Species of Sunfish in 125 Years

Sunfish are the biggest bony fish in the sea, but this species managed to elude scientists for centuries.

Matthew Modoono / Northeastern University

This Rare Shipworm Is Not Safe for Work

"When I took that thing out of the tube, there was a collective gasp among the whole group, along with quite a number of expletives."

New Gecko Species Gets Naked to Escape Predators

When trapped, the little lizard simply sheds its big scales and regrows them later.

New Ape Species Named for Skywalker Family

It’s a partial pun on the gibbon’s Chinese name, which translates as “Heaven’s movement.”

RBG: Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States via Wikimedia Commons // Public Domain. Mantis: Rick Wherley, Cleveland Museum of Natural History

Ruth Bader Ginsburg Mantis Heralds New Era of Species Identification

The new technique highlights and offers a remedy to the short-sightedness of current practices.

Ruby-Red Seadragons and Other New Species Make Top 10 List

SUNY’s College of Environmental Science and Forestry asked an international committee of scientists to choose the most notable finds in the past year.

10 Juicy Facts About Leeches

Sure, some latch on to your ankles and drink your blood, but leeches are just misunderstood parasitic worms.

Vásquez V.E. et al. Journal of the Ocean Science Foundation, 2015

Scientists Identify Stealthy Ninja Shark

The aptly named shark is cloaked in black from head to tail and emits a faint blue glow.

10 Awesome New Species Discovered in 2013

Geckos and shrubs and sharks, oh my! 2013 was a big year for new species. Scientists found hundreds of them this year. Here are some of our favorites.