The International Institute for Species Exploration have issued their list of the Top 10 new species described in 2007. We offer a warm welcome to these species as they leave the masses of what is not known and join the slightly more ordered ranks of the known:
- Sleeper ray Electrolux addisoni
- 75 million year old Giant Duck-billed dinosaur Gryposaurus monumentensis
- Pink millipede Desmoxytes purpurosea
- Frog Philautus maia
- Highly venomous snake Oxyuranus temporalis
- Fruit bat Styloctenium mindorensis
- Fungi from Silwood Park campus (Imperial College, UK) Xerocomus silwoodensis
- Lethal box jellyfish Malo kingi
- Rhinoceros beetles Megaceras briansaltini
- Michelin Man plant Tecticornia bibenda
The International Institute for Species Exploration have also released the State of Observed Species Report (SOS) for 2006 listing 16,969 new species. 53% of these are not surprisingly insects, though the list includes 185 new mammal and 37 new bird species. The SOS report is issued annually on 23rd of May to conincide with the birthday of Linnaeus – it can be downloaded here.
Sustaining Life: How Human Health Depends on Biodiveristy offers, in the words of Al Gore: “The most complete and powerful argument I have seen for the importance of preserving biodiversity“. Includes a foreword by EO Wilson and a prologue by Kofi Annan.
