Thousands of new species such as plants, animals and fungi discovered around the world by scientists in 2024

From the depths of the Pacific Ocean to the mountains of Vietnam, creatures have been discovered that provide a fascinating insight into the precious diversity of life on our planet.

Despite the threats facing biodiversity around the world, biologists have still been able to add a dazzling array of flora and fauna to the 2.2 million already known to science.

Researchers at the California Academy of Sciences, for example, described 138 new animals, plants and fungi, including an endangered edible dahlia in Mexico, of a pygmy horse off the coast of South Africa, eight species of sea slugs and two ghost sharks.

Scientists at the Natural History Museum in London added 190 new species, including a new species of piranha, three dinosaurs and a pterosaur found in Scotland.

Geneticists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Fisheries Administration discovered that two different species of killer whale in the North Pacific Ocean

Also, researchers from the Schmidt Ocean Institute in California discovered four new species of deep-sea octopus off the coast of Costa Rica and more than 100 new species of marine life in a deep-ocean mountain range known as the Nazca Ridge, 1,448 km. off the coast of Chile.

The list of the strangest discoveries of 2024, as compiled by the BBC.

Fish fungi

Over the past year, scientists at the Royal Botanic Gardens, London, have classified some 149 plants and 23 fungi from all corners of the globe, including three strange new fungi that smell….like fish.

Hedgehog-vampire

With soft fur covering its body instead of spines, the only sharp thing about this new species of hedgehog is inside its mouth.

Discovered in Vietnam, it has long fang-like teeth, which inspired its new scientific name. It looks a bit like a cross between a mouse and a shrew and is 14cm long.

When researchers began to examine in detail the remains of several soft-furred hedgehogs in various museums around the world with the help of genetic analysis, they realized that this was a previously unrecognized species that was completely new to science.

Ghost phoenixes

The white underside of the leaves of this newly recognized species of palm has been named “hantu”, as they call the ghost in western Borneo.
One of the 2024 mystery plant discoveries made by researchers at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, was a species of palm in western Borneo. With white undersides of leaves and gray stems, the plant is known colloquially in communities as wi mukoup or wee mukup.

Found in protected rainforest areas in Malaysia and Indonesia, the palm was traditionally used for basketry and had no scientific name. This year, it was identified as Plectocomiopsis hantu – a nod to its ghostly appearance, as hantu is the term for ghost in Indonesia and Malaysia. A formal description should help ensure that it can form part of conservation efforts in the future.

Crocodile Cao Bang triton

Despite its scary name, this little amphibian is a shy creature. It was discovered hidden under rocks in a stream in a farm in northeastern Vietnam.

Named Tylototriton koliaensis after the Kolia Organic Farm where it was found on Kolia Mountain in Vietnam’s Cao Bang Province near the border with China, the amphibian has a series of bony ridges and knob-like warts running down its back like a crocodile. Crocodile newts are among the most endangered amphibians in the world and all known species of Tylototriton have protection status under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

Spiders – Pirates

Two new species of spider with a preference for hacking have been discovered by researchers. These spiders have a habit of violently taking over the webs of other spiders and killing the occupants.

The names Ero lizae and Ero natashae were identified after genetic analysis of specimens held at the Natural History Museum in London and the Royal Museum of Central Africa in Belgium. Although it is not clear what purpose they serve, they give him a scary appearance.