Humanity has long ceased to wait for discoveries from its home planet. And there were no blank spots on the maps, and a man's foot had already set foot everywhere. We are waiting for meetings with other civilizations, launching telescopes into orbit and sending radio signals to the borders of the solar system. Meanwhile, the Earth can still present us with a lot of surprises.
Scientists regularly come across biological species previously unknown to science. Today we publish Top 10 new species of plants and animalsfound in various parts of the planet. The data was collected in 2011 by the International Institute for Species Research, Arizona State University (USA).
10. Tarantula Sazima (Pterinopeima sazimai)
occurs on the Chapada Diamantina mountain plateau in the Brazilian state of Bahia. For the first time these large tarantula spiders were discovered in the 1970s by the Brazilian zoologist Ivan Sazima, after whom they were named. A distinctive feature of the spider is the bright blue villi on the body and limbs.
9. Walking cactus (Diania cactiformis)
- not at all a new species of terrestrial flora, but a fossilized find of archaeologists, which got its name from its resemblance to a thorny plant. These invertebrates lived on Earth about 520 million years ago. They had a worm-like body and an impressive number of legs.
8. Giant centipede (Crurifarcimen vagans)
has a size of about 16 cm. The largest centipedes on earth live in Eastern Tanzania. The body diameter is about 1.5 cm, the body consists of 56 segments, each of which is equipped with a pair of legs.
7. Nepalese autumn poppy (Meconopsis autumnalis)
- a new plant found in Nepal at an altitude of 3,300 to 4,200 meters above sea level. The alpine flower has bright yellow petals and adorns the slopes, the vegetation of which at this height is rather poor. Most likely, the species has not been described until now only because botanists rarely find themselves at such a height.
6. Mushroom "Spongiforma squarepantsii"
was named after the hero of the famous cartoon. The spruce of the mushroom can really be squeezed like a sponge, after which it easily returns to its usual state. An amazing mushroom grows in the forests of Borneo.
5. Parasite wasp (Kollasmosoma)
seeks out ants, which become food for future offspring. And the speed of the process is amazing: to lay eggs, the wasp spends only 1/20 of a second. The wasp lives in the vicinity of Madrid.
4. Night Orchid (Bulbophyllum nocturnum),
revealing its flowers exclusively at night. This plant lives in Papua New Guinea. It is the only one of 25,000 orchid species that prefers darkness. Scientists have yet to find out who pollinates this mysterious orchid at night.
3. Devil worm (Halicephalobus mephisto)
- one of the smallest animals on the planet... The body length of this new worm is about 0.5 mm. Found it at a depth of 1.3 km in a mine in South Africa. Devil worm recognized the deepest land multicellular organism on Earth... His living conditions are truly hellish - a consistently high air temperature and tremendous pressure.
2. Box jellyfish Bonaire (Bonaire banded box jelly, Tamoya ohboya)
Is an amazingly beautiful animal with long tapered tentacle tails. The jellyfish got its name from the Dutch island of Bonaire, located in the Caribbean.
1. Snub Nosed Monkey
Is a new species of primates discovered by scientists in northern Myanmar in 2011. The first monkeys with prominent lips and wide, looking up nostrils were noticed by local hunters. The body of the animal is covered with black fur, and a small white beard grows on the chin. Due to the amazing structure of the nose, monkeys sneeze during the rain from moisture entering the nostrils. Scientists estimate the population size at 260-330 individuals. Such a small number puts only the discovered species on the brink of extinction, so we are talking about putting it in the Red Book.