Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
A line of species animal only discovered from various parts of the world throughout 2021. Some of them came from the territory of Indonesia, to be exact in Central Sulawesi.
Some species are completely new and have never been studied by scientists before, but some are species and subspecies.
Paleontologists or scientists who study extinct species from different epochs also describe new species they have studied from bones, fossils, resin, and even fossil dung.
Here is a list of species found this time of year, from the impressive spider in Papua New Guinea by the name of Greta Thunberg, to the tiny chameleon in Madagascar.
This new set of species is summarized by Discovery Wildlife, as follows:
1. Tree Frog (Litoria quiritatus) – Australia
The tree frog is a species of frog familiar to many residents of eastern Australia.
However, it appears that the species actually consists of three distinct species, with two species new to science, the L. quiritatus frog and the L. balatus tree frog.
The species name ‘quiritatus’ comes from the Latin verb ‘quirito’ which means to scream.
2. Leaf Litter Ant (Strumigenys collinsae) – United States
This ant is one of six new species of Strumigenys ant described in a paper reviewing the genus in western North America.
The holotype for S. collinsae was discovered in Colorado, and was initially identified as S. ohioensis by collectors.
The find is part of a collection at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, which is being re-examined for research.
The species name ‘collinsae’ is named in honor of entomologist and civil rights advocate Dr Margaret S. Collins, who helped turn the obstacles she faced into a role model for many, including the young scientist Maisha Lucas who helped describe the new species and suggested the name.
3. Kukri Snake (Oligodon churahensis) – India
As many people have done during the Covid-19 pandemic, graduate student Virendar Bhardwaj spends time exploring the local area and photographing the wildlife he finds in his backyard.
One of them is a snake he found in June 2020, and he uploaded the photo to his personal Instagram.
He labeled it a kukri, a type of snake named after the Nepalese dagger because of its curved teeth.
His Instagram post caught the attention of scientist Zeeshan Mirza at India’s National Center for Biological Sciences, who thought the find looked a little different from a known species of kukri.
The scientist further carried out the morphological and genetic analysis of the males and females of this species. A snake familiar to locals reveals that it is actually a species that science cannot describe.
The lack of a certain type of teeth indicated to the researchers that his diet was likely to consist of eggs.
The specific name ‘churahensis’ comes from the Churah Valley in the Western Himalayas, where Bhardwaj discovered the species. It is estimated that there are many more undefined species in the region.
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Octopus To Beaked Whale
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