Science has identified some 2 million species of plants, animals and microbes on Earth, but scientists estimated there are millions more left to discover, and new species are constantly discovered and described. The most commonly discovered new species are typically insects, a type of animal with a high degree of biodiversity. Newly discovered mammal species are rare, but they do occur, typically in remote places that haven't been well studied previously. Some animals are found to be new species only when scientists peer at their genetic code, because they look outwardly similar to another species — these are called cryptic species. Some newfound species come from museum collections that haven't been previously combed through and, of course, from fossils. Read below for stories about newly discovered species, both alive on Earth today and those that once roamed the planet.
Latest about newfound species
Why are cave-dwelling eels growing skin over their left eyes? It may be evolution in action.
These "greedy" eels likely retreated into the gloomy depths of underwater caves in search of tasty crustaceans and are adapting to the darkness by going blind, one eye at a time.
Newly discovered jellyfish is a 24-eyed weirdo related to the world's most venomous marine creature
Researchers named the newfound species Tripedalia maipoensis, after Mai Po Nature Reserve in Hong Kong, where they discovered the transparent critter.
Extinct 'Lord of The Rings' eagles had a 10-foot wingspan and probably could have carried a hobbit
Fossils uncovered in Australia belong to a newfound species of extinct eagle that was big enough to pick up hobbit-size prey, like the fictional giant eagles in "The Lord of the Rings."
Ancient platypus-like fossil could rewrite the history of egg-laying mammals
Fossils of a 70 million-year-old platypus relative called Patagorhynchus pascuali found in South America show that egg-laying mammals evolved on more than one continent.
'Zombie' viruses have been revived from Siberian permafrost. Could they infect people?
Researchers have isolated viable microbes from melting permafrost after tens of thousands of years. But don't worry; they infect only amoebas.
3 million years ago, this brutish giant petrel likely eviscerated dead seals with its knife-like beak
Fossils from New Zealand reveal the existence of a giant petrel with a wicked sharp beak that lived 3 million years ago.
Giant ancient fish that likely preyed on humans' ancestors unearthed in South Africa
Researchers in South Africa have unearthed 360 million-year-old fossils belonging to a newly described voracious fish species that preyed on our ancestors.
Otherworldly 'Lord of the Rings' frog discovered in the mountains of Ecuador
A previously unknown frog species was discovered in Ecuador and named after fantasy author J. R. R. Tolkien.
