A team of Chilean scientists discover two new species of iguanid lizards from the Laja Lagoon, Chile. The two new species are believed to have been long confused with other representatives of the elongatus-kriegi lizard complex, until recent morphological analysis diagnosed them as separate. The study was published in the 500th issue of the open […]
Tag: new species
Recently rediscovered hummingbird faces extinction
The blue-bearded helmetcrest (Oxypogon cyanolaemus) is a spectacular hummingbird. It is aptly named for the blue streak of feathers on its chin and a pointed crest on its head resembling a knight’s helmet. Equally spectacular to the species’ physical appearance is its physical disappearance and reappearance. No one had seen a single living blue-bearded helmetcrest […]
Sichuan Bush Warbler: New Bird Species Discovered in China
A multinational group of ornithologists, co-led by Dr Per Alström of the Swedish Species Information Centre and Dr Fumin Lei of the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Zoology, has described a new species of warbler from China. Dr Alström, Dr Lei and their colleagues have suggested Locustella chengi as the scientific name of the […]
Conservationists turn tiny New Zealand island into bold wildlife experiment
Rotoroa Island, off the coast of New Zealand is tiny, at just 82 hectares (200 acres), but don’t let its diminutiveness fool you: big things are happening here. Over the past few years the island has become the site of a quiet, but grand, conservation experiment. What would happen if you populated an island with […]
Macaca leucogenys: New Species of Macaque Discovered in Tibet
A group of scientists led by Dr Peng-fei Fan of the Dali University’s Institute of Eastern-Himalaya Biodiversity Research in Yunnan has described a new species of macaque from Modog County, southeastern Tibet, China. The team’s discovery is published online in the American Journal of Primatology. Macaques are medium to large-sized monkeys belonging to the genus […]
A revealing new look at the secretive black tinamou
After decades in ornithological obscurity, one of the world’s least-known birds is finally coming to light thanks to the persistence of a small group of researchers. Pablo Negret, Oscar Garzón, Pablo Stevenson, and Oscar Laverde-R. of the Universidad de los Andes have just published the results of their year-long study of the Black Tinamou (Tinamus […]
Colorful New ‘Dwarf Dragons’ Found in South America
Attention Game of Thrones: Three new species of “dwarf dragon” have been discovered in Peru and Ecuador, a new study says. Due to political unrest in Ecuador, it took nearly a decade for scientists to identify the reptiles, which are commonly called wood lizards. They are the Alto Tambo wood lizard (Enyalioides altotambo), rough-scaled wood […]
Blue-Bearded Helmetcrest Rediscovered in Colombia, Photographed for First Time
Long thought to be extinct, the blue-bearded helmetcrest (Oxypogon cyanolaemus) – one of the world’s rarest hummingbirds – has been caught on camera for the first time. Discovered in 1880, the blue-bearded helmetcrest is a medium-sized hummingbird endemic to the mountains of the Santa Marta region of northeast Colombia. The bird is about 12 cm […]