Top 10 Most Fascinating New Species Unveiled [Slide Show]

To commemorate Carl Linnaeus’s Birthday, an international committee of taxonomists has released its annual roundup of the most noteworthy newly discovered species

CHICKEN FROM HELL Anzu wyliei is a bird like dinosaur that inhabited North American 66 million years ago. Because its relatives are chicken-size and the fossils were discovered at the Hell Creek Formation in South Dakota, A... Illustration by Mark A. Klingler
CORAL PLANT: Found only on the southwestern slopes of Mount Mignan in the Philippines, Balanophora coralliformis is an endangered plant that parasitizes the roots of other plants. Its rough, elongated, repeatedly branching, aboveground tubers set it apart from other species of its kind... Photograph by P.B. Pelser & J.F. Barcelona
CARTWHEELING SPIDER Meet the arachnid world’s top gymnast. Cebrennus rechenbergi is a hunting spider found in the deserts of Morocco. This spider is the only species to “cartwheel,” which allows it to move two times faster than running when escaping from danger... Photograph by Ingo Rechenberg, Technical University Berlin
THE X-PHYLA: Residing on the sea floor off the coast of Australia, Dendrogramma enigmatica is notable for its tiny size and mushroomlike shape. It resembles members of the phyla Cnidaria (jellyfish, corals, sea anemones and hydras) and Ctenophora (comb jellies) but lacks key evolutionary traits of both... Photograph by Jørgen Oleson
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BONE-HOUSE WASP: A wasp found in the Gutianshan National Nature Reserve in eastern China, Deuteragenia ossarium has gained notoriety for its morbid nesting habits. It builds its nests in hollow plant stems made of cells separated by soil walls, with each cell hosting an individual egg... Photograph by Merten Ehmig
INDONESIAN FROG: Limnonectes larvaepartus is a small fanged frog found in forests on the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia. It is unique in that the female's eggs are fertilized internally and she gives birth to live tadpoles... Photograph by Jimmy A. McGuire
WALKING STICK Measuring at 23 centimeters long—yes, as long as a human forearm— Phyganistria tamdaoensis is a member of the family of “giant stick” insects, the largest insects in the world... Photograph by Jonathan Brecko
PHOTOGENIC SEA SLUG: This gastropod, Phyllodesmium acanthorhinum , sports vivid shades of blue, red and gold. Its discovery helped scientists understand the symbiosis that occurs in members of this genus. .. Photograph by Robert Bolland
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SOLITARY BROMELIAD: Tillandsia religiosa , a solitary flowering plant with rose-colored spikes and flat green leaves, grows in rocky terrain in Morelos, Mexico. T. religiosa has long been known to native people of the region, who incorporated it into nacimientos (altar scenes depicting the birth of Christ) at Christmas... Photograph by A. Espejo
WHITE-SPOTTED PUFFERFISH: In 1995 scientists described an underwater phenomenon akin to crop circles on the sea floor off the coast of Japan's Amami-Oshima Island. Marine exploration led to the discovery that these large geometric designs are actually the nests of a pufferfish known as Torquigener albomaculosus ... Photograph by Yoji Okata

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