• Newly discovered species caught on camera in 2019 A global spotlight has shone on a variety of plant and animal species over the past few weeks, but for all the wrong reasons: As bushfires across Australia continue to rage, burning since early October, biological diversity on the continent is one of the biggest victims. It is estimated that more than 1 billion mammals, reptiles, and birds have been killed so far, according to the University of Sydney. As Australia is home to a particularly large number of endemic species, this means that many rare animals and plants found nowhere else on Earth will go extinct in the coming months. Though iconic animals like the koala and kangaroo are not in danger of extinction, lesser-known and ecologically significant species like the long-footed potoroo and glossy black cockatoo are losing their chances of survival. These losses will undoubtedly have devastating reverberations on the species and ecosystems that survive. There is a silver lining, however: Amidst the loss of so many species, many new ones are emerging as well. Researchers from the California Academy of Sciences discovered and characterized 71 new species in 2019. Here, Stacker describes and shows photos of 30 of them—including one coral, two reptiles, four sea slugs, four flowering plants, five spiders, and 14 fish—using photos from California Academy of Sciences researchers. All data was released in December 2019. As the press release introducing the research and... Photo: Mark Erdmann //CAS
Photo: Mark Erdmann //CAS
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Newly discovered species caught on camera in 2019
A global spotlight has shone on a variety of plant and animal species over the past few weeks, but for all the wrong reasons: As bushfires across Australia
... more
Stacker highlights 30 out of 71 newly discovered species from 2019, based on research from the California Academy of Sciences. 
This article was first published on theStacker.com