Species Discovery

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Species Discovery
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Diversity of Life
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How many species on Earth?

• Nobody actually knows!
• Estimates range between 3 and 100 million
  different species
• Latest prediction
• 8.7 million

Mr Burns beaked toad (Rhinella sp.
nov.) Discovered 2010
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How many species have we discovered so far?

• 1.75 million species have
• been classified by scientists
• This means that over 80
• still need to be described!
• Only around 12 of the total
• number of animals in the world
• have been described by scientists. Why?

Caquetá titi monkey (Discovered 2008)
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What is a newly discovered species?

• A species that is completely new to science.
  

OR
Long-nosed tree frog (Discovered 2011)

• A species previously described which is found to
  be a different species .

Giant manta ray
Reef manta ray
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Why are newly discovered species important?

• Human well-being depends on biodiversity and
  healthy ecosystems.
• Provide medicines, food and materials
• Regulate climate, purify air and water
• Pollination and nutrient cycling
• Beauty of the natural world
• New species could mean discovering new services
  that are useful to humans in future.
• Knowledge of new species helps scientists fill in
  evolutionary gaps.

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Naming a new species

• Scientists need to be certain the new species has
  not already been described, and that its
  characteristics are unique.
• Species are ordered into groups that share common
  features and a common ancestor i.e. they are
  related.
• This process of grouping species so that they may
  be classified and named is called taxonomy, and
  scientists who do this are called taxonomists.

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Classifying species

• What is classification?
• Organising living things into groups
• Anatomy (how it looks)
• Genetics (the sequence of its genes)

• E.g. Horseshoe crab
• Anatomically it looks like a crab.
• Genetically it is more closely related to
  spiders!

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Classifying species

• Trying to describe and name each of the millions
  of species individually is too hard!
• Scientists group species based on shared
  characteristics.
• Carl Linnaeus classification system for sorting
  species into groups
• First step put species into one of the 5
  kingdoms
• Protoctists Prokaryotes Fungi Plants and
  Animals

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Kingdom
Phylum
Phylum
Kingdom
Class
Class
Class
Class
Phylum
Order
Order
Order
Order
Order
Order
Order
Order
Class
Etc.
Order
Family
Genus
Species
Fiji crested iguana (Brachylophus vitiensis)
Fiji banded iguana (Brachylophus fasciatus)
Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis)
Kingdom Animals Phylum Chordata
Genus Brachylophus
Genus Giraffa
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Class Activity 1Identifying newly discovered
amphibians

• You are a scientist that has discovered 9 new
  amphibians. Now you just need to work out which
  species they are!
• Look at the photographs and use the
  classification key to help you find out the
  species names.
• Write the names of each species underneath the
  photograph on your worksheet.

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Class Activity 2Make your own classification key

• You have been given pictures of 6 newly
  discovered species.
• Look closely at each species and identify their
  key features what makes them different from the
  other species in your pictures?
• Construct your own dichotomous key that would
  allow another person to be able to identify each
  species.

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Discovering a new species

• Most undiscovered species are likely to be small
  and obscure.
• However, we are also still finding big species,
  e.g. mammals, birds amphibians.
• New species are discovered in the field and in
  collections, e.g. museum specimens.

Goodmans mouse lemur (Discovered 2006)
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Finding new species in the field
Pitfall trap
Camera trap
UV light trap
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Where to Look?

• It is impossible to look everywhere due to time
  and money constraints.
• Scientists have to choose areas where the
  probability of finding new species is higher.
• These are generally poorly explored tropical
  areas, but rich in biodiversity.

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Case Studies

• In 2010, Conservation International launched an
  expedition to search for amphibian species that
  have not been seen in over 10 years.
• 126 scientific researchers in 21 countries,
  across 5 continents.
• A number of species, some not seen in 20 years,
  were rediscovered.
• As well as rediscovering species presumed
  extinct, the scientists found a number of
  potentially new species, for example the beaked
  toad (Rhinella sp. nov.)

Beaked toad (Rhinella sp. nov.)
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Case Studies
3 new butterfly species
Potential new insect species
Unexplored Biodiversity rich
Mount Mabu, Mozambique
New species of pygmy chameleon (Rhampholeon sp.)
New viper snake species
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Case Studies

• New species of giant rat discovered in rainforest
  of New Guinea (Mallomys sp.)

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Newly discovered species on ARKive

• Kipunji (Rungwecebus kipunji)

• Leaf chameleon (Brookesia micra)

Psychedelic frog fish (Histiophryne psychedelica)
Pitcher plant (Nepenthes holdenii)
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Design your own expedition
You are a scientist, planning an expedition which
aims to discover exciting species that are
completely new to science. As you will be
travelling to a country which is one of the
remotest and least explored places on earth, you
need to secure enough funding to cover most of
the major costs of the expedition. Your task is
to write an expedition proposal to present to
grant-giving organisations. Youll need to use
all your powers of persuasion to convince funding
committees that your project is important and
deserves their help, so make sure you make you
follow the proposal guidelines carefully. Having
a detailed, thoroughly researched and
well-planned proposal could mean the difference
between being able to go on your expedition or
not!
Read the project briefing notes you have been
given carefully!