What are the odds of finding a new species?

It’s the year 2020, and scientists are still discovering new species of life on Earth. No one knows exactly how many types of life are yet undescribed in the scientific literature; estimates range from around 86 percent to as high as 99.99 percent.

What happens if you find a new species of animal?

The new species is given a new and unique species name. The new species name must be unique to the genus to which it has been assigned. Thus, this new species epitaph that includes the genus assignment, the new species name and the name of the person(s) describing the new species.

What percentage of species are undiscovered?

Scientists now believe that 80-90 percent of species on Earth are still undiscovered, and they need to be identified and protected before they go extinct.

How many animal species are undiscovered?

Scientists figure there are still over five million species waiting to be found. The table below lists how many undiscovered species exist for each type of plant and animal. So far, zoologists have reported on nearly all the mammal and bird species currently living on earth.

What is the newest animal discovered 2021?

In January 2021, scientists from the Florida Museum of Natural History announced the discovery of a new species of fleshy verdigris lichen called Cora timucua. According to their report published in ScienceDaily, the people who originally collected this species, between 1885 and 1985, misidentified the specimens.

How many species go extinct every day?

Convention on Biological Diversity concluded that: “Every day, up to 150 species are lost.” That could be as much as 10 percent a decade.

Could there be monsters in the ocean?

But scientists believe the world’s oceans are still hiding giant underwater creatures which have yet to be discovered. Marine ecologists have predicted there could be as many as 18 unknown species, with body lengths greater than 1.8 metres, still swimming in the great expanses of unexplored sea.

How many new species are discovered each year?

Luckily, even after 250 years of professionals documenting thousands of new plants and animals every year, the rate at which new species are discovered remains relatively stable. Somewhere between 15,000 and 18,000 new species are identified each year, with about half of those being insects.

What new animals have been discovered in 2021?

These New Animal Species Have Been Discovered in 2021 Rice’s whale. Until this year, there had only been one species of the baleen whale ( Balaenoptera ), aka Bryde’s‐like… Yellow king penguin. In February 2021, wildlife photographer Yves Adams finally published photos of an incredible sight…

Is there such a thing as a rare animal?

Whilst ‘rare animals’ is not an IUCN status, all the rare animals below are taken from species in IUCN’s ‘critically endangered’ category. Here are 13 of the most stunning rarest animals to be found anywhere, shown in descending order of the estimated numbers left in the wild.

Is it possible to discover new species in the rainforest?

The idea of discovering a new species may conjure up an image of pith-helmeted adventurers trekking through the jungle in search of a legendary creature. And it is true that rainforests are biodiversity “hotspots” that yield their fair share of discoveries.