Animals discovered since 1900

jbnbsn99

jbnbsn99

Well-Known Member
This may seem like an unusual request, but bare with me. I am looking for a list of animals that have been discovered since 1900. Seems like a daunting task, but let me set up some guidelines. Here's what I'm not looking for: animals that have been granted their own species after being labeled a subspecies (cryptic species), animals that have very little information known about them, or animals that are dubious in nature (dwarf manatee). I am looking to compile a list of 10-15 species that have some charismatic nature, unique attributes, and an interesting story behind them. I'm looking for mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, etc, no class will be excluded. This is all leading to a project that I've been working on for the past few months. I'm not ready to reveal everything here yet, but give me a few more weeks when I actually have something to show. If you want to know more, just send me a PM.
 
Okapi - there were rumours and incorrect information about them for decades before 1900 (and they were known to the ancient Egyptians and Persians) but the first Western European confirmation of their existence was in 1901. The first live specimen in Europe didn't arrive until 1918.

Coelacanth - first believed to have become extinct in the KT extinction. Then one turned up as by-catch in a trawler net off the coast of South Africa in 1938.
 
Saola - also called Vu Quang Ox - was discovered in the early 1990's.

The Kouprey was discovered in the late 1920's or early 1930's.

Chacoan Peccary - or Tagua - discovered in 1975 after being described 40 years earlier from fossils.

Megamouth Shark, discovered in 1976.

Western Taipan (the world's most venomous landsnake, based on mouse LD50) was discovered in the late 70's.

:p

Hix
 
Hix said:
Western Taipan (the world's most venomous landsnake, based on mouse LD50) was discovered in the late 70's.

:p

Hix
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Not true. The Inland Taipan was described in 1879. However... apparently there are three species of taipan, which is news to me: [ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxyuranus_temporalis]Oxyuranus temporalis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]
 
jbnbsn99,

The list you are seeking to update from 1900-2009 is as long as the deepest through along the Philippines (LOL):D. Even this year quite a few extinct and new animal and plant species have been re-discovered numbering in their 1,000's. I won't surely be easy to get that down to a list of just 10-15 species/taxa.

Great project you are working on ... but what about written acknowledgement if you use story lines/details given by any forum members?

K.B.
 
As Kifaru Bwana says, the list of species is enormous. Just to name a few others:
Philippine Crocodile = named in 1935
Kawall's Amazon Parrot = named in 1989
Sun-tailed Guenon = named in 1988
Aders' Duiker = named in 1918
Pygmy Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon peruvianus) = named in 1991

You are really spoiled for choice!
 
MikeG said:
As Kifaru Bwana says, the list of species is enormous. Just to name a few others:
Philippine Crocodile = named in 1935
Kawall's Amazon Parrot = named in 1989
Sun-tailed Guenon = named in 1988
Aders' Duiker = named in 1918
Pygmy Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon peruvianus) = named in 1991

You are really spoiled for choice!
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Is the pygmy beaked whale the same species as the irrawaddy dolphin? If it isn't then there's another one.
 
Irrawaddy Dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris) is not the same species at the Pygmy Beaked Whale.

What an immense task. Even with just the mammals there are hundreds of species that have been described since 1900.
New species are still being named in the 21st century. For instance just to look at Primates

2000
2 species of Cheriogaleus
3 species of Microcebus

2005
1 species of Avahi
1 species of Lepilemur
1 species of Microcebus
1 species of Mirza

2006
4 species of Avahi
15 species of Lepilemur
1 species of Tarsius

2007
2 species of Nycticebus

2008
1 species of Avahi
1 species of Microcebus
1 species of Tarsius

2009
1 subspecies of Saguinus

thats 35 new taxa in 9 years, from just one order of one class.

If you want to do furthur research take a look at The Extinction Forum. There is a section on new and rediscovered species.

The Extinction Website Forum - The forum about extinct animals and plants - Home
 
Be careful about new species in recent years... that 15 new Lepilemur species looks like they were distinguished due to molecular study.

Remember for Mountain Gorila, Giant forest Hog or Komodo dragon which were discovered in the first 30 years of 20th century. And there are many new species which uprised after saola discovery .... now it is new golden age for animal discoveries. Some really new ones from 21st century are many primates as mentioned above, new tree kangaroo from New Guinea, Annamite Striped Rabbit from Laos, Nasikabatrachus from Western Ghat in India, ...
 
Hi,

Look at Wikipedia, they have many lists of such animals. There is huge number of such animals.

More attention-gripping animals may be mountain gorilla, gastric-brooding frog, several beaked whales, omura's whale... lots of interesting birds, too.
 
Here is a list that I am working with.

Okapi 1901
Giant Forest Hog 1904
Mountain Nyala 1908
Komodo Dragon 1910
Kouprey 1937
Coelacanth 1938
Chacoan Peccary 1975
Megamouth Shark 1976
Saola 1992
Dingiso 1995

I would like to get a bird species or in there, but I can't find any right now that have more than a few sentences written about them.
 
cockroach said:
Be careful about new species in recent years... that 15 new Lepilemur species looks like they were distinguished due to molecular study.
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I'm not qualified to decide if all these new species are different enough to be described as such. In the future some may be lumped back to their 'parent' species but at the moment they have been described and named. Myself I doubt that all of them will stand the test of time.
 
Congo peacock is a textbook example.

But Ribbon-tailed Astrapia - one of the most amazing birds of the world - was discovered in 1939.

Also, a quick search:
Crested Shelduck - 1917
American Black Duck (!) - 1902
Solomon Island Sea-eagle - 1935
White-cheeked Tern - 1916
Relict, Armenian and Thayer's Gulls
Huon Astrapia - 1906
Zoonomen Avtax Frames Layout Page
 
bongorob said:
I'm not qualified to decide if all these new species are different enough to be described as such. In the future some may be lumped back to their 'parent' species but at the moment they have been described and named. Myself I doubt that all of them will stand the test of time.
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Given the localised distribution of Lepilemur and other lemur families, I do not find it surprising one bit, Madagascar is a myriad of isolated island pockets of speciation (separated by zoo-geographical barriers, e.g. rivers, mountains, desertic habitats et cetera).

To proof my point: red ruffeds and black and whites have also recently been assigned full species status as there is no natural intergradation zone between both taxa (e.g. zoo-geographical borders). On top, this research has not been genetics driven, but taxonomy on hands by the foremost and internationally respected group of researchers on Madagascan lemurids.
 
So basically the list is shaping up much as I imagined it would. Species are coming from four areas that were amongst the last to be accessed by Western science - the Congo, Southeast Asia, New Guinea and the deep ocean.
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
Given the localised distribution of Lepilemur and other lemur families, I do not find it surprising one bit, Madagascar is a myriad of isolated island pockets of speciation (separated by zoo-geographical barriers, e.g. rivers, mountains, desertic habitats et cetera).
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Or seperated by human destruction of habitats. It is like in giraffes. The scientists separated them into 6 species.
6 species of giraffe "discovered"
I see they look different and do not interbreed. But I think it is because we have destroyed most of the giraffe population and their habitats. Only small isolated populations remain. In such population there is quite fast molecular evolution and we can detect this molecular difference just after few years. So the presence and future is full of new species. May be thanks to peoples nature destruction we double the number of species.
 
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