Newly discovered / described species 2016

2 trees that were 'extinct' for half a century have been discovered in the Queen's garden

A species of elm thought to be extinct in Great Britain for the past 50 years has just been discovered in one of the Queen's gardens in Edinburgh, Scotland.

The two Wentworth elms (Ulmus Wentworthii Pendula) were found hidden in plain sight during a recent botanical survey of the gardens surrounding the Palace of Holyroodhouse, which is the Queen's official residence in Scotland.

The strangest part is that the trees weren't hard to find - at around 30 metres (100 feet) in height, they were two of the most photographed trees in the gardens. But apparently no one had picked up on the fact that the species was supposed to be extinct.

"Such a discovery when the trees in question are just shy of 100 feet [30 metres] and in plain sight does sound rather odd," said Max Coleman from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE).

It was only when the latest survey noted the trees as unique - with their weeping appearance and waxy leaves - that botanists realised they were most likely the only surviving specimens of Wentworth elm left in Great Britain.

Read more: 2 trees that were 'extinct' for half a century have been discovered in the Queen's garden - ScienceAlert
 
2 butterflies spotted after a century in Uttarakhand

DEHRADUN: Two new butterflies - Tiger Hopper and Obscure Branded Swift (Pelopidas Agna) - have been spotted after a century in Dehradun by a forest department official. Shankar Kumar, a statistical officer in the forest department claims to have photographed both the varieties.

Obscure Branded Swift (Pelopidas Agna) was spotted again at Bageshwar after colonial period in Uttarakhand and it belongs to the family of Hesperiidae.

Kumar also photographed a skipper named as Tiger Hopper from Baram in Pithoragarh. This butterfly was last seen in Uttarakhand by entomologist Frederick Hannyngton in 1910. Skippers are a family, Hesperiidae, of the Lepidoptera.

Read more: 2 butterflies spotted after a century in Uttarakhand - Times of India
 
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