Top 10 New Species Of 2011 Include Sneezing Monkey, Blue Tarantula, Spongiforma Squarepantsii

A sneezing monkey, a blue tarantula, and an extinct walking cactus are just three of the remarkable new species listed in the annual Top Ten New Species put together by the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University. This year's list includes a wide-variety of life forms from fungi to flower and invertebrate to primate.

"The top 10 is intended to bring attention to the biodiversity crisis and the unsung species explorers and museums who continue a 250-year tradition of discovering and describing the millions of kinds of plants, animals and microbes with whom we share this planet," explains Quentin Wheeler, an entomologist who directs the International Institute for Species Exploration.

The list is released every year on May 23rd to commemorate Carolus Linnaeus, the father of taxonomy.


Sazima's tarantula: one of the top ten new species discovered in 2011 according to the annual list by the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University. Photo by: Caroline S. Fukushima.


This tiny wasp dive bombs ants from above, laying its eggs on the unsuspecting ants in less than 1/20 of a second even though the ants are giants to it. Named, Kollasmosoma sentum, it was discovered in Madrid, Spain. Photo by: C. van Achterberg. (See video at the end of the article.)




Belonging to an extinct group of little-known animals called the Lobopodia, this fossil species was given the name walking cactus (Diania cactiformis) for its resemblance to imagined trotting cacti. Discovered in China, the species was alive during the Cambrian, an incredible 520 million years ago. Reconstruction by: Jianni Li.

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