A jumping cockroach. A glowing mushroom. A toothy leech. These are three of scientists’ picks for the Top Ten New Species described in 2010. The list is put together by the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State.
Let’s start with the roach. Not since the age of dinosaurs has the world known a roach with a vertical leap. Its legs are modified for bouncing and its eyes stick out from the sides of its head, so it can look while it leaps.
The luminescent ‘shrooms, with their green glowing stems, were dubbed Mycena luxaeterna or eternal light after Mozart’s Requiem.
Speaking of names, an orb-weaving spider named after Darwin made the list. A native of Madagascar, this spider spins silk stronger than Kevlar into a web that can stretch across lakes and rivers.
Many of the list members were found in unusual places. A batfish as flat as a pancake was dredged up from the oil-slick waters in the Gulf of Mexico. A new species of antelope was found on sale at a West African bush meat market. And if that’s not disturbing enough for ya, the leech with teeth was actually discovered up some dude’s nose. Talk about picking a winner!
—Karen Hopkin
