Jakarta – Scientists have identified only about 10% of all species on Earth. Here’s what they discovered in 2024.
A toothy frog. A vegetarian piranha with distinctive markings. A pygmy seahorse drifting in the shallow waters of the Indian Ocean. These are just some of the natural wonders among hundreds of previously unknown species of animals, plants, and fungi named and described by scientists for the first time in 2024.
Despite the considerable number of new species identified in 2024, it represents just 10% of Earth’s biodiversity.
“Scientists estimate that we’ve only identified about one-tenth of all species on Earth,” said Dr. Shannon Bennett, Chief Science Officer at the California Academy of Sciences, in a statement.
“While it’s crucial to protect known endangered species, we must also allocate resources to identify unknown species that could be equally vital to ecosystems,” Bennett added.
Researchers affiliated with the California Academy of Sciences described 138 new species in 2024, including 32 fish. Among the highlights is the pygmy pipehorse, named Cylix nkosi.
This relative of the seahorse was first discovered in 2021 in the temperate waters surrounding New Zealand’s North Island. However, the species described this year was found in subtropical waters off the coast of South Africa, extending the group’s known range to the Indian Ocean.
“South Africa’s coral reefs have extremely challenging diving conditions with rough weather and strong, intense waves. We knew we had only one dive to find it,” said underwater photographer and marine biologist Richard Smith.
“The species is quite elusive, about the size of a golf ball, but fortunately, we spotted a camouflaged female on a sponge about a mile offshore on a sandy seabed,” he added.
The researchers chose nkosi as the species name. Derived from the local Zulu word for “chief,” the name reflects the head shape of this species, which resembles a crown, and honors KwaZulu-Natal Province in South Africa, where the species was found.
Meanwhile, the Natural History Museum in London reported that its researchers contributed to 190 new discoveries of living and fossil animals in 2024. These included 11 new moth species, eight crabs, four rodents, and four snakes.
