Despite the restrictions related to the Covid-19 pandemic and the obvious difficulties in traveling, the London Natural History Museum has managed to compile a significant list of new animal and plant species.
Some species of dinosaurs
New species of plants, algae and even insects have recently been added to the data from the Natural History Museum in London (United Kingdom). As explained in a press release dated December 30, 2021, the teams of this institution have in fact identified 552 new animal and plant species. However, this unpublished list even includes several species of dinosaurs (see video at the end of the article) including the spinosaurus, a giant carnivore that would have lived during the Albian, the upper part of the Lower Cretaceous, there are about one hundred million people. years.
“Each new species is a puzzle piece that, when added to a larger picture, allows scientists to better understand how essential all life on our planet, past and present, is to our own survival,” can – read in the document.
Among the other species of dinosaurs on the list, we find the iguanodontian. This is a species that lived on the Isle of Wight, south of the city of Portsmouth (UK). Another example is the Pendraig milnerae, which researchers describe as the oldest carnivorous dinosaur in the archipelago.
Copepods, beetles, reptiles
You should know that more than half of the new species on the recent list are copepods, a group of small crustaceans measuring between 0.2 and 10 mm. These rather unspectacular species, however, have an essential role, as many marine animals feed on them. According to scientists, copepods are also important in the carbon cycle of our planet. The list thus contains 291 new species of copepods, a large part of which comes from a collection by researchers Claude and François Monniot dating from the 1960s.
Besides, besides dinosaurs and copepods, the list contains 90 beetles, 52 wasps, 13 moths, 7 crabs, 6 flies and 5 amphipods. On the plant side, the list contains five new plant species from East Africa. We can also mention the Cape impatiens (Impatiens capensis) or the modest mimosa (Mimosa pudica).
Finally, the list is completed by several species of algae, parasites, but also reptiles, including a dozen snakes, three lizards and a Vietnam toad. One of the snakes has been named “Joseph’s Runner,” whose description comes from an 185-year-old painting. Another example is the Fan-throated Lizard (Sitana marudhamneydhal), a gecko that lives in India.
