Taxonomists Describe The Top 10 Most Surprising Species Discovered In 2007

Each year the scientific community identifies around 17,000 new animals and plants. To attract people’s attention on the discovery of species, a key for their evolution, survival and conservation, an international committee of experts has just published a list of the 10 most curious and surprising species described in 2007.

Of all living or extinct animal and plant species, discovered on the Earth in 2007, only ten have been selected for a Top 10 presented on the 23 May on the occasion of the anniversary of the birth of Carlos Linneo, initiator of the species classification and naming system. 2008 also marks the 250th anniversary of the start of animal identification.

In the list prepared each year by the International Institute for Species Exploration (IISE) at the University of Arizona (USA), in first place is an electric ray, Electrolux addisoni, whose name reflects the “vigorous action of hoovering as a method of feeding”, according to experts. Discovered on the east coast of South Africa, this peculiar ray “could compete with the well-known function of the hoover for hoovering, in its case, the ocean floor”.

Click here for the full article.

Tags: Animals, Carlos Linneo, Conservation, Electric Ray, Electrolux addisoni, Evolution, New Species, South Africa, Taxonomy