New Species

“Serendipity is a real grabbing force of science,” says Léo Laborieux as he shares his experience describing his new species of scorpion. While at a remote research station in the Colombian rainforest, Léo found a handful of scorpions that exhibited a unique venom ‘flicking' behavior. Armed only with his phone and a few basic supplies, Léo documented the behavior, diagnosed the scorpions as being a new species, and came to fascinating conclusions about venom biomechanics. In this episode he brings us deep into the world of scorpion venoms and shares his love of these creatures and their startling diversity.Léo Laborieux' paper “Biomechanics of venom delivery in South America's first toxungen-spraying scorpion” is in the December 2024 edition of the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlae161A transcript of this episode can be found here: Léo Laborieux - TranscriptNew Species: Tityus achillesEpisode image credit: Léo LaborieuxLéo's first new species from a mountain near his hometown: https://doi.org/10.57800/faunitaxys-10(47)Follow Léo on Instagram @lhommedesboasOr connect on Bluesky @6legsandup.blsky.socialRead his papers on Researchgate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Leo_Laborieux?ev=hdr_xprfScrappy Science: https://www.scrappyscience.orgGlobal Alliance of Community Science Workshops: https://www.communityscienceworkshops.orgOther scorpion episodes from this podcast: Prakrit JainJavier Blasco-ArósteguiBe sure to follow New Species on Bluesky (@newspeciespodcast.bsky.social) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast).Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.comIf you would like to support this podcast and enjoy bonus episodes, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

Begonias are known around the world as a plant of beauty and diversity. What can they teach us about the world around us? Through his work on Begonias and other flowering plants found in Northeast India, Professor Dipankar Borah sees the world differently. It's not just for his own benefit though.“Much of my time is spent making students aware of their surroundings,” He says. “We trek to forests, cook food from the wilderness, and then find joy in the simple yet profound experiences. Through these moments of exploration and laughter, I hope to rekindle their sense of wonder and then help them build the lasting bond with nature.”In this episode, let Dr. Borah invite you with joy and wonder into the world of Begonias. Dipankar Borah's paper “A new species Begonia ziroensis and a new record of Begonia siamensis from Arunachal Pradesh, Northeast India” is in volume 63 issue 1 of the New Zealand Journal of Botany.It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.1080/0028825X.2023.2295439A transcript of this episode can be found here: Dipankar Borah - TranscriptNew Species: Begonia ziroensisEpisode image credit: Dipankar Borah Read more on Dipankar's Researchgate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Dipankar-BorahAnd Follow him on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dipu.borah2/Be sure to follow New Species on Bluesky (@newspeciespodcast.bsky.social) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast).Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.comIf you would like to support this podcast and enjoy bonus episodes, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

For some people, a box of 100-year-old bee flies might seem daunting, but for Lisa Rollinson and Allan Cabrero, It was an exciting challenge. As part of a Smithsonian-based internship, Lisa worked with Allan to identify the flies, creating a new key for several genera and discovering a new species along the way. Flies aren't the most charismatic group, but Lisa sees them as an unexpected opportunity to introduce people to taxonomy. “I think science can be really good for getting people curious and getting them invested in things they don't think about very often, like flies,” she says. “I think that people are often more scientific than they actually think.” Listen in for a great conversation about bee flies and making accessible taxonomic resources that will hopefully stand the test of time. Plus, learn the sweet naming decision that makes this new species the “Sister Bug.”Lisa Rollinson and Allan Cabrero's paper “Species discovery in Southern African bee flies (Diptera, Bombyliidae): A new species in the revised genus Enica (Macquart, 1834)” is in volume 66 Issue 1 of African Invertebrates.It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.3897/afrinvertebr.66.129611A transcript of this episode can be found here: Lisa and Allan - TranscriptNew Species: Enica adelpheEpisode image credit: Lisa RollinsonLucid Builder keys: https://keys.lucidcentral.org/keys/v4/enicaFollow Lisa on Twitter/X: @LisaRollinson5Follow Allan on Instagram: @allan_the_entomologistBe sure to follow New Species on Bluesky (@newspeciespodcast.bsky.social) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast).Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.comIf you would like to support this podcast and enjoy bonus episodes, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

Shantanu Joshi is fascinated with creatures of all kinds, but especially damselflies, the small quick fliers of the order Odonata. In this episode he takes us deep into the forests of Northeast India, a place of immense beauty and interfering colonial history. Undersampling and poor specimen quality are a few reasons the diversity of this area is not well known, and Shantanu and his coauthors are determined to fill in the gaps. As with his project The Odonata of India, Shantanu shares in incredible detail the morphology, ecology, and even behaviors of these two new species, and discusses what their presence means for two unique and isolated habitats.Shantanu's paper “Description of Protosticta khasia sp. nov. and Yunnanosticta siangi sp. nov., with new records of P. samtsensis from Northeast India” is in volume 5448 of Zootaxa. It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5448.3.2A transcript of this episode can be found here: Shantanu Joshi - TranscriptCheck out Shantanu's amazing website, Odonata of India: https://www.indianodonata.org/And follow him on Instagram: @odonataofindiaNew Species: Protosticta khasia and Yunnanosticta siangiEpisode image credit: Shantanu JoshiBe sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast)Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.comIf you would like to support this podcast and enjoy bonus episodes, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

What if I told you that the oldest known biotic association of arthropods is a piece of Lebanese amber from the Cretaceous period? At the same time that flowering plants were diversifying, astigmatid mites were finding a very convenient way to get around: on the backs of termites. Can mites and termites be friends? How does one identify a tiny mite specimen without damaging its equally-important host? Learn the answers to these questions and more from Dr. Hemen Sendi on this episode of the New Species Podcast.Hemen's paper “The oldest continuous association between astigmatid mites and termites preserved in Cretaceous amber reveals the evolutionary significance of phoresy” is in volume 25 of BMC Ecology and Evolution. It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-025-02351-5A transcript of this episode can be found here: Hemen Sendi - Transcript New Species: Plesioglyphus lebanotermiEpisode image credit: Hemen SendiBe sure to follow New Species on Bluesky (@newspeciespodcast.bsky.social) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast).Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.comIf you would like to support this podcast and enjoy bonus episodes, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

Sunflowers come in all shapes and sizes, and the group has gained a new member. Nicknamed the “woolly devil,” Ovicula biradiata is the product of the amazing bi-national collaboration between taxonomists, conservationists, and community scientists in Big Bend National Park. But it comes at a time when the future of National Parks is uncertain.“I think this particular discovery has inspired a lot of people outside of the world of biodiversity science to recognize that we still have a lot of work to do in terms of just describing the biodiversity in environments as iconic as the US National Parks” says Isaac Lichter Marck, one of the taxonomists involved in the description. “We assume that because it's found within a US national park that it'll be within an environment that's preserved into the future. That's been the ideal of national parks. But I think in the current reality we have to be cautious about that assumption.”Listen in to learn more about Isaac and his work, the tremendous effort that went into this discovery, and what the future might look like for this little plant and others.Isaac Lichter Marck's paper “Ovicula biradiata, a new genus of Compositae from Big Bend National Park in Trans-Pecos Texas” is in issue 252 of PhytokeysIt can be found here: https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.252.137624A transcript of this episode can be found here: Isaac Lichter Marck - Transcript New Species: Ovicula biradiataEpisode image credit: Cathy HoytOther articles about this new species:https://www.npr.org/2025/02/26/nx-s1-5308248/wooly-devil-new-species-genus-big-bendhttps://www.nps.gov/bibe/learn/news/new-plant-species-discovered-in-big-bend.htmArticles about cuts to National Parks staff and funding:www.bbc.com/news/articles/czx7kez4vx2owww.npr.org/2025/02/28/nx-s1-5304434/what-doge-cuts-could-mean-for-national-park-visitorswww.npca.org/articles/6614-five-ways-president-trump-s-executive-orders-could-harm-national-parksFollow Isaac on social media:Bluesky: @ca-naturalist.bsky.socialInstagram: California_naturalistTwitter: @ca-naturalistBe sure to follow New Species on Bluesky (@newspeciespodcast.bsky.social) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast).Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.comIf you would like to support this podcast and enjoy bonus episodes, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

Someone who identifies as a nature lover might not be excited to see trees cut down or large machines rolling across the forest floor. Science doesn't always align with everyone's expectations, and often scientists have to explain their work to audiences that aren't interested or who don't agree. Ethan Tapper has many of these conversations. Ethan works to manage Vermont forests sustainably and help them thrive, which often includes practices that might seem destructive or contrary to a forest's best interests. Science is about communicating, and Ethan has worked hard to use communication as a tool to make caring for forests a community issue.  What is the role of a scientist in explaining their work? How do we communicate unfamiliar scientific topics to people who already might have preconceived notions about them? These are some of the questions Ethan tackles in this episode.  Ethan's book can be found here, and wherever books are sold: https://ethantapper.com/book A transcript of this episode can be found here: Ethan Tapper - Transcript Follow Ethan on Instagram, Youtube, Facebook, and TikTok: @howtoloveaforest Be sure to follow New Species on Bluesky and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast), and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast) Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom) If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com If you would like free bonus episodes or would like to support the podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

Amanda and I discuss and review Bats! (1999)  Our ratings: Enjoyability:

On an expedition to Madagascar, Matjaž Gregorič and his research team came upon a damaged termite nest that had a few other invertebrate visitors. When they experimentally damaged the nest again, they found two unexpected things: spiders ballooning in to prey on the termites as they rebuilt, and hopeful ants standing by to steal termites from those spiders. It created what the authors called “a perilous Malagasy triad”, a three-way predator-prey-kleptoparasite interaction that tells a very interesting story about chemical signaling and arthropod behavior. As a bonus, they identified the spider involved as a brand new genus and species, named Vigdisia praesidens to honor Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, Iceland's first female president. Listen in as researcher Matjaž Gregorič gives us the full story, as well as his thoughts on why it's important to pursue science for science's sake. Matjaž Gregorič's paper “A perilous Malagasy triad: a spider (Vigdisia praesidens, gen. and sp. nov.) and an ant compete for termite food” is in the July 14th issue of New Zealand Journal of Zoology.  It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.1080/03014223.2024.2373185 A transcript of this episode can be found here: Matjaž Gregorič - Transcript New Species: Vigdisia praesidens More on Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, the world's first democratically-elected female president (Iceland, 1980-1996): https://www.councilwomenworldleaders.org/vigdiacutes-finnbogadoacutettir.html An article about this paper: https://www.icelandreview.com/news/new-spider-species-named-after-icelandic-president/ Videos of the kleptoparasitic behavior: https://www.youtube.com/@ezlab7631/videos Episode image credit: Matjaž Gregorič Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast) Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom) If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

Rodrigo's paper “Idiopyrgus Pilsbry, 1911 (Gastropoda, Tomichiidae): a relict genus radiating into subterranean environments” is in November 8th issue of Zoosystematics and Evolution It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.3897/zse.100.136428 A transcript of this episode can be found here: Rodrigo Salvador - Transcript Follow Rodrigo on X/Bluesky: @Kraken_Scholar and @krakenscholar.bsky.social Follow the Journal of Geek Studies on X/Bluesky:@JGeekStudies and @jgeekstudies.bsky.social New Species: Idiopyrgus eowynae, Idiopyrgus meriadoci Episode image credit: Rodrigo Salvador Journal of Geek Studies: https://jgeekstudies.org/ Pensoft article, “The Snellowship of the Ring”: https://blog.pensoft.net/2024/11/11/the-shellowship-of-the-ring-two-new-snail-species-named-after-tolkien-characters/ Be sure to follow New Species on Bluesky (@newspeciespodcast.bsky.social) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast) Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom) If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

What happens when a hymenopterist finds a mysterious arachnid in a Danish hothouse? Sean Birk Bek Craig was exploring the floor of a hothouse, also known as a greenhouse, when he came upon an interesting creature. “I could see that it was an arachnid when I looked up close,” he said, “but immediately just looking at it with my eyes… I was really perplexed about what the devil that was!” Short-tailed whip-scorpions, or members of the order Schizomida, are tiny arachnids who aren't typically in Denmark, but with a lot of research, Sean concluded it had probably been accidentally imported on one of the tropical plants, possibly from Thailand. With a few ups and downs, Sean described it as his very first new species, and gave it a specific epithet of “serendipitus” after the unexpected way it came into his life. Sean's paper “First records of the order Schizomida from tropical hothouses in Denmark: Stenochrus portoricensis and a new species of Bamazomus (Schizomida: Hubbardiidae)” is in issue 67 of Arachnology Letters.  It can be found here: https://arages.de/en/1030963?tx_psbpublicationmanagement_publicationmanagement_showdoi%5Baction%5D=showDoi&tx_psbpublicationmanagement_publicationmanagement_showdoi%5Barticle%5D=1011&tx_psbpublicationmanagement_publicationmanagement_showdoi%5Bcontroller%5D=Article&cHash=e268cf69e617c9feaa929fb54fe289ad A transcript of this episode can be found here: Sean Birk Bek Craig - Transcript   New Species: Bamazomus serendipitus Episode image credit: Sean Birk Bek Craig Find Sean on X/Twitter: @BekBirk Read the paper describing Materia boggildi: https://bioone.org/journals/arachnology/volume-19/issue-6/arac.2023.19.6.888/A-new-Masteria-Araneae--Dipluridae-from-tropical-hothouses-in/10.13156/arac.2023.19.6.888.short Read the paper that nearly made Sean's new species a synonym: https://zookeys.pensoft.net/article/121754/ Read the paper describing a new Schizomid genus from Germany: https://arages.de/10.5431/aramit4906 Read Abrams' paper “Too Hot to Handle”: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1055790319301824 Enjoy the World Schizomida Catalog: https://wac.nmbe.ch/order/schizomida/5 Read Matty's thesis on biologists: https://research.ku.dk/search/result/?pure=en/publications/for-the-love-of-the-living(049e101d-c89d-472f-ba7a-f7a62e8337a4).html Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast) Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom) If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

Species descriptions are often the result of great teamwork, and Danniella Sherwood is a great believer in that teamwork. This approach led Danni and her coauthors to name both of their new species after people who have made great contributions to conservation on the species' home, Ascension Island. This includes turtle conservationist Jacqui Ellick and two of the paper's coauthors (to their enormous surprise), Philip and Myrtle Ashmole. “So it really was a team effort,” Danni says, “It takes a village to produce good research, it takes a village to work towards visions of conserving invertebrates in their habitats. You need to have people from all fields, all specialties, all viewpoints in order to make something that's really impactful, really lasting and enduring to the fields of conservation and ecology and taxonomy.” Listen to this episode for the meaningful story of teamwork and community, and to learn about the importance of taxonomy's role in conserving island flora and fauna.  Danniella Sherwood's paper “David and Goliath: on the pseudoscorpions of Ascension Island, including the world's largest, Garypus titanius Beier, 1961, and a new, minute, Neocheiridium Beier, 1932 (Arachnida: Pseudoscorpiones)” is in issue 42 of Natura Somogyienis. It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.24394/NatSom.2024.42.131 A transcript of this episode can be found here: Danni Sherwood 2 - Transcript   New Species: Garypus ellickae and Neocheiridium ashmoleorum  Episode image credit: Danni Sherwood Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast) Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom) If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

This paper started because Chloé Löis Fourreau and Marcos Teixeira were both too sick to dive during a NEON (National Ecological Observatory Network) bioblitz expedition in the Red Sea. Hoping to at least collect something, they swam to the shoreline and began snorkeling in the shallow water. When they began turning over rocks, what felt like a wasted day turned into an amazing intertidal discovery. In this episode, Chloé and Marcos are joined by their colleague Juan Sempere-Valverde to tell the exciting story of their new segmented polychaete worm, and to encourage everyone to pay attention to annelids and the great value they bring to science.  Just a quick disclaimer for this episode, for some reason my primary recording didn't save so i'm using the backup. As a result the quality is not great, and for that I really apologize! A reminder that every episode has a transcript (below) so please use that to aid in any hard-to-hear parts. Chloé Löis Fourreau, Marcos A.L. Teixeira, and Juan Sempere-Valverde's paper “Two new records and description of a new Perinereis (Annelida, Nereididae) species for the Saudi Arabian Red Sea region” is in volume 1196 of Zookeys. It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1196.115260 A transcript of this episode can be found here: Chloé Löis Fourreau, Marcos Teixeira, and Juan Sempere-Valverde - Transcript   New Species: Perinereis kaustiana Episode image credit: Juan Sempere-Valverde New Species: Perinereis kaustiana Episode image credit: Juan Sempere-Valverde Follow Chloé on Twitter: ChaoticChloeia Follow Juan on Instagram: @bem_lab and @zoologiaus Read Marcos' recent paper: https://doi.org/10.1080/14772000.2022.2116124 Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast) Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom) If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

Louis Nastasi has a deep love of wasps, and a particular fascination with Cynipid wasps, gall wasps that can specialize on just a few plants or even a single species. In this episode he tells us about their diversity and the tangled phylogenies he works on, and answers the question his paper poses; “Cryptic or underworked?” There's so much we don't know about gall wasps, and it has so many implications for conservation, agriculture, and more! Louis Nastasi's paper “Cryptic or underworked? Taxonomic revision of the Antistrophus rufus species complex (Cynipoidea, Aulacideini)” is in volume 97 of the Journal of Hymenoptera Research.  It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.3897/jhr.97.121918 A transcript of this episode can be found here: Louis Nastasi - Transcript New Species: Antistrophus laurenae Episode image credit: Antoine Guiguet Send Louis a Silphium plant gall! Email him at: LFN5093@psu.edu Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast) Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom) If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod. Bonus episodes are coming soon!

What can tiny, flightless beetles tell us about the history of mountain geography and climate? It turns out, quite a bit! In this episode, Dr. Adam Haberski introduces us to the wild world of Staphylinid beetles, some of the most diverse creatures on the planet. We learn about the joys (and pitfalls) of collecting in the Southern Appalachians, as well as their billion-year-old history and the amazing beetle lineages that they helped shape.  Adam Haberski's paper “A review of Nearctic Lathrobium (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae), with revision and descriptions of new flightless species from the mountains of the southeastern U.S.” is in volume 1198 of Zookeys.  It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1198.118355 A transcript of this episode can be found here: Adam Haberski - Transcript   New Species: Lathrobium balsamense, Lathrobium camplyacra, Lathrobium islae, Lathrobium lividum, Lathrobium smokiense, Lathrobium absconditum, Lathrobium hardeni, Lathrobium lapidum, Lathrobium solum, and Lathrobium thompsonorum Episode image credit: Mike Caterino Check out Adam's amazing photography on instagram: @alaskamacro Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast) Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom) If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

In part 3 of Taxonomy Basics, Marc Milne of the University of Indianapolis tells us all about the process of identifying and publishing new species. He has tips and tricks for microscope work, finding online resources, and many other facets of the description process. Marc is a spider taxonomist and ecologist who specializes in several different groups including Linyphiids and Nesticids. He is also a professor of Biology, and teaches classes that include ecology and genetics.  Taxonomy Basics is a three part series on basic components of species description including collecting, preserving, and describing new species. This series focuses on entomological specimens, but has concepts that work across disciplines. Listen in as Evan Waite, Ashleigh Whiffin, and Marc Milne share their guidelines and discuss important concepts in taxonomy, curation, and beyond.  A transcript of this episode can be found here: Marc Milne - Transcript Episode image credit: Marshal Hedin Follow Marc on twitter: @forthespiders Resources mentioned in this episode include:  The World Spider Catalog: https://wsc.nmbe.ch/ Spiders of North America: https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691175614/spiders-of-north-america Salticidae of the World: https://www.jumping-spiders.com/ American Arachnological Society Website State-by-State Guide: https://www.americanarachnology.org/about-arachnids/arachnid-orders/ LinEpig: https://linepig.fieldmuseum.org/ All Bugs Go to Kevin (Facebook Group): https://www.facebook.com/groups/AllBugsGoToKevin iNaturalist: www.iNaturalist.org BugGuide: https://bugguide.net/ Some scientists to learn from online: The Bug Chicks: https://www.thebugchicks.com/ Entomologia Asturias (Christian Pertegal): https://www.twitch.tv/entomologiaasturias Entomology Abby: https://www.instagram.com/entomologyabby/?hl=en Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast) Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom) If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

In part 2 of Taxonomy Basics, Ashleigh Whiffin of National Museums Scotland brings us into the entomology collection to learn the fundamentals of curation and preservation, including which pins to use, the importance of collection data, and much more. Ashleigh is responsible for the care and development of a collection of 2.5 million insect specimens. She is particularly interested in collections care and science communication, and is a coleopterist, specializing in Carrion beetles (Silphidae). In the UK, she works with the Biological Records Centre to co-organise a National Recording Scheme for Carrion Beetles, promoting the importance of the group and encouraging more people to record them. In 2020, she co-authored an atlas on Silphids and Histerids and has featured on national TV, sharing her passion for these beetles. Ashleigh recently helped develop a new training resource hosted on the National Museums Scotland website: https://www.nms.ac.uk/about-us/our-services/training-and-guidance-for-museums/caring-for-entomology-collections/  This self-guided resource is an introduction to Caring for Entomology Collections, covering the basics through a combination of videos and text, as well as links for where to go for additional information.  Taxonomy Basics is a three part series on basic components of species description including collecting, preserving, and describing new species. This series focuses on entomological specimens, but has concepts that work across disciplines. Listen in as Evan Waite, Ashleigh Whiffin, and Marc Milne share their guidelines and discuss important concepts in taxonomy, curation, and beyond.  A transcript of this episode can be found here: Ashleigh Whiffin - Transcript Episode image credit: Molly Wilders Connect with Ashleigh on Instagram/Threads: @ash_whiffin X: @AshWhiffin BlueSky: @ashwhffin.bsky.social More info here: https://www.nms.ac.uk/collections-research/collections-departments/natural-sciences/meet-the-team/ashleigh-whiffin/  Places to be involved in virtual curation and other citizen science projects: https://www.zooniverse.org/ https://scistarter.org/ https://transcription.si.edu/ Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast) Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom) If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

In part 1 of Taxonomy Basics, Evan Waite from Arizona State University teaches us all about collecting entomological specimens. From which traps to use to tips on sharing your collection with others, Evan gives us all of the details with some great stories along the way. Evan is a coleopterist and PhD Candidate at Arizona State University. His work focuses on ground beetles, but he's broadly interested in beetle diversity and has a personal collection that includes over 2,000 specimens from all across the arthropod world. His collecting and taxonomic work has taken him across the country to many unique habitats, as well as a variety of entomological collections.  Taxonomy Basics is a three part series on basic components of species description including collecting, preserving, and describing new species. This series focuses on entomological specimens, but has concepts that work across disciplines. Listen in as Evan Waite, Ashleigh Wiffin, and Marc Milne share their guidelines and discuss important concepts in taxonomy, curation, and beyond.  Connect with Evan online: @Evantomology on all platforms Read Evan's paper about collecting bias, including a case study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10323768/ Watch Evan's talk “A Journey from Bugs to Birds” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asZWkrmAXZ4&t=3s Chris Grinter's website with a guide to collecting permits: https://www.theskepticalmoth.com/collecting-permits/ UC Davis guide: How to Collect Insects: https://bohart.ucdavis.edu/how-collect-insects A transcript of this episode can be found here: Evan Waite - Transcript Episode image credit: Evan Waite Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast) Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom) If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

“Another spider paper?!” you might ask. “More new spiders, what's so interesting?” Well in addition to a revised genus and three new species, Adrià Bellvert and Miquel Arnedo's most recent publication highlights some of the unique challenges taxonomists deal with as they work to untangle species relationships. “I think that the important part [of this paper] is it interfaces very well, it summarizes very well the kind of problems that.. we have to address when we are trying to understand the diversity of mega diverse groups,” says Miquel. Things like deteriorated specimens, missing label information, and difficulty collecting also contribute. But by the end of their story we see that time, effort, and collaboration can bring about some really important findings. Miquel and Adrià's paper “Integrating museum collections and molecules reveals genus-level synonymy and new species in red devil spiders (Araneae, Dysderidae) from the Middle East and Central Asia” is in volume 921 of the Journal of European Taxonomy It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2024.921.2429 A transcript of this episode can be found here: Adrià Bellvert and Miquel Arnedo - Transcript   New Species: Dysdera jaegeri, Dysdera naouelae, and Dysdera kourosh Episode image credit: Adrià Bellvert You can follow Adrià and Miquel on Twitter: @AdriaBellvert and @spidersysevo (Miquel's lab) Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast) Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom) If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

Skinks are one of the most diverse families of lizards, and Ishan Agarwal studies skinks in India, one of the most biodiverse countries in the world. From the forest to the lab to the museum, Ishan shares his experiences investigating a group of cryptic skinks that had quite a few surprises to share, including biology and behavior. What is it about skinks that makes them so captivating? How and why do scientists designate neotypes? Why is a slingshot part of a skink-catching field kit? Find out in this episode of the New Species Podcast. Read Ishan's paper here: https://doi.org/10.3897/vz.74.e110674 A transcript of this episode can be found here: Ishan Agarwal - Transcript New Genus: Dravidoseps New Species: Dravidoseps gingeeensis, Dravidoseps jawadhuensis, Dravidoseps kalakadensis, Dravidoseps srivilliputhurensis, and Dravidoseps tamilnaduensis.  Episode image courtesy of Ishan Agarwal Follow Ishan on Instagram: @Geckoella Dropbox link to Ishan's papers: https://www.dropbox.com/home/Public/IA%20publications Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast) Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom) If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

Mike Stephan is a lawyer obsessed with scientific etymology, specifically tautonyms, binomial names in which the generic name and species name are exactly the same. Scientific naming conventions and customs have a rich history, and as Mike says, “[taxonomic names] in some perhaps unintended way tell the greater story of human anthropology and history.” Come along for the ride as we discuss etymologies of all shapes, sizes, and redundancies and learn a little about people along the way.  Order Mike's book: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tautonyms-michael-j-stephan/1143958127?ean=9798350910759 Read Mike's recent paper proposing that botany allow tautonyms: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/tax.12902 A transcript of this episode can be found here: Mike Stephan - Transcript Interview with Stefano Mammola about spider names: https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/jxWszZc24Hb Interview with Alireza Zamani about a new species named after Brian: https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/VhSS5Lf24Hb Follow Mike on Instagram (and submit your draw-tonym): @Tautonyms  Episode image courtesy of Mike Stephan Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast) Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom) If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

There are no snakes in Alaska, so what's that snakelike shape crossing the road? Few people would guess it's actually thousands of fly larvae moving in a very peculiar pattern that gives the snakeworm gnat their common name. Dr. Thalles Pereira and his coauthors spent lots of time rearing, observing, and sharing their findings with their community in the process of describing this new species, and use citizen science data of this behavior in addition to morphological and molecular analyses in this paper. Listen in as Thalles brings us through the labs and back roads of Alaska to learn why gnats are so special! Thalles Pereira's paper “Discovery of snakeworm gnats in Alaska: a new species of Sciara meigen (Diptera: Sciaridae) based on morphological, molecular, and citizen science data” is in volume 6 issue 2 of Integrative Systematics. It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.18476/2023.673937 A transcript of this episode can be found here: Thalles Pereira - Transcript New Species: Sciara serpens Episode image courtesy of Thalles Pereira via Integrative Systematics Stuttgart Contributions to Natural History Check out Thalles' Researchgate profile: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Thalles-Pereira-2 Video of the snakeworm larval behavior: https://doi.org/10.7299/X7WM1DQ9 View these specimens and their observational records on Arctos: https://arctos.database.museum/search.cfm?guid_prefix=UAM%3AEnto%2CUAMObs%3AEnto&scientific_name=Sciara%20serpens&scientific_name_match_type=match&family=Sciaridae Springtail antifreeze protein paper: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-60060-z Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast) Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom) If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

This is a short episode to share some thoughts and feedback from this year's New Species community survey, as well as some updates on what is to come for the podcast. Take the community survey here before March 1st: https://forms.gle/ayoZfXzadr2kd3st5 Check out our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod And the Website: www.newspeciespodcast.net

Who wouldn't want to receive thousands of millipedes in the mail? When Dr. Henrik Enghoff does it's through his partnership with FoRCE, the Forest Restoration and Climate Experiment, a group researching tropical forest dynamics and their relationship with things like human disturbance and climate change. They collect millipedes through their field season and Henrik identifies them to increase our knowledge of millipede systematics. In this interview he shares stories about the diversity of millipedes, the exciting world of scanning electron microscopy, and why it's important to care about creatures that others might pass by.  Henrik Enghoff's paper “A mountain of millipedes XI. The trachystreptoform spirostreptids of the Udzungwa Mountains, Tanzania” is in volume 918 of the European Journal of Taxonomy. It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2024.918.2405 A transcript of this episode can be found here: Henrik Enghoff - Transcript New Genus: Udzungwastreptus New Species: Attemsostreptus cataractae,  Attemsostreptus leptoptilos,  Attemsostreptus julostriatus, Lophostreptus magombera, Udzungwastreptus marianae Episode image credit: A.R. Marshall Learn more about FoRCE: https://force-experiment.com/ And project DiSSCo: www.dissco.eu Other recent papers by Henrik and his team: A new distinct, disjunct giant millipede of the genus Spirostreptus from Tanzania, and a solution for orphaned Spirostreptus species – Zootaxa https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5389.2.9 A new species of Lophostreptus Cook, 1895 discovered among syntypes of L. regularis  - Zookeys https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1188.115802 Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast) Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom) If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

How many nature enthusiasts can relate to this scenario: you're watching the landscape go by as you drive, and suddenly you see an area that could be favorable habitat for your target species. Stop the car! That's what Prakrit Jain did, and it helped him and his coauthors describe a new species of Paruroctonus scorpion from the San Joaquin Valley. So much makes this scorpion interesting, from the unique and at-risk habitat it occupies to the fascinating story of its description. Why describe new species? Prakrit says it best: “Because if this scorpion can get conservation attention then it doesn't just save the scorpion it saves everything that lives alongside it, and that might be thousands of different species.”  Prakrit Jain's paper “A new species of alkali-sink Paruroctonus Werner, 1934 (Scorpiones, Vaejovidae) from California's San Joaquin Valley” is in issue 1185 of Zookeys. It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1185.103574 A transcript of this episode can be found here: Prakrit Jain - Transcript New Species: Paruroctonus tulare Episode image courtesy of Prakrit Jain Follow Prakrit on Instagram: @bothrops_et_al  Connect with Prakrit on iNaturalist: @prakrit  iNaturalist records of this new species: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/192661164 News coverage of this species description:  https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/new-species-scorpion-california-san-joaquin-18537552.php https://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/47542/20231208/new-scorpion-sting-getting-pricked-cactus-discovered-california-desert.htm https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-12837863/deadly-species-eight-legs-scalloped-pincers-California.html Take the community survey: https://forms.gle/y7utvaRuxeCQVMJy9 Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast) Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom) If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

Southern Africa is home to over 1,200 species of irises, and if that number doesn't blow you away, hearing Dr. John Manning's speak about his new species certainly will. In this fascinating episode we are taken on a deep dive into Iridaceae's stunning pollinator-driven diversity, evolution over millions of years and several continents, and the critical role of herbaria as the backbone of science past, present, and future. “They look static, and they look like dead plant specimens,” John says, “but they represent a great deal of life.” Dr. John Manning's Paper, “Moraea saxatilis, a new montane species from the Groot Winterhoek Wilderness Area of the Cape Floristic Region, South Africa” is in volume 165 of the South African journal of Botany. It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sajb.2023.12.008 A transcript of this episode can be found here: John Manning - Transcript New Species: Moraea saxatilis Episode image courtesy of John Manning Learn more about the Compton Herbarium here:  https://www.sanbi.org/biodiversity/foundations/biosystematics-collections/compton-herbarium/ Learn more about the CREW program here:  https://www.sanbi.org/biodiversity/building-knowledge/biodiversity-monitoring-assessment/custodians-of-rare-and-endangered-wildflowers-crew-programme/ Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast) Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom) If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

Dr. Catalina Romero-Ortiz has been fascinated by pseudoscorpions for over a decade, and she wants everyone to understand how amazing they are. But beyond inherent scientific value, Catalina wants to share the importance of taxonomy in and out of the lab. She says, “As scientists, all of us are called to- there are some things that don't work, you know? I think we [hold] in our shoulders much of the social responsibility… we are agents of change. And we need it.” In this episode, Catalina speaks with conviction about the role taxonomy plays in changing the world for the better. She and her coauthors name their new genus using the prefix ‘pax,' meaning peace, to commemorate the Havana Peace Talks in 2012 which brought together participants in Colombia's civil war with the goal of uniting towards a more peaceful future.  Catalina Romero-Ortiz's paper “A new genus and five new species of pseudoscorpions from Colombia” is in issue 1184 of Zookeys. It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1184.106698 A transcript of this episode can be found here: Catalina Romero-Ortiz - Transcript New Species: Cystowithius florezi, Parawithius bromelicola, Oligowithius achagua, Paciwithius valduparensis, Paciwithius chimbilacus Episode image courtesy of Catalina Romero-Ortiz Visit Catalina's ResearchGate profile: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Catalina-Romero-Ortiz Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast) Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom) If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

What do glaciers and scorpions have in common? They're the focus of Javier Blasco-Aróstegui's paper in which he and his coauthor describe a new species from the foothills of Mount Olympus. It's an area home to many legends, and also a surprising amount of biodiversity due to its unique topography. When a large-scale change in habitat restricts gene flow, it can result in species that are very different from their relatives and Javier has found one of those species. “Okay,” he remembers saying about the first specimen, “we've got something new and cool here.” Javier Blasco-Aróstegui's paper “Glacial Relicts? A New Scorpion from Mount Olympus, Greece” is in the November 9th issue of American Museum Novitates.  It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.1206/4003.1 A transcript of this episode can be found here: Javier Blasco-Aróstegui - Transcript  New Species: Euscorpius olympus Episode image courtesy of Javier Blasco-Aróstegui Follow Javier on Instagram: @javierblar Or on Twitter: @jblascoarosteg Check out his ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Javier-Blasco-Arostegui Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast) Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom) If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

When researchers talk about species disappearing before we can discover them, they're talking about species like Javier Lobon-Rovira's new gecko. With a specific and rapidly fragmenting habitat, this species of Paroedura might have left the world as an unknown cryptic species. “My goal in my life,” Javier tells us, “is not to describe new species… but when you describe new species and you put it on an evolutionary frame, you can provide the grounds to better understand how the species distributed in the space and in the time, and which factors that are involved have some implication in the diversification pattern of the species that is completely needed to keep the natural selection or the continued evolution of the species to survive.” Thanks to everyone who gave feedback on episode length - this episode ended up being short and sweet, but in the future we will have longer episodes, closer to 45 minutes. Javier Lobon-Rovira's paper “Another step through the crux: a new microendemic rock-dwelling Paroedura (Squamata, Gekkonidae) from south-central Madagascar” is in volume 1181 of Zookeys. It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1181.108134 New Species: Paroedura manongavato  Episode image courtesy of Javier Lobon-Rovira A transcript of this episode can be found here: Javier Lobon-Rovira - Transcript Check out Javier's amazing photography: www.javierlobonrovira.com Follow Javier on Instagram: @javilbn_wildphotography Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast) Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)

The island of Saint Helena can't be described without the word special. It's a small territory in the south Atlantic that is home to some of the most unique biodiversity in the world, including some extremely rare cloud forest spiders. An island full of spiders might not sound exciting for some, but to Danniella Sherwood it's a dream! Listen in as Danni tells us all about the island and its history, the wolf spiders that find their home there, and the amazing community that supported and guided her work.  Danni Sherwood's paper “Saint Helenian wolf spiders, with description of two new genera and three new species (Araneae: Lycosidae)” is in volume 19 issue 5 of Arachnology.  It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.13156/arac.2023.19.5.816 A transcript of this episode can be found here: Danni Sherwood - Transcript New Species: Molearachne sanctaehelenae, Dolocosa joshuai, Hogna veseyensis Episode image courtesy of Danniella Sherwood For more information on the FCDO funded Cloud Forest Project: https://www.rspb.org.uk/our-work/conservation/projects/st-helena-cloud-forest-project/   Follow the Saint Helena National Trust here: https://www.facebook.com/SHnationaltrust/ https://www.twitter.com/Shnationaltrust   Follow the Species Recovery Trust: https://www.facebook.com/TheSpeciesRecoveryTrust/ https://www.twitter.com/speciesrecovery Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast) Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom) If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

On this podcast we talk a lot about natural history collections. In fact, a spot (or more) of collections work is pretty much required to describe a new species. But what actually counts as a natural history collection? How many are there in the world? And what happens to all of that juicy data waiting in the stacks to be worked on? Dr. Makenzie Mabry has some of those answers and more. We talk about all of the different types of information that can be associated with specimens, the different resources researchers and non-researchers can use to access it, as well as some of the strengths and challenges to the way we build, use, and share museum data. Resources mentioned in this episode: IDigBio - Integrated Digitized Biocollections, a platform for organizing, storing, and sharing specimen data Symbiota - Platform aimed at helping smaller collections manage and distribute their data GBIF - The Global Biodiversity Information Facility which acts as a network for distributing biodiversity data Bionomia - A platform that links natural history specimens to their contributors Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG) - a group that develops data standards for collections in order to help in the sharing of knowledge and information Makenzie's publications can be found in journals including Plants People Planet, Journal of College Science Teaching, Plant and Cell Physiology, and PhytoKeys. Follow her on twitter: @KenzieMabry Or Instagram: @kenziemabry_phd Makenzie's website: makenziemabry.weebly.com A transcript of this episode can be found here: Makenzie Mabry - Transcript Check out our website: www.newspeciespodcast.net Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast) Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom) If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

You've got to hand it to leaf insects; their camouflage is so well-refined that studying them is difficult and collecting them is near-impossible. A sub-group of stick insects, members of the family Phylliidae have evolved to leaf like the best of them, even going so far as to uptake leaf pigments to match their colors. In order to study these creatures, Royce Cumming had to visit and take loans from collections all over the world, looking at historic specimens often found only because a passing storm had knocked them out of the canopy.  But Royce is not deterred. He and his coauthors are organizing and describing Phylliids in order to make studying them more approachable, and to help people better appreciate their uniqueness. Listen in as he describes identifying and reclassifying leaf insects, pulling us into their strange and beautiful world.  Royce Cumming's paper “On seven undescribed leaf insect species revealed within the recent “Tree of Leaves” (Phasmatodea, Phylliidae)” is in issue 1173 of Zookeys. It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1173.104413 New Species: Phyllium iyadaon, Phyllium samarense, Phyllium ortizi, Pulchriphyllium heracles, Pulchriphyllium delislei, Pulchriphyllium bhaskarai, Pulchriphyllium anangu Episode image was taken by Ashwin Viswanathan via iNaturalist and is used with permission by Royce Cumming Follow Royce on Instagram: @RoyceCumming Or check out his ResearchGate profile, where all of his work is shared open access: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Royce-Cumming Check out this video on the phytochemical camouflage Royce talks about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JygVv3coRaU&t=1s A transcript of this episode can be found here: Royce Cumming - Transcript Further coverage of Royce and this paper: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/01/science/leaf-stick-insects-phyllium-asekiense.html https://www.iflscience.com/these-7-new-species-of-leaf-insect-are-masters-of-cryptic-camouflage-70459?fbclid=IwAR2J4dMO9DUPiwVfecoyR9jQS5MS0KpAz3oUzvBPPDS67tsaFR9CawaNrKA https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/aug/31/new-walking-leaf-insect-species-discovered-genetic-analysis?fbclid=IwAR2eUc8vKouQz4oV7Cmkg_Boj9gihStzxE8r6n3TlzjYlmMCdIySvPIxYg4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUymjLIPWUk Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast) Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom) If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

Mysmenopsis is a tiny spider genus that has been shaped by women; women have collected, identified, and described the majority of members of the genus. In fact, Dr. Nadine Dupérré alone described 25 species, almost half of the genus' known diversity. So it's fitting, Cláudia Xavier explains, that her five new species are named after women, including Dupérré herself and Dr. Emilie Snethlage, whose position as director of the Museu Goeldi made her the first woman in South America to lead a scientific institution.  Mysmenopsids are tiny, kleptoparasitic spiders found across the Americas, particularly in northern South America. They are cryptic, their small size making it difficult to observe them, never mind dissect and study them. But that's just what Cláudia and her coauthors did. In this interview she shares what it's like studying spiders smaller than an apple seed - the good, the bad, and the painful! In her writing both in and out of the museum, Cláudia hopes to demystify spiders and bring more attention to their diversity.  Cláudia Xavier's paper “On the symphytognathoid spider genus Mysmenopsis Simon, 1898 (Araneae: Mysmenidae) from the Brazilian Amazonian region: description of five new species and new records” is in issue 5219 off Zootaxa. It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5319.1.4 A transcript of this episode can be found here: Cláudia Xavier - Transcript New Species: Mysmenopsis rodriguesae, Mysmenopsis nadineae, Mysmenopsis snethlageae, Mysmenopsis lopardoae, Mysmenopsis regiae Episode image courtesy of Cláudia Xavier Follow Cláudia on Instagram or Twitter: @claudiia_xavier Read Cláudia's writing on Fauna News: https://faunanews.com.br/category/colunas/invertebrados/ Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast) Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom) If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreoNesticuscom/NewSpeciesPod

Grab your parkas, we're going to Antarctica! Or at least some researchers did in the 1960s, but it took starfish expert Dr. Chris Mah until the past few years to take a look at their samples and find a new genus and eleven new species of starfish. And not just any starfish, starfish from the deep-sea. In a special guest introduction, Dr. Thom Lindley from our friends at the Deep-Sea Podcast explains what exactly “deep-sea” means, from the creatures that live there to the physics of water pressure at depths of thousands of meters. Learn about “the chonkiest of starfish,” Darth Vader's character arc, and what happens when you mishandle pressurized fish gut contents on this episode of New Species Podcast. (Spoiler alert on the fish guts: they don't stay in the fish). Chris' paper “New Genera, Species, and observations on the biology of Antarctic Valvatida (Asteroidea)” is in volume 5310 number 1 of Zootaxa. See the episode details for a link to the paper, and to learn more about Chris and his work, you can follow him on twitter, @echinoblog, or you can check out his blog which covers all things marine invertebrates at www.echinoblog.blogspot.com A very special thanks to Dr. Thom Linley and the rest of the crew from the Deep-Sea podcast for the wonderful introduction to this episode. Please go give their podcast a listen, or check out their website https://www.armatusoceanic.com/podcast It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5310.1.1 Episode image courtesy of Chris Mah The Smithsonian's digital database: https://collections.nmnh.si.edu/search/ A transcript of this episode can be found here: Chris Mah - Transcript Check out our website: www.newspeciespodcast.net Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast) Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom) If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

Cedric Lee was collecting slugs with another diplopodologist James Bailey when they stumbled upon a very odd creature; thin and string-like with lots of fine legs and a long body. “We recognized that it might be something special,” explains Cedric as he shares how they uploaded the image to iNaturalist. Enter Dr. Paul Marek, who saw the pictures and immediately got in touch. After some collection and analysis, they have a new millipede to share, Illacme socal, one of only three species in genus Illacme, which is the only genus of the family Siphonorhinidae present in North America. Millipedes are critically understudied and there's so much more for us to learn. Listen in as Paul and Cedric tell you all about diplopodology and their new discovery! Cedric and Paul's paper “A new species of Illacme from southern California (Siphonophorida, Siphonorhinidae)” is published in issue 1167 of Zookeys. It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1167.102537 Watch a video of an individual of the new species burrowing here: https://vimeo.com/823446011?share=copy New Species: Illacme socal  Episode image courtesy of Paul Marek A transcript of this episode can be found here: Paul Marek and Cedric Lee - Transcript  You can find Cedric's work on his inaturalist profile: https://www.inaturalist.org/people/cedric_lee You can find Paul's work on his university website: https://millipedes.ento.vt.edu/ Or on Twitter at @apheloria A guide to myriapods by Paul Marek and WIlliam Shear: https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/bitstream/handle/10919/113652/CURBIO.18835_PEM_28Oct22_VTWorks.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y Check out our new website: www.newspeciespodcast.net Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast) Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom) If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

“I always say that insect taxonomists will never get really rich but you will see parts of the world where nobody else gets a chance to go to. It's a great chance to explore the world” This special episode with Dr. Robert Anderson of the Canadian Museum of Nature brings us across the globe and through several decades of research in a fascinating corner of the beetle world. Bob shares the origin story of his fascination with insects, how he became Major League Baseball's official entomologist, and even a musical secret about the prolific carabid beetle expert George Ball. This interview is a reflection on nearly 4 decades of entomology, and you won't want to miss a minute.  Bob Anderson's papers can be found in Zookeys, Zootaxa, The Canadian Entomologist, and many other publications. Papers mentioned in this episode include: A taxonomic monograph of the Middle American leaf-litter inhabiting weevil genus Theognete Champion (Coleoptera: Curculionidae; Molytinae; Lymantini)[2010 - Zookeys]: https://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2010/f/z02458p127f.pdf A new species of Toxorhinus Lacordaire (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Dryophthorinae; Rhynchophorini) from Ecuador [2023 - Zootaxa]: https://doi.org/10.11646/ZOOTAXA.5270.2.9 A revision of the North American genus Proctorus (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Ellescini) with descriptions of two new species Coauthor: Jake H. Lewis [2022 - Zookeys]: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1131.90392 A transcript of this episode can be found here: Bob Anderson - Transcript Episode image courtesy of Bob Anderson. The weevil pictured is Cylindrocopturinus catherineae, the beautiful weevil he named after his wife Check out our website: www.newspeciespodcast.net Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast) Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom) If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

“Here in the South, our grasslands are where most of our, a huge part of our biodiversity are. And most people don't even know that we have natural grasslands in the Southeast…but they were some of the first things to be developed because they were already open. You didn't have to clear them…And so they were lost early on. And all we have now are these small little fragments. Within the last, I'll say seven years now, I've described close to 40 new species of grasshoppers, if we include these seven, from the southeast alone. And 34 of them, probably 35, are grassland inhabitants. So we almost, you know, we're in danger of losing all these species before we even knew they existed. Right here in our backyard in Eastern North America. You think, you know, oh, it's North America. We know, you know, most everything here. Well, we don't.” In this episode, Dr. JoVonn Hill pulls us headfirst into the world of grasshopper research as he tells us about collecting in central Texas. He shares his thoughts on what accessibility in publications can look like, the unique role of scientific illustration, and advises us on the importance of an afternoon Dairy Queen break. JoVonn's paper “Diversification deep in the heart of Texas: seven new grasshopper species and establishment of the Melanoplus discolor species group (Orthoptera, Acrididae, Melanoplinae)” is in issue 1165 of Zookeys.  It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1165.104047 New Species: Melanoplus nelsoni - Nelson's pouncer Melanoplus walkeri - Walker's pouncer Melanoplus susdentatus - Hog-toothed pouncer Melanoplus balcones - Balcones pouncer Melanoplus corniculatus - Antlered pouncer Melanoplus comanche - Comanche pouncer Melanoplus tonkawa - Tonkawa pouncer Episode image courtesy of JoVonn Hill Follow JoVonn on Twitter: @JoVonnH Mississippi State Moth Photographers Group: https://mothphotographersgroup.msstate.edu/ Grasshoppers of North America: Volume 1 and Volume 2 A transcript of this episode can be found here: JoVonn Hill - Transcript Check out our website: www.newspeciespodcast.net Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast) Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom) If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

Have you ever seen a series of fine squiggles in a leaf? Those might be leaf-mining moths in the genus Argyresthia. These tiny moths are closely linked with many agricultural crops, but factors including sampling bias and their small size mean we don't know as much about them as we'd like. Jacob Gorneau and his team examined material from Guatemala and described three new species. An insect-lover from childhood, Jacob has always been fascinated by moths, and these Argyresthia moths are no exception. They're a small group both in number (with only 200 species) and in size (approximately 1/8th of an inch or smaller), but there's a lot to learn about them, especially in relation to their host plants. Listen in as Jacob tells us all about his work, his future plans, and why we should care about these tiny animals.  Jacob Gorneau's paper “Three new species of the genus Argyresthia Hübner, [1825] from Guatemala, with notes on host plant evolution and Nearctic taxa (Lepidoptera: Argyresthiidae)” is in Volume 51 Issue 201 of SHILAP Revista de lepidopterología. It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.57065/shilap.444 Another of Jacob's papers mentioned in this episode - Measuring What We Don't Know: Biodiversity Catalogs Reveal Bias in Taxonomic Effort: https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biac116 Take a look at Jacob's website for spiders, scorpions, and more! https://jacobgorneau.github.io/ Jacob is also part of National Moth Week: https://nationalmothweek.org/ You can follow him on twitter: @jacobgorneau Or instagram: @fortheloveofleps New Species: Argyresthia quetzaltenangonella, Argyresthia guatemala, Argyresthia iridescentia Episode image courtesy of Jacob Gorneau A transcript of this episode can be found here: Jacob Gorneau - Transcript Check out our website: www.newspeciespodcast.net Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast) Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom) If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

When a scientist comes on the podcast, we always ask them how they named their new species. It's a privilege that comes with a species description, and we've seen firsthand how different that answer can be. For some it's a straightforward geographic name, for others it's about morphology, and still others name after collectors, celebrities, or loved ones. Dr. Stefano Mammola wants to know why. Beginning in 2020 he and a team of researchers from all over the world analyzed 48,464 etymologies across nearly 300 years to examine naming trends in spider taxonomy to answer the question, “what's in a spider name?” They cite many different projects (including this podcast!) and, as Stefano shares in this interview, come across some real surprises along the way. Stefano Mammola's paper “Taxonomic practice, creativity, and fashion: What's in a spider name?” is in the February 13th issue of the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlac097 A transcript of this conversation can be found here: Transcript - Stefano Mammola Episode image courtesy of Stefano Mammola Check out Stefano's website: https://publications.cnr.it/authors/stefano.mammola And his twitter: @stefanomammola1 Check out this data and more on the World Spider Catalog Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast) Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom) If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

Amanda Grunwald is fascinated by arthropods, by reptiles, pretty much anything that creeps or crawls. But what about the creatures that fly? Here we dive into her work on bats in the genus Pseudoromicia, simple-nosed bats that are relatively less known. She takes us from the mountains of Cameroon to a genetics lab in Chicago, and we discuss what responsible science looks like and why it's important.  A review of bats of the genus Pseudoromicia (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) with the description of a new species” is in volume 21 issue 1 of Systematics and Biodiversity. It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.1080/14772000.2022.2156002 Or open access here: http://ir-library.mmarau.ac.ke:8080/bitstream/handle/123456789/13562/A%20review%20of%20bats%20of%20the%20genus%20Pseudoromicia.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y A transcript of this episode can be found here: Amanda Grunwald - Transcript New Species: Pseudoromicia mbamminkom Episode art courtesy of Amanda Grunwald To learn more about Amanda's work, check out: batcon.org Further reading on the topic of a more ethical taxonomic practice: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-021-01460-w Researchers mentioned in this episode: Dr. Eric Bakwo Fils, Dr. Patrick Atagana, and Frank Mayo https://www.researchgate.net/lab/Bakwo-Fils-Eric-Moise-Lab Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies), Instagram (@newspeciespodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast) Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom) If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

Dr. Ángel Valdés has known since childhood that he would study sea slugs, and several years ago that dream took him to New Caledonia to work with a large international research team. While divers and other collectors swept the shoreline and beyond for marine life, Ángel diligently photographed every sea slug, including some unexpected finds. Were those hours worth it? Definitely, in part because he and his team have described seven new species of Nudibranchs, in the family Discodorididae.  Nudibranchs, also known as sea slugs, are found all over the world. But what's so special about these “cryptic” New Caledonian species, and what might they have to do with curing rare diseases? Learn all of this and more on this episode of New Species Podcast.  Ángel Valdés' paper “Seven new “cryptic” species of Discodorididae (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Nudibranchia) from New Caledonia” is in the March 7th issue of Zookeys. It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1152.98258 New Species: Atagema kimberlyae, Atagema sobanovae, Jorunna daoulasi, Jorunna hervei, Rostanga poddubetskaiae, Sclerodoris faninozi, Sclerodoris dutertrei Episode image courtesy of Ángel Valdés Visit Ángel's website: https://www.cpp.edu/faculty/aavaldes/index.shtml A transcript of this episode can be found here: Ángel Valdés - Transcript Check out our website: www.newspeciespodcast.net Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast) Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom) If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

Muy a menudo, los científicos que entrevistamos en el podcast hablan inglés como su segundo, tercer o cuarto idioma. Y muchos de los oyentes también son multilingües. Me parece muy importante hacer que estas entrevistas sean accesibles en los idiomas que hablan los científicos, y estoy muy agradecida de que me hayan ayudado a grabar este episodio y espero hacer más de lo mismo en el futuro. This episode is a Spanish translation of our previous interview with Cristian Pertegal. To listen to this conversation in English, please refer to the episode published April 4th, 2023. Las arañas de trampilla son un misterio relativo para los aracnólogos: son un grupo pequeño que no es muy conocido a pesar de su coloración a menudo audaz y sus madrigueras únicas. Pero para Cristian Pertegal son una pasión y una fascinación, aunque en ocasiones también son un dolor literal. Escuche mientras Cristian comparte su amor por estas arañas, su morfología única, sus fascinantes trampillas y lo que pueden decirnos sobre nuestro mundo. publicación de Cristian “Descripción de una nueva especie de araña trampera del sur de España, y nueva información sobre Nemesia uncinata (Araneae: Mygalomorphae: Nemesiidae)” es en el volumen 64, número 1 de Arachnology Letters. Se puede encontrar aquí: https://doi.org/10.30963/aramit6401 Una transcripción de este episodio se puede encontrar aquí: Cristian Pertegal - Transcript Imagen del episodio cortesía de Cristian Pertegal Encontrar Cristian en instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cristianpertegal/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nemesidae.nemesia.7/ ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Cristian-Pertegal Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/entomologiaasturias Asegúrese de seguir a New Species en (@PodcastSpecies), Instagram (@newspeciespodcast) y dale me gusta a la página del podcast en Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast) Visita el sitio web: https://www.newspeciespodcast.net Para obtener contenido adicional, suscríbase al podcast en Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod La música en este podcast es "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom) Si tiene preguntas o comentarios sobre este podcast, envíenos un email a: NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com

Where there is a unique ecosystem to be studied, for example, a patch of tropical evergreen forest 1,000 meters up a mountain, sometimes it's best to be pushy. Michael Curran had done his master's research in altitudinal patterns and species richness in rural Mozambique, and when he heard about an expedition back to the area, he wrote to the researcher in charge and asked them to let him come along and catch a few bats. That risk certainly paid off, because he and his coauthors have now described a brand new species of Rhinolophid, or horseshoe bat. Bats are mysterious creatures of mind-boggling diversity and beauty, and ecosystems like Mount Namuli hold just as much of both. Learn about all of this and more as Michael takes us on his journey of collection and description, and discover the unique story these bats have to tell.  Michael Curran's paper “A new species of horseshoe bat (Chiroptera: Rhinolophidae) from Mount Namuli, Mozambique” is in Volume 24, Issue 1 of Acta Chiropterologica. It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.3161/15081109ACC2022.24.1.002 A transcript of this episode can be found here: Michael Curran - Transcript Listen to this episode on our website: www.newspeciespodcast.net New Species: Rhinolophus namuli Episode image courtesy of Michael Curran See some more amazing photos of bats from Michael and his team: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/rare-african-bats Check out Michael's website: https://www.fibl.org/en/about-us/team/curran-michael Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies), Instagram (@newspeciespodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast) Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom) If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

Trapdoor spiders are a relative mystery to arachnologists - they're a small group that is not well known despite their often bold coloration and their unique burrows. But for Cristian Pertegal they are a passion and a fascination, even if they are occasionally also a literal pain. Listen in as Cristian shares his love for these spiders, their unique morphology, their fascinating trapdoors, and what they can tell us about our world.  Cristian Pertegal's paper “Description of a new trapdoor spider species, Nemesia amicitia spec. nov., from southern Spain, and new information on Nemesia uncinata (Araneae: Mygalomorphae: Nemesiidae)” is in Volume 64 Issue 1 of Arachnology Letters. It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.30963/aramit6401 A transcript of this episode can be found here: Cristian Pertegal - Transcript New Species: Nemesia amicitia Episode image courtesy of Cristian Pertegal Follow Cristian on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cristianpertegal/ And on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nemesidae.nemesia.7/ Or ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Cristian-Pertegal And also on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/entomologiaasturias Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies), Instagram (@newspeciespodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast) Check out our website: https://www.newspeciespodcast.net For bonus content, subscribe to the podcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom) If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com

Did you know that there are still new species of tree to discover? Wei Harn does, and in this episode he tells us all about his trip surveying Malaysian Royal Belum State Park and an unexpected new species discovery. How does one collect a tree, this entomologist host would like to know! (there certainly aren't any vials big enough). We learn all about the stunning diversity of the park including its unique assemblages and history, and the importance of studying and valuing natural areas like it. Wei Harn's paper “Castanopsis corallocarpus (Fagaceae), a new species from Royal Belum (Perak) in Peninsular Malaysia” is in the 219th issue of Phytokeys. It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.219.95991 New Species: Castanopsis corallocarpusEpisode image courtesy of Wei Harn To learn more about the evolutionary history, diversity, identification and conservation of this new species and over 700 others, check out www.asianfagaceae.com Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast) Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom) If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreoNesticuscom/NewSpeciesPod

How do you continue your research when the harsh climate makes collecting impossible most of the year, or when much of your focal area is contained within a Buddhist community which prevents the harm of any animal? What if it's also a remote area that is difficult and costly to access? Oh, and don't forget the trap-destroying monkeys and wild hogs! But once you are able to navigate all of these obstacles, the nature you find is well worth the trouble. In this episode, Dibyajyoti Ghosh shares his experience collecting carpenter bees in a unique and understudied corner of India's Himalayan mountains. In addition to tales from the field he shares his affection for native bees and speaks with conviction about why their habitats should be better surveyed and protected. Dibyajyoti Ghosh's paper “Description of a new species of genus Ceratina Latreille, 1802 (Hymenoptera, Apoidea) from Eastern Himalayas, India with a new country record” is published in volume 9 issue 1 of the Journal of Insect Biodiversity and Systematics. It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.52547/jibs.9.1.139 New Species: Ceratina tawangensis Episode image courtesy of Dibyajyoti Ghosh Find Dibyajyoti's work on ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Dibyajyoti-Ghosh-2242506077 Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies), Instagram (@newspeciespodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast) Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom) If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

Meet Dr. Marshal Hedin. He's an arachnologist fascinated with Nesticidae, a group of cave-dwelling spiders found in the southern Appalachian mountains, an area of tremendous beauty and biodiversity. In this interview he describes the joy of discoveries of new and interesting species, the struggles of collecting in rock piles and other dangerous terrain, as well as a few adventures along the way. What can we learn from Nesticus? Marshal says: “I just think generally if you live in some hollow or some mountain in southern Appalachia and you happen to have some Nesticus that's only found in that mountain you might find that interesting and unique…a sense of place, you know? That's your little cave spider.” Marshal Hedin's paper “New species in old mountains: integrative taxonomy reveals ten new species and extensive short-range endemism in Nesticus spiders (Araneae, Nesticidae) from the southern Appalachian Mountains” is in the February 3rd edition of Zookeys. It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1145.96724 New Species: Nesticus binfordae, Nesticus bondi, Nesticus canei, Nesticus cherokeensis, Nesticus dellingeri, Nesticus dykemanae, Nesticus jemisinae, Nesticus lowderi, Nesticus roanensis, and Nesticus templetoni Episode image courtesy of Alan Cressler Marshal's lab site: https://marshalhedinlab.com/ Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast) Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom) If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreoNesticuscom/NewSpeciesPod

For some, roadkill is just roadkill. For one researcher, it was the start of a brand new career path. Did you know that there is a group of animals that are legless like snakes and burrow through the ground like worms? Meet Caecilians, an amazing group of amphibians that just received 3 new species courtesy of Dr. Juan David Fernández and his team from Bogotá, Colombia. They examined specimens from the Cordillera Oriental to help piece together the story of Caecilian biodiversity in the Andes. Listen to this interview to learn about these unique creatures and what they can tell us about one of the most fascinating biodiversity hotspots in the world. And in case you're curious, the new species pictured here (Caecilia macrodonta) is aptly named- it has the largest dentary teeth of the entire genus! Do you want to share your thoughts on the podcast? Please do so here: https://forms.gle/fnXUuiNknRFadXWj6 We now have an instagram! Follow @NewSpeciesPodcast Juan David Fernández's paper “On the identities of Caecilia degenerata Dunn, 1942 and of C. corpulenta Taylor, 1968 (Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Caeciliidae) with descriptions of three new species of Caecilia Linnaeus, 1758 from the Cordillera Oriental of Colombia” is in the January 5th edition of Zootaxa. It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5227.2.3 New Species: Caecilia atelolepis, Caecilia epicrionopsoides, and Caecilia macrodonta Episode image courtesy of Juan David Fernández Follow Juan on instagram: @jdfernandezr Or check out his researchgate profile: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Juan-Fernandez-Roldan-2 Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast) Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom) If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

'When it comes to ants,' Dr. Kiko Gómez says, 'it's important to know what you don't know.' The ant genus Pheidole contains over 1,000 species, and is found across the world. But what does it mean to find a new species in this genus? In this episode, Kiko shares his experience collecting and identifying Pheidole ants in the Ivory Coast. He tells us what it's like to visit the amazing Taï National Park, how myrmecologists differentiate between worker, soldier, and other ant designations, and what makes his group of ants unique from the rest. Do you want to share your thoughts on the podcast? Please do so here: https://forms.gle/fnXUuiNknRFadXWj6 I really appreciate the responses, and I'm working hard to make them happen. Expect bonus content, episode transcripts, a website, and more coming soon. If you'd like to support the podcast, please consider giving us a review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, or supporting us on Patreon to get access to that bonus content. Even $1-2 a month really helps keep the podcast going! https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod Book mentioned: Journey to the Ants by Bert Hölldobler and E. O. Wilson Found here: https://bookshop.org/p/books/journey-to-the-ants-a-story-of-scientific-exploration-edward-o-wilson/6711464?ean=9780674485266 Kiko Gómez's paper Pheidole klaman sp. nov.: a new addition from Ivory Coast to the Afrotropical pulchella species group (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Myrmicinae) is in the June 20th 2022 issue of Zookeys. It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1104.81562 New Species: Pheidole klaman Episode image courtesy of Kiko Gomez Find Kiko on Instagram: @netodejulilla Virtual 3D data of the major worker holotype (CASENT0764691) and two minor worker paratypes (CASENT0764692 & CASENT0745509) can be found on Dryad (doi: 10.5061/dryad.mpg4f4r1k) Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast) Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom) If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

Have you ever heard of Mud Dragons? They're actually a group of marine invertebrates that can be found in oceans across the globe. And, as Dr. María Herranz tells us in this interview, collecting and processing them is a unique challenge. Listen in to find out how a piece of copy paper and Madonna in the early 90s are connected to these fascinating creatures! María Herranz's paper “Expanding the Echinoderes coulli group (Kinorhyncha: Cyclorhagida) with a new species from the Chuuk Islands, Micronesia” is in Volume 302 of Zoologischer Anzeiger. It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcz.2022.11.010 New Species: Echinoderes inaequalis Episode image courtesy of María Herranz Follow María on twitter: @Maríaherranz___ Check out María's website: https://www.Maríaherranzm.com/ And visit the Natural History Museum of Denmark's Collections Portal: https://collections.snm.ku.dk/en Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast) Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom) If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

The frogs are back! In a year of episodes rich in amphibians, New Species rounds out 2022 with Dr. Mark Scherz and his paper describing 20 new species of frogs from Madagascar. This paper has everything! Barcode fishing, large-scale scientific collaboration, and plenty of fascinating frog facts. The real question I should have asked Mark is how he became an expert in Brygoomantis calls - as you'll hear in this episode, he's very accomplished. Do you want to share your thoughts on the podcast? Please do so here: https://forms.gle/fnXUuiNknRFadXWj6 Mark Scherz's paper “An inordinate fondness for inconspicuous brown frogs: integration of phylogenomics, archival DNA analysis, morphology, and bioacoustics yields 24 new taxa in the subgenus Brygoomantis (genus Mantidactylus) from Madagascar” is in Volume 7 Issue 2 of Megataxa. It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.11646/megataxa.7.2.1 New Species: M. ambohimitombi marefo, M. ambohimitombi miloko, M. mahery, M. steinfartzi, M. incognitus, M. jonasi, M. katae, M. kortei, M. riparius, M. fergusoni, M. georgei, M. jahnarum, M. marintsoai, M. grubenmanni, M. gudrunae, M. augustini, M. bletzae, M. brevirostris, M. eulenbergeri, M. glosi., M. stelliger, M. manerana, M. manerana fotaka, and M. manerana antsanga. Episode image (M. stelliger) courtesy Miguel Vences Find Mark on twitter: @MarkScherz Or on Mastedon: @MarkScherz @EcoEvo.social Or how about Tumblr: MarkScherz.tumblr.com Or check out his website: MarkScherz.com Mark's other content includes: Anatomy Insights: www.youtube.com/AnatomyInsights Squamates Podcast: http://squamatespod.com/ Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast) Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom) If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod