New Species

“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 t…

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 inclu…

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 …

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 Pseudoromi…

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…

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 q…

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 re…

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 a…

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 s…

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…

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. …

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…

'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…

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…

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 everyth…

It’s possible that you’ve heard about a new species of bee from Western Australia that has a snout like a dog. But did you know it specializes on just a few species of plant from the Fabaceae (legume…

Imagine this: you’re hiking in the savannah of western Angola when you spot the silhouette of a gecko in the brush. You pick it up, expecting to find your old friend Kolekanos plumicaudus, a little b…

You’ve probably seen these organisms before. They’re green, shiny, and “quite nervous” according to Dr. Marc Pollet, who has been studying Dolichopodidae, long-legged flies, for decades. But there’s …

Many parts of the world are celebrating all things spooky this time of year, and spiders are getting their time to shine. Whether you’re a spider lover or not, you have to admit that spiders have som…

Mud snakes may not look as exciting as some of their other snake relatives, but in this episode Dr. Justin Bernstein tells us just a few of the fascinating details he and his team have uncovered whil…