hairy blue tarantula
New and Blue
Every year, about 18,000 new species are discovered. That means scientists are finding up to 50 new species every day!
In a rainforest in South America, scientist Andrew Snyder couldn’t see a thing. So, he clicked on his flashlight. He was surprised to discover a dozen huge, blue spiders. They were a new species. He called them hairy blue tarantulas. New species can be found in plain sight, too. The patch‑nosed salamander was discovered near a creek in Georgia, U.S.A.
patch‑nosed salamander
Why Now?
Scientists are looking at the world in different ways. So, they are finding new species. People are cutting down forests. They are making more roads. As they move into the wild, they find new species.
New tools like deep‑sea cameras also help find new species. One example is the Indonesian psychedelic frogfish.
Indonesian psychedelic frogfish