New species of animals discovered in 2013

As humans we pride ourselves in the fact that we have expanded into just about every corner of the world, yet every year more and more plants and animals are discovered from all over the world.

Below is a summary of the new species of animals discovered in 2013...


1. Cyatta abscondita, a fungus-farming ant from Brazil:

These nocturnal, fungus-growing ants (tribe Attini) forage for organic material during the night to take back to their fungus gardens which hang like curtains from the ceilings of their underground chambers.


Although the Attini ants are obligatorily dependent on the fungus that they cultivate, the fungus seem not to be all that dependent on the ants for its survival.

2. Skeleton shrimp (Liropus minusculus)

This alien looking critter is a mere 0,5mm long and was found in a reef cave near California’s Catalina Islands. Although it is also called the Ghost Shrimp it actually belongs to a different family of crustaceans called amphipods.

3. Glow-in-the-Dark Cockroach

Probably the most disgusting creature you will ever come across is the cockroach. Now they have a nifty new skill like glowing in the dark! While this makes them easier to spot in your kitchen it is actually the Luchihormetica luckae trying to mimic a little creature called the toxic click beetle to let other animals think it’s actually toxic. The glowing eye spots on its back are pits in the animal’s skin that is filled with fluorescent bacteria. Doesn’t sound like anything you would like to meet in your kitchen right?


4. Glue-spitting Vietnamese velvet worm (Eoperipatus totoros)

This worm shoots a sticky substance at its prey from special openings, trapping the target so that the worm may eat it. This 5-6 cm long worm is the first velvet worm reported in Vietnam and was originally described in 2010 by Vietnamese researchers; a German-led team made the first formal description in 2013.


5. The Carnivorous Olinguito

The animal belongs to the family Procyonidae, which it shares with raccoons, coatis, kinkajous and olingos. It is the first carnivore species discovered in the Western Hemisphere in more than three decades.


The Olinguito, the smallest member of the raccoon family, looks like a cross between a house cat and a teddy bear.