In honor of our new spider friends, Sparklemuffin and Skeletorus, we bring you five MOAR recently discovered animal species.
1. Insane Saw-Nosed Dolphin
Why none of the coverage of this awesome new river dolphin mentions its insane saw-like nose, I don’t know, but it’s right there in the pictures. Insane saw-nosed dolphin is actually called the Araguaian river dolphin (or boto).
Discovered in January of 2014 as a new species, this dolphin lives in the Araguaia–Tocantins basin of Brazil. As a result, it has been isolated from other dolphin species for about 2 million years. Their nose isn’t the only crazy thing about them either. Like their closest relative, the Amazon River Dolphin, their coloration is quite distinct, ranging from light grey to bright pink. Also, they look fat in comparison to more common dolphins. Corpulent, is how they are described in the scientific literature. Even dolphins are judged.
2. Pinocchio Frog
Photo Credit: Tim Laman, National Geographic
Speaking of crazy noses, how about the Pinocchio frog? The Pinocchio frog was discovered in 2010 in the mountains of Indonesia. The reason for its distinctive, ahem, appendage, is unknown. What we do know is that it grows when the little frog is vocalizing, and then hangs limp when it is silent.
3. The Leaf Deer
This is Lenny the Leaf Deer. You can follow him on Tumblr. WHY AREN’T YOU FOLLOWING HIM ON TUMBLR?!
Squee! It’s a 20 inch tall deer. It’s so freakin’ adorable we don’t know why there aren’t pictures of it everywhere all the time. The tiny deer (Muntiacus putaoensis) was found in Myanmar in 1997, although it was so tiny that for a long time researchers thought that they were just the babies of other deer found in the area.
4. Ruby Red Sea Dragon
Okay, that doesn’t seem to be what they actually named the new sea dragon, but we like it way better than the scientific name – Phyllopteryx dewysea. (These scientists could take naming tips from Sparklemuffin’s discoverer Madeline Girard.) The vibrant red sea dragon was the first new species of sea dragon to be found in 150 years. Found off the coast of Australia at a much deeper depth than other sea dragons, researchers think that the darker water may explain its unusual coloring. Also, you may be thinking, why are these crazy people calling this a sea dragon? It is clearly a sea horse. You are so freakin’ wrong. Who knew?! Sea horses and sea dragons: totally different things.
5. Legless Lizard
Credit: Neang Thy/FFI
Rising from the depths of Hell, the Legless Lizard is terrorizing the Cambodian rainforest. Okay, it’s probably not an actual demon, and it’s a pretty cool discovery, but at five feet long it’s sure as hell going to terrorize our nightmares for awhile. Its real scientific name is Ichthyophis cardamomensis. You may be wondering, why isn’t this just a snake or a giant worm? Well, it has skin like an amphibian, which is different from a snake, and it has bones and a skull, which worms don’t have. So, basically, because science.