Hundreds of New Species Found in 2023

Hundreds of new species have been documented in 2023, including a blue tarantula, a silent frog, and thumb-sized chameleons, with so many still unclassified by Western science yet well-known by locals and Indigenous people.

“Many species that are new to science are already known and used by people in the region of origin — people who have been their primary custodians and often hold unparalleled local knowledge,” explains Alexandre Antonelli, director of science at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Since 2020, some 100,000 new plant and fungus species have been classified, and in 2023, 153 new plant, animal, and fungi species have been described by the California Academy of Sciences. Here are a few of them. A new electric-blue tarantula species, the first known from Thai mangroves, has been found in Thailand. In Tanzania’s Eastern Arc Mountains, six new species of thumb-sized threatened pygmy chameleons were discovered. A new species of bent-tied gecko was found in a remote cave in Southeast Asia’s Wallacea region in Timor-Leste. Two pygmy squid species were found near the Japanese island of Okinawa. A silent frog was discovered in Tanzania’s Ukaguru Mountains. “I think most people believe that we know most species on Earth… but in the best-case scenario, we know 20% of Earth’s species,” states Mario Moura, a professor at the Federal University of Paraíba in Brazil.