Title: Species Discovery
1Species Discovery
2Diversity of Life
3How many species on Earth?
- Nobody actually knows!
- Estimates range between 3 and 100 million
different species - Latest prediction
- 8.7 million
-
Mr Burns beaked toad (Rhinella sp.
nov.) Discovered 2010
4How many species have we discovered so far?
- 1.75 million species have
- been classified by scientists
- This means that over 80
- still need to be described!
- Only around 12 of the total
- number of animals in the world
- have been described by scientists. Why?
Caquetá titi monkey (Discovered 2008)
5What is a newly discovered species?
- A species that is completely new to science.
OR
Long-nosed tree frog (Discovered 2011)
- A species previously described which is found to
be a different species .
Giant manta ray
Reef manta ray
6Why are newly discovered species important?
- Human well-being depends on biodiversity and
healthy ecosystems. - Provide medicines, food and materials
- Regulate climate, purify air and water
- Pollination and nutrient cycling
- Beauty of the natural world
- New species could mean discovering new services
that are useful to humans in future. - Knowledge of new species helps scientists fill in
evolutionary gaps.
7Naming a new species
- Scientists need to be certain the new species has
not already been described, and that its
characteristics are unique. - Species are ordered into groups that share common
features and a common ancestor i.e. they are
related. - This process of grouping species so that they may
be classified and named is called taxonomy, and
scientists who do this are called taxonomists. -
8Classifying species
- What is classification?
- Organising living things into groups
- Anatomy (how it looks)
- Genetics (the sequence of its genes)
- E.g. Horseshoe crab
- Anatomically it looks like a crab.
- Genetically it is more closely related to
spiders!
9Classifying species
- Trying to describe and name each of the millions
of species individually is too hard! - Scientists group species based on shared
characteristics. - Carl Linnaeus classification system for sorting
species into groups - First step put species into one of the 5
kingdoms - Protoctists Prokaryotes Fungi Plants and
Animals
10Kingdom
Phylum
Phylum
Kingdom
Class
Class
Class
Class
Phylum
Order
Order
Order
Order
Order
Order
Order
Order
Class
Etc.
Order
Family
Genus
Species
Fiji crested iguana (Brachylophus vitiensis)
Fiji banded iguana (Brachylophus fasciatus)
Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis)
Kingdom Animals Phylum Chordata
Genus Brachylophus
Genus Giraffa
11Class Activity 1Identifying newly discovered
amphibians
- You are a scientist that has discovered 9 new
amphibians. Now you just need to work out which
species they are! - Look at the photographs and use the
classification key to help you find out the
species names. - Write the names of each species underneath the
photograph on your worksheet.
12Class Activity 2Make your own classification key
- You have been given pictures of 6 newly
discovered species. - Look closely at each species and identify their
key features what makes them different from the
other species in your pictures? - Construct your own dichotomous key that would
allow another person to be able to identify each
species.
13Discovering a new species
- Most undiscovered species are likely to be small
and obscure. - However, we are also still finding big species,
e.g. mammals, birds amphibians. - New species are discovered in the field and in
collections, e.g. museum specimens.
Goodmans mouse lemur (Discovered 2006)
14Finding new species in the field
Pitfall trap
Camera trap
UV light trap
15Where to Look?
- It is impossible to look everywhere due to time
and money constraints. - Scientists have to choose areas where the
probability of finding new species is higher. - These are generally poorly explored tropical
areas, but rich in biodiversity.
16Case Studies
- In 2010, Conservation International launched an
expedition to search for amphibian species that
have not been seen in over 10 years. - 126 scientific researchers in 21 countries,
across 5 continents. - A number of species, some not seen in 20 years,
were rediscovered. - As well as rediscovering species presumed
extinct, the scientists found a number of
potentially new species, for example the beaked
toad (Rhinella sp. nov.)
Beaked toad (Rhinella sp. nov.)
17Case Studies
3 new butterfly species
Potential new insect species
Unexplored Biodiversity rich
Mount Mabu, Mozambique
New species of pygmy chameleon (Rhampholeon sp.)
New viper snake species
18Case Studies
- New species of giant rat discovered in rainforest
of New Guinea (Mallomys sp.)
19Newly discovered species on ARKive
- Kipunji (Rungwecebus kipunji)
- Leaf chameleon (Brookesia micra)
Psychedelic frog fish (Histiophryne psychedelica)
Pitcher plant (Nepenthes holdenii)
20Design your own expedition
You are a scientist, planning an expedition which
aims to discover exciting species that are
completely new to science. As you will be
travelling to a country which is one of the
remotest and least explored places on earth, you
need to secure enough funding to cover most of
the major costs of the expedition. Your task is
to write an expedition proposal to present to
grant-giving organisations. Youll need to use
all your powers of persuasion to convince funding
committees that your project is important and
deserves their help, so make sure you make you
follow the proposal guidelines carefully. Having
a detailed, thoroughly researched and
well-planned proposal could mean the difference
between being able to go on your expedition or
not!
Read the project briefing notes you have been
given carefully!