Selected images from the-scientist.com

A new study of tree biodiversity estimates that Earth boasts 14 percent more tree species than previous efforts have identified.

The discovery that what was long believed to be one fly species is actually two deepens researchers’ understanding of plant-pollinator relationships in a unique habitat in southern Africa.

The discovery, made on the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia, constitutes an exceptionally high number of new mammals to be described in a single paper.

A massive, well-preserved skull discovered in China in the 1930s belongs to a new species called Homo longi, researchers report, but experts remain skeptical about the evidence.

The newly characterized “elegant jellyfish,” roughly the size of a human hand, had been on display in two aquariums in Japan for more than a decade.

A team of scientists searching for a rare species of whale instead found a species of whale they say has never been recorded.

Flycatchers, warblers, and more were spotted in a biodiverse region known as Wallacea.

Marine photographers are helping scientists to document the diversity of coral reefs before the imperiled ecosystems disappear.

The discovery of ancient clades of brittle stars at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean adds to concerns that commercial exploitation of the area could destroy numerous taxa before they’ve even been identified.

Researchers identify a new species of Hemimastigophora protist, and suggest the group should be promoted from a phylum to a supra-kingdom.

A newly described amphibian has such a small range in southern Brazil that it’s already critically endangered.

A new species of swamp eel has been discovered in India.

Researchers have recently identified a many-legged invertebrate from the Silurian period.

A newly described parasitic wasp is named after Daenerys Targaryen from the book series A Song of Ice and Fire and TV show Game of Thrones.

Five newly identified species of snakes suck the mollusks right out of their shells.  

A newly described species of shrimp, Odontonia bagginsi, has been named after Bilbo Baggins. 

Austrian-American botanist Joseph Rock collected thousands of plant samples in his 27 years in the Middle Kingdom, leaving after the Communist Party’s takeover.

A unique courtship dance clued researchers in to the fact that they had a new species on their hands.