Top 20 Surprising Species

Conservation International is celebrating 20 years of its rapid assessment programme, which sends field scientists into remote habitats and has discovered more than 1,300 new species. To mark the anniversary, the organisation has named the top 20 ‘stars’ of the programme’s history, that scientists say are ‘some of the most biologically surprising, unique, or threatened discoveries’

Uroplatus phantasticus, the satanic leaf-tailed gecko, was observed on an RAP survey in the Mantadia-Zahamena corridor of Madagascar in 1998. This gecko is the smallest of 12 species of bizarre-looking leaf-tailed geckos that are nocturnal, arboreal and endemic to Madagascar. They are only found in primary, undisturbed forests, so their populations are very sensitive to habitat destruction. In 2004, WWF listed all of the uroplatus species on their ‘top 10 most wanted species list’ of animals threatened by illegal wildlife trade.

The dragonfly Platycypha eliseva, discovered on a RAP survey in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2004. Males of this species have a unique combination of colours that differentiate it from other species

A new species of smoky honeyeater, discovered on an expedition to the Foja Mountains of Papua province, Indonesia, on the island of New Guinea in 2005. This medium-sized, sooty-grey songbird has a short black bill, and each eye is surrounded by an orange-red patch of bare skin, below which hangs a pendant wattle. It is these features that distinguish it from the more widespread common smoky honeyeater

Paracheilinus nursalim was discovered in west Papua, Indonesia in 2006. The males go through an amazing courtship ritual in which ‘electric’ colours are flashed periodically to attract nearby females. The courtship dance takes place every afternoon, beginning about one hour before sundown and continuing until dusk

The chinchilla tree rat, Cuscomys ashaninka, was found in in the Vilcabamba mountain range in Peru, very close to the famous ruins of Macchu Picchu. It is pale grey in colour, possesses a stocky build, has large claws, and is characterised by a white stripe along its head. It is related to the chinchilla rats which are known to have been buried alongside the Incan people in their tombs. The fact that this is a new genus (ie a group of individuals that have similar characteristics) made the discovery even more exciting

The katydid, Brachyamytta rapidoaestima, discovered on a survey in Ghana and Guinea. This newly discovered species is a sit-and-wait predator, hiding on the underside of leaves, and attacking small insects that make the mistake of landing on the leaf. Males communicate with the females by producing ultrasonic songs that are inaudible to humans

Theraphosa blondi, the magnificent/terrifying Goliath bird eating spider. This species is already known to science as the largest (by mass) spider in the world, reaching the weight of 170g and leg span of 30cm. They live in burrows on the floor of lowland rainforests, and despite the name feed primarily on invertebrates (but have been observed eating small mammals, lizards and even venomous snakes). They have venom fangs that aren’t deadly to humans, and their main line of defence is to rub their legs against the abdomen and send a cloud of microscopic barbs that lodge in the skin and mucus membranes of the attacker. This photo was taken in Guyana in 2006

The walking shark, Hemiscyllium galei, discovered on an expedition in Cenderawasih Bay, Indonesia in 2006. This shark can swim, but prefers to walk along the shallow reef flats on its fins, preying on shrimp, crabs, snails, and small fish

This is a previously seen but still undescribed species endemic to Papua New Guinea that was observed by researchers in 2009. The tube-nosed fruit bat from the Muller mountains does not yet have a name but has been found in other parts of New Guinea

This ant, Strumigenys tigris, may not be as big as a tiger but it’s just as ferocious and dangerous to small invertebrates in the leaf litter of rainforests of Papua New Guinea. This tiny ant (about 2mm long) walks around with its mandibles held wide open so that it can capture small invertebrates with a lightning fast snap. Its beautiful colour pattern may help it blend into the rotting sticks in which it lives

The suckermouth catfish, Pseudancistrus kwinti, uncovered during a survey in Suriname in 2005. Scientists named the new species after the indigenous Kwinti people who live along the lower reaches of the Coppename river. The suckermouth exhibited by these catfish allow them to stick to objects in their habitats, even in fast-flowing waters. The mouth and teeth also are adapted to feed on a variety of foods such as algae, invertebrates, and detritus, the fish rotates its lower and upper jaws to scrape the substrate to eat algae

The long-nosed tree frog, Litoria sp. nov, discovered in the Foja mountains of Papua province, Indonesia in 2008. The frog has a long, Pinocchio-like protuberance on its nose that points upwards when the male is calling but deflates and points downwards when he is less active. Its discovery was a happy accident, after herpetologist Paul Oliver spotted it sitting on a bag of rice in the campsite

This is an Atewa dinospider (Ricinoides atewa) – and ancient arachnid but a new species tow science, having been discovered during a 2006 expedition to Ghana’s Atewa Range Forest Reserve. This strange little creature looks like a cross between a spider and a crab, and males have their reproductive organs on their legs. It belongs to a lineage of animals that have remained virtually unchanged since the Carboniferous age more than 300 million years ago. They are now found only in central and South America, and west Africa. They grow to about 11mm long and feed on termites and ant larvae

The peacock katydid, Pterochroza ocellata, observed on an expedition to Guyana’s Acarai mountains in 2006. It is a large rainforest insect that employs two effective strategies to protect itself from predators: at a casual glance it looks just like a dead, partially damaged leaf, but if threatened it suddenly reveals a pair of bright eye spots and starts jumping excitedly, which gives the impression of a giant head of a bird suddenly pecking at the attacker. Males of this species produce a courtship call that is very loud – but almost entirely ultrasonic and inaudible to humans

The Gola malimbe, Malimbus ballmanni, was seen in the Diecke Forest, in south-east Guinea, in 2003. Previously it was known only in eastern Sierra Leone, Liberia, and western Ivory Coast. The Gola Forest is due to be designated as a national park in Sierra Leone, which should protect the bird’s habitat. Scientists are looking into the ecological requirements of the species to understand why it seems to be restricted to a very small part of the forest

The fish-hook ant, Polyrhachis bihamata, observed on an expedition to the Virachey national park, Cambodia, in 2007. Scientists, as well as mammal and bird predators, think twice before messing with this large (1.5cm) ant. The curved spines can easily slice through skin and tend to hold on for a while. These ants live in large numbers in nests in dead tree trunks on the forest floor, and when attacked they swarm out and hook onto each other, making extracting an individual ant by a predator difficult

The ET salamander, Bolitoglossa sp. nov, discovered in Ecuador in 2009.This genus of salamanders has fully webbed feet which help them climb high into the canopy of tropical forests; they also have no lungs and breathe instead through their skin. This new species was found in the wet forests of the tepuis in southern Ecuador

The emperor scorpion, Pandinus imperator, observed by scientists in Atewa, Ghana, in 2006. With an eight inch-long body, this is one of the largest scorpions in the world. Despite their enormous size they feed primarily on termites and other small invertebrates, and its venom is not particularly harmful to humans. The venom of this species contains compounds that are being tested as potential drugs to control arrhythmia (a heart disease) and the blue fluorescent betacarbolines that cover its body are studied in order to understand oxidative degeneration of proteins in human eye lenses, which leads to cataract blindness

The Conservation International blattodean (Simandoa conserfariam) These interesting insects are known from a single cave in Guinea’s Simandoa Range, where they were discovered in 2002. They feed on guano of giant fruit bats that inhabit the cave, and help recycle and and re-release the nutrients trapped in it. This species was named after CI because it exemplifies important but generally under-appreciated ecosystem services provided by many non-charismatic organisms – services that make life of other organisms, humans included, possible

Nyctimystes sp. This large tree frog, approximately 6in (15cm), with enormous eyes, was found next to a clear-running mountain river during an expedition to Papua New Guinea’s highland wilderness in 2008. It belongs to a group of frogs with an unusual vein-like pattern on the eyelid and its tadpoles have enormous sucker-like mouths that allow them to graze on exposed rocks in torrential stream environments.