Each year, the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University chooses the top ten new species found throughout the previous year. The Top 10 for 2012 have been chosen, and posted to the website. This year, there were some really neat plants and animals that made the cut, including the Walking Cactus and the Brazilian blue Sazima’s Tarantula.
My personal favourite, however, was a mushroom that inherited its name from a contemporary cartoon–not only is the common name the “Spongebob Squarepants Mushroom,” but the binomen is Spongiforma squarepantsii. The latter, to me, is absolutely fantastic as it manages to bring something modern to the so-called ‘Dead Language.’
Anyway, you can see all of the other species that made the list this year by visiting the site linked above. There you can find additional information like the rationale for each making the Top 10, the etymology of the name, the family, and the native locality.
Cheers,
Zach