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These 8 reports describe the discovery of new creatures. Take a look

McClatchy Real Time News Team, with AI summarization
Scientists found a scaly animal resting in a rotten log at a forest in Tamil Nadu and discovered a new species, a study said.
Scientists found a scaly animal resting in a rotten log at a forest in Tamil Nadu and discovered a new species, a study said. Photo from Akshay Khandekar via Khandekar, Thackeray and Agarwal (2024)

These unusual recent discoveries highlight Earth’s diverse fauna.

Among them are a 170-eyed creature in China, a scaly clawed creature in an India forest and a creature with a “window” in its eyelids.

Scientists found a “flat” sea animal with 170 eyes at a rocky shore in Guangdong Province and discovered a new species, a study said.
Scientists found a “flat” sea animal with 170 eyes at a rocky shore in Guangdong Province and discovered a new species, a study said. Photo from Liu, Lin, Wang, Hu and Zhang (2024)

No. 1: Sea creature — with 170 eyes — found lurking under rock in China. It’s a new species

Scientists found the “flat” ocean animal at rocky shore in Guangdong Province.

It was a new species of sea worm, known as the Huidong marine flatworm, a study said. | Read more

Scientists found a “cryptic” animal with a “window” in its eyelids in a forest of India and discovered a new species, a study said.
Scientists found a “cryptic” animal with a “window” in its eyelids in a forest of India and discovered a new species, a study said. Photo from Akshay Khandekar


No. 2: ‘Cryptic’ creature — with a ‘window’ in its eyelids — discovered as a new species

Scientists found a “slender” animal with a “window” in its eyelids in a forest in southern India.

It was a new species of lizard, called a Jawadhu leaf-litter skink, a study said. | Read more

Scientists found a large “dragon”-like animal, able to change colors, in Myanmar and discovered a new species, a study said.
Scientists found a large “dragon”-like animal, able to change colors, in Myanmar and discovered a new species, a study said. Photo from Lwin Moe Aung via Unsplash


No. 3: Large ‘dragon’-like creature — able to change color — discovered as new species

Scientists found large pregnant animal, able to change colors, in Myanmar’s Chin State.

It was a new species: emerald dragon lizard, study said. | Read more

In the spiny, thicket habitats of southern Madagascar, small flies were caught in nets and discovered as new species.
In the spiny, thicket habitats of southern Madagascar, small flies were caught in nets and discovered as new species. Yasmine Arfaoui via Unsplash


No. 4: ‘Graceful’ creatures — named after stilettos — discovered as new species in Madagascar

Three new species, creating a new genus, of stiletto flies were discovered using traps on Madagascar.

The traps were placed on the island nation for years before the discovery, a new study says. | Read more

Scientists on a submarine in the South China Sea found a yellowy animal with over 80 feet and discovered a new species, a study said.
Scientists on a submarine in the South China Sea found a yellowy animal with over 80 feet and discovered a new species, a study said. Photo from Mostafa Ashraf Mostafa via Unsplash

No. 5: Deep-sea creature — with yellowy tentacles and over 80 feet — is new species. See it

The tentacled animal was discovered on the floor of the South China Sea.

Scientists on a submarine found a yellowy deep-sea animal with over 80 feet and discovered a new species: IDSSE sea cucumber, study said. | Read more

Scientists found a scaly animal resting in a rotten log at a forest in Tamil Nadu and discovered a new species, a study said.
Scientists found a scaly animal resting in a rotten log at a forest in Tamil Nadu and discovered a new species, a study said. Photo from Akshay Khandekar via Khandekar, Thackeray and Agarwal (2024)


No. 6: Scaly clawed creature found resting in rotten log at India forest. See the new species

Researchers named the clawed animal after a mythological figure because of its half underground, half above ground lifestyle.

Scientists found it in a rotten log at Tamil Nadu forest. It was a new species: Anaimalai ground-dwelling dwarf gecko, study said. | Read more

A new “hairy”-bodied species was discovered from two Korean islands in the East Sea, researchers said. This photo is representative of the East Sea.
A new “hairy”-bodied species was discovered from two Korean islands in the East Sea, researchers said. This photo is representative of the East Sea. Photo by BYUNG HO YOO via Unsplash


No. 7: Sea creature — with a ‘hairy’ ‘shaggy’ body — found on Korea islands. See new species

Scientists found egg-bearing creatures with ‘shaggy’ bodies on Korea islands and discovered a new shrimp species: Dimorphostylis pilocorpus.

Female specimens were found carrying eggs, researchers said. | Read more

In the muddy sediment of an inlet in China, a creature wiggles through the sand and filters food through its gills.
In the muddy sediment of an inlet in China, a creature wiggles through the sand and filters food through its gills. Fu X, Guo W, Ding Z, Zhou W, Wei F (2024) ZooKeys


No. 8: Wiggly creature — with collared body — found in mudflats in China. It’s a new species

Researchers searching a coastal inlet found a new species of marine acorn worm with a black tip and thick collar.

It prefers rocky, rough sediment to fine sandy beaches, researchers said. | Read more

This report was produced with the help of AI tools, which aggregated and summarized previous stories reported and written by McClatchy journalists. It was edited by journalists in our News division.

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