Amazing New Animal Discoveries: Scientists Find Chubby Dolphins, Small Snakes

We know that animals around the world are facing threats of extinction thanks to development, pollution, overfishing and climate change. (The WWF reported earlier this year that global biodiversity declined by 27 percent between 1970 and 2005.) But what we don't know is how many creatures yet undiscovered might be lost before they're found.

On a planet as big as ours, we've barely scratched the surface when it comes to identifying every type of insect, amphibian, fish, bird, reptile and mammal that exists. According to the Entomological Society of America, for example, Earth could has as many as 30 million different species of insect. And how many have we identified so far? One million -- barely more than 3 percent.

Around the world, scientists continue to look for new species of every kind ... and they keep finding them. Over the past six months alone, they've announced at least seven new discoveries:

The Bolivian river dolphin. Researchers recently announced that genetic tests had shown that the marine mammal that swims in Bolivia's rivers is completely different from the familiar Amazon river dolphin. They believe the Bolivian species evolved after a severe drought split the dolphin ancestors' river in two, separating two populations. Compared to the pinkish Amazon dolphin, the Bolivian variety is gray, as well as smaller, rounder and toothier. The research team described its discovery at conservation workshop recently held in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia.

The world's smallest snake. Blair Hedges, an evolutionary biologist from Penn State University, this summer published a paper in the journal Zootaxa on his latest find on the Caribbean island of Barbados: a snake (Leptotyphlops carlae) that grows to barely four inches long and is as thin as a spaghetti noodle. In past years, Blair and his research team have also identified the world's smallest gecko and the world's smallest frog.

A new species of catfish. Another researcher from Pennsylvania -- Mark Sabaj Pérez of the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia -- this year identified a new type of catfish found in Venezuela and Colombia. Pérez dubbed the fish Rhinodoras gallagheri in honor of the academy's longtime (now retired) mailroom supervisor, Frank Gallagher, according to a news release from the academy.

A new type of disease-causing bacteria. Writing in the journal Neglected Tropical Diseases earlier this year, a team of scientists described their discovery of Leptospira licerasiae, a new species in the family of bacteria that cause leptospirosis, a serious water-borne disease that affects tens of millions of people each year. The newly discovered bacteria could be causing as much as 40 percent of cases of the often-fatal disease, researchers say.

A strange new species of ant. Discovered in the forests of Brazil, the ant is so unusual, such a throwback to the most ancient species of ants to appear on Earth, its name will sound like something from another planet, according to famed naturalist Edward O. Wilson, who described the insect during a recent interview with the New York Times.

A possible new species of dinosaur. Canadian researcher Victoria Arbour's extensive study of a set of fossils found in the mountains of British Columbia suggest the bones might have come from a new and yet-to-be-named species of dinosaur. The plant-eating dinosaur, which lived about 70 million years ago, appears to be "very distinct from other dinosaurs that were found at the same time in southern Alberta," Arbour said. She described her discovery in a recent issue of the Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences.

Twenty-nine new types of sponges. The new marine species were all recently found during an environmental survey of the waters off the coast of Ireland. The discoveries were announced during a recent eco-conference in Belfast, Ireland.

Sources:
José Orozco in Caracas, "New, 'Chubbier' River Dolphin Species Found in Bolivia," National Geographic News.
Penn State University, "World's Smallest Snake Found in Barbados," Penn State Live.
The Academy of Natural Sciences, "New Catfish Species Named for Museum Mail Supervisor," EurekAlert!
University of California - San Diego, "New Species of Infectious Disease Found in Amazon," EurekAlert!
Nicholas Wade "Taking a Cue from Ants on Evolution of Humans," New York Times.
University of Alberta, "Mysterious Mountain Dino May Be a New Species," EurekAlert!
Ireland Environment Ministry, "New Species Found in Environment Study," edie.