Natural History Museum scientists described 815 new species in 2023 - Natural History Museum
- Scientists and associates of the Natural History Museum described an extraordinary 815 new species to science in 2023.
- With Earth facing a biodiversity crisis, it has never been more important to understand the life that shares our planet.
- The new species include 619 new species of wasps, including a new genus called Dalek in celebration of the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who.
- These new species were included in the 722 new research papers released by the Museum over the past 12 months. The papers helped build on our understanding of the natural world to contribute to finding solutions for the planetary emergency.
This year scientists at the Natural History Museum have been busy documenting new species, from an ancient dinosaur to worms at the bottom of the ocean, describing an extraordinary 815 new species in 2023.
Identifying that a species is new to science is the first step to understanding it and therefore protecting it. Describing the new species, on a morphological and genetic scale, underpins much of the work that goes into protecting, preserving and reversing declines in biodiversity across the natural world.
The uncontested stars of this year’s list are the wasps, with a staggering 619 new species described over the past 12 months. With 2023 celebrating the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who, an entire genus of wasp has been named Dalek along with the 14 species within it, giving a nod to the long-running sci-fi series.
Not just restricted to the picnic-disrupting black and yellow kind, wasps are in fact an incredibly diverse group of insects that include pollinators, predators, parasites and parasitoids. The majority of new wasps this year belong to a group known as the Encyrtidae. These are parasitic insects that lay their eggs on, and in, unsuspecting invertebrates hosts.
More on:
Posted On: 03/01/2024