503 New Species Identified in 2020, Including Endangered Monkey

Gray langur sitting on ancient ruins, Ancient City of Sigiriya, Sri Lanka. Nick Brundle Photography / Moment / Getty Images A lungless worm salamander, an armored slug and a critically endangered monkey were a few of 503 new species identified this year by scientists at London’s National History Museum. "Once again, an end of year tally of new species has revealed a remarkable diversity of life forms and minerals hitherto undescribed," Dr. Tim Littlewood, executive director of science at the museum, told the National History Museum . "The Museum’s collection of specimens provide a resource within which to find new species as well as a reference set to recognize specimens and species as new." Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the museum was closed to the public for part of the year. Yet, scientists, researchers, curators and associates continued to study the species’ forms and structures and share their findings with the rest of the scientific community, Ken Norris, head of life sciences at the Natural History Museum, told CNN . "You’re asking whether or not that new specimen is sufficiently different from anything else that’s been seen before to be regarded as a new species," he said . "So […]

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