The New Species Experts Have Discovered — or Rediscovered — Throughout 2024

There's one thing that pretty much all humans can probably agree on: New species being discovered is much preferable to species going extinct.

But with over 157,000 species on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, 44,000 of which are at risk of extinction, news of new animal and plant species being discovered can feel few and far between.

Thankfully, conservation efforts can help with that. Not to mention, every year, scientists reportedly discover 18,000 new species — so throughout 2024, we'll be updating this list with some of the most exciting new species that are unearthed. Stay tuned!

According to NBC News, commercial fossil hunter Mark Eatma discovered the dinosaur bones on a ranch in Montana in 2019. The skeleton was then purchased by Denmark's Museum of Evolution in 2021, where it is currently on display.

The dinosaur was so named Lokiceratops rangiformis for its impressive horns, resembling the Norse god Loki.

A study dedicated to the Lokiceratops was published in the journal Peer J on June 20, 2024. However, there is currently some debate amongst scientists as to whether the dinosaur is an entirely new species or a variation on an old species.

While not an undiscovered species, the Iberian lynx has been an endangered species for two decades, with population numbers estimated at just 62 mature cats in 2001, per the Associated Press.

The Iberian lynx, which is native to parts of Spain and Portugal, declined heavily in population thanks to food scarcity, habitat loss, and illegal hunting, amongst other issues, according to the World Wildlife Fund.

Thankfully, in a 2024 report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in June 2024 revealed that the lynx's status has improved from "endangered" to "vulnerable" thanks to the tireless work of conservationists. Conservationists' strategy included reintroducing populations to parts of Spain and Portugal and focusing on increasing European rabbit populations. The rabbits are a staple of lynx diets.

The IUCN report reveals that in 2022, there were 648 mature cats, with total population numbers soaring to over 2,000.

Also the "largest anaconda ever recorded," scientists discovered Eunectes akiyama, or the northern green anaconda, in January 2024, while filming National Geographic series Pole to Pole with Will Smith for Disney Plus.

According to Reuters, it was thought that there was only one species of green anaconda, the Eunectes murinus. The reveal of a new species was published in the scientific journal MDPI Diversity in February.

Researcher Bryan G. Fry told Reuters, "What we were there to do was use the anacondas as an indicator species for what kind of damage is being done by the oil spills that are plaguing the Yasuni in Ecuador, because the oil extraction is absolutely out of control." The two species split from each other nearly 10 million years ago, but their genetic makeup is nearly identical.

In early January, researchers published a study in the journal PLOS One detailing their discovery of a new lizard species. The species was first observed in photos in Chiapas, Mexico's Northern Highlands in 2014; and then between 2015 and 2022, the researchers took five trips to the site to collect evidence.

Their expeditions were worth it, as they can now officially call Abronia cunemica, aka the Coapilla arboreal alligator lizard, a species. As noted by The Miami Herald, the species lives up high in trees, has brown-and-yellow scales, and can grow up to more than 9 inches in length.

In early January, it was announced that a new jaguar was spotted in Arizona in December 2023. In the last 30 years, this marks only the eighth jaguar recorded in the Southwestern U.S.

“I’m certain this is a new jaguar, previously unknown to the United States,” Russ McSpadden of the Center for Biological Diversity said, as per AP News. Experts were able to determine this by the jaguar's unique rosette pattern.

“After being nearly wiped out, these majestic felines continue to reestablish previously occupied territory despite border wall construction, new mines, and other threats to their habitat,” McSpadden added.

According to the the Center for Biological Diversity, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service classified jaguars as endangered in 1972; then, in 1980, they were removed from the list. As populations waned, come 1997, jaguars were added back to the endangered list. So while this sighting does not mark a new species, it's just as remarkable, as it's a sign of the jaguar population rebounding.

Referred to by some as a "snake in a tiny ski mask," the Rhynchocalamus hejazicus is a small snake with a red coloring and a black collar found in the Hejaz region of Saudi Arabia. The snake was discovered by researchers from the Biodiversity and Genetic Resources Research Center in Portugal and Charles University in the Czech Republic, per Newsweek, and their research was published in the journal Zoosystematics and Evolution.

Previously, snakes of the genus Rhynchocalamus were surprisingly divided between the Levant and the coasts of Yemen and Oman, but the new species is found in the middle — leading scientists to call them "the missing piece(s) of the puzzle." Scientists are optimistic they might find more undiscovered species of snakes in the region.

Researchers with the nonprofit OceanX and the Cape Eleuthera Island School went on a mission in the Bahamas back in 2019. There, in the Exuma Sound, they discovered new isopod species — but didn't share the news until January 2024, when their research was published in the journal Zootaxa.

This crustacean, called Booralana nickorum, is estimated to be 300 million years old. The researchers are hopeful that studying these creatures — which are cousins with the beloved rollie pollies — will reveal vital information about the ecosystem of the Great Bahama Banks.

This article, originally published on Jan. 8, 2024, has been updated.