Out of the 815 new species named, over 600 of these are new species of wasp. This list also includes the Kumimanu fordycei, the biggest penguin ever found.
A ‘gruesome’ wasp which hatches inside other insects, and eats its way out, is one of a record 815 new species discovered by the Natural History Museum this year. Scientists have also found the largest penguin ever known to exist, a fearsome armoured dinosaur, and a new moth species discovered in Ealing which is native to Western Australia.
London’s Natural History Museum has counted the number of new species it has described each year since 2018, and 815 is the record so far.
The total includes 619 new species of wasps, with 14 of them being given the group name Dalek after the villains in Dr Who. These wasps have a murderous lifestyle and lay their eggs inside a type of insect called a plant louse. When the eggs hatch, the baby wasps eat their way out of the louse from the inside, ensuring they get a food supply of fresh meat.
Among the new species are 58 species of beetle, 24 species of frogs, 15 species of algae, 8 species of moth, 4 fossil birds, and 1 new dinosaur. The 24 new frogs found this year include 20 miniature species.
The new species discovered in 2023 also include the largest penguin ever known to exist, the Kumimanu fordycei, which weighed about as much as a gorilla, tipping the scales at an estimated 330 pounds (150kg). The giant penguin roamed the seas and beaches of New Zealand more than 50 million years ago and was three times as heavy as a modern emperor penguin.
Darwin Tree of Life project will have its DNA fingerprint sequenced and uploaded onto an extensive database.