Someone who identifies as a nature lover might not be excited to see trees cut down or large machines rolling across the forest floor. Science doesn’t always align with everyone’s expectations, and often scientists have to explain their work to audiences that aren’t interested or who don’t agree. Ethan Tapper has many of these conversations. Ethan works to manage Vermont forests sustainably and help them thrive, which often includes practices that might seem destructive or contrary to a forest’s best interests. Science is about communicating, and Ethan has worked hard to use communication as a tool to make caring for forests a community issue.
What is the role of a scientist in explaining their work? How do we communicate unfamiliar scientific topics to people who already might have preconceived notions about them? These are some of the questions Ethan tackles in this episode.
Ethan’s book can be found here, and wherever books are sold:
A transcript of this episode can be found here: Ethan Tapper - Transcript
Follow Ethan on Instagram, Youtube, Facebook, and TikTok: @howtoloveaforest
Be sure to follow New Species on Bluesky and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast), and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast)
Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)
If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com
If you would like free bonus episodes or would like to support the podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod
Amanda and I discuss and review Bats! (1999)
Our ratings:
Enjoyability: 🦇 🦇 🦇 🦇
Accuracy: 🦇🦇 🦇 🦇 🦇
This episode is the first in a new bonus series where I watch B-list horror movies with scientists and we rate them on accuracy and enjoyability.
All episodes are free, for future episodes you will just have to sign up through Patreon at Patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod. If you choose to support the podcast with a paid subscription, it is really appreciated! My 2025 goal is to cover the cost of hosting the website (about $80/year) which would be $7/month.
Amanda is a PhD candidate at Portland State University specializing in bat ecology and evolution. You can find her work here: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Amanda-Grunwald
Listen to her New Species Podcast episode: https://www.newspeciespodcast.net/all-episodes/a-new-bat-with-amanda-grunwald
On an expedition to Madagascar, Matjaž Gregorič and his research team came upon a damaged termite nest that had a few other invertebrate visitors. When they experimentally damaged the nest again, they found two unexpected things: spiders ballooning in to prey on the termites as they rebuilt, and hopeful ants standing by to steal termites from those spiders. It created what the authors called “a perilous Malagasy triad”, a three-way predator-prey-kleptoparasite interaction that tells a very interesting story about chemical signaling and arthropod behavior. As a bonus, they identified the spider involved as a brand new genus and species, named Vigdisia praesidens to honor Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, Iceland’s first female president. Listen in as researcher Matjaž Gregorič gives us the full story, as well as his thoughts on why it’s important to pursue science for science’s sake.
Matjaž Gregorič’s paper “A perilous Malagasy triad: a spider (Vigdisia praesidens, gen. and sp. nov.) and an ant compete for termite food” is in the July 14th issue of New Zealand Journal of Zoology.
It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.1080/03014223.2024.2373185
A transcript of this episode can be found here: Matjaž Gregorič - Transcript
New Species: Vigdisia praesidens
More on Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, the world’s first democratically-elected female president (Iceland, 1980-1996): https://www.councilwomenworldleaders.org/vigdiacutes-finnbogadoacutettir.html
An article about this paper: https://www.icelandreview.com/news/new-spider-species-named-after-icelandic-president/
Videos of the kleptoparasitic behavior: https://www.youtube.com/@ezlab7631/videos
Episode image credit: Matjaž Gregorič
Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast)
Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)
If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com
If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod
Rodrigo’s paper “Idiopyrgus Pilsbry, 1911 (Gastropoda, Tomichiidae): a relict genus radiating into subterranean environments” is in November 8th issue of Zoosystematics and Evolution
It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.3897/zse.100.136428
A transcript of this episode can be found here: Rodrigo Salvador - Transcript
Follow Rodrigo on X/Bluesky: @Kraken_Scholar and @krakenscholar.bsky.social
Follow the Journal of Geek Studies on X/Bluesky:@JGeekStudies and @jgeekstudies.bsky.social
New Species: Idiopyrgus eowynae, Idiopyrgus meriadoci
Episode image credit: Rodrigo Salvador
Journal of Geek Studies: https://jgeekstudies.org/
Pensoft article, “The Snellowship of the Ring”: https://blog.pensoft.net/2024/11/11/the-shellowship-of-the-ring-two-new-snail-species-named-after-tolkien-characters/
Be sure to follow New Species on Bluesky (@newspeciespodcast.bsky.social) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast)
Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)
If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com
If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod
What happens when a hymenopterist finds a mysterious arachnid in a Danish hothouse? Sean Birk Bek Craig was exploring the floor of a hothouse, also known as a greenhouse, when he came upon an interesting creature. “I could see that it was an arachnid when I looked up close,” he said, “but immediately just looking at it with my eyes… I was really perplexed about what the devil that was!” Short-tailed whip-scorpions, or members of the order Schizomida, are tiny arachnids who aren’t typically in Denmark, but with a lot of research, Sean concluded it had probably been accidentally imported on one of the tropical plants, possibly from Thailand. With a few ups and downs, Sean described it as his very first new species, and gave it a specific epithet of “serendipitus” after the unexpected way it came into his life.
Sean’s paper “First records of the order Schizomida from tropical hothouses in Denmark: Stenochrus portoricensis and a new species of Bamazomus (Schizomida: Hubbardiidae)” is in issue 67 of Arachnology Letters.
A transcript of this episode can be found here: Sean Birk Bek Craig - Transcript
New Species: Bamazomus serendipitus
Episode image credit: Sean Birk Bek Craig
Find Sean on X/Twitter: @BekBirk
Read the paper describing Materia boggildi: https://bioone.org/journals/arachnology/volume-19/issue-6/arac.2023.19.6.888/A-new-Masteria-Araneae--Dipluridae-from-tropical-hothouses-in/10.13156/arac.2023.19.6.888.short
Read the paper that nearly made Sean’s new species a synonym:
https://zookeys.pensoft.net/article/121754/
Read the paper describing a new Schizomid genus from Germany:
https://arages.de/10.5431/aramit4906
Read Abrams’ paper “Too Hot to Handle”: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1055790319301824
Enjoy the World Schizomida Catalog: https://wac.nmbe.ch/order/schizomida/5
Read Matty’s thesis on biologists: https://research.ku.dk/search/result/?pure=en/publications/for-the-love-of-the-living(049e101d-c89d-472f-ba7a-f7a62e8337a4).html
Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast)
Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)
If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com
If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod
In this episode, Danniella Sherwood brings us two new pseudoscorpions from Ascension Island, one of the most remote islands in the world. Ascension’s ecological history is full of many twists and turns, and it is home to amazing biodiversity that is in desperate need of conservation. Danni and her team worked together to address this need, producing a paper titled ‘David and Goliath’ with one very small and one very large new species. They also provide new faunistic records, or records that show that Ascension and the nearby Boatswain Bird Island are home to stunning endemic pseudoscorpion diversity.
One of my favorite things about Danni’s story is the emphasis she places on teamwork. “It takes a village to produce good research,” She says. “it takes a village to work towards visions of conserving invertebrates in their habitats. You need to have people from all fields, all specialties, all viewpoints in order to make something that’s really impactful, really lasting and enduring to the fields of conservation and ecology and taxonomy.” Listen to this episode for a meaningful story of teamwork and community, and to learn the importance of taxonomy’s role in conserving island flora and fauna.
Danniella Sherwood’s paper “David and Goliath: on the pseudoscorpions of Ascension Island, including the world’s largest, Garypus titanius Beier, 1961, and a new, minute, Neocheiridium Beier, 1932 (Arachnida: Pseudoscorpiones)” is in issue 42 of Natura Somogyienis.
It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.24394/NatSom.2024.42.131
A transcript of this episode can be found here: Danni Sherwood 2 - Transcript
Listen to Danni’s other New Species episode about St. Helenian wolf spiders: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0o8dL8yEpRiFtMO1gVNjkc?si=c068e5d3b6fb40f7
New Species: Garypus ellickae and Neocheiridium ashmoleorum
Episode image credit: Adam Sharp
Follow the Ascension Island Government Conservation Directorate here:
https://www.facebook.com/AscensionIslandConservation
https://twitter.com/aigconservation
Follow Danni’s research on all manner of arachnids here:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Danniella-Sherwood
Follow the Species Recovery Trust:
https://www.facebook.com/TheSpeciesRecoveryTrust/
https://www.twitter.com/speciesrecovery
Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast)
Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)
If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com
If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod
This paper started because Chloé Löis Fourreau and Marcos Teixeira were both too sick to dive during a NEON (National Ecological Observatory Network) bioblitz expedition in the Red Sea. Hoping to at least collect something, they swam to the shoreline and began snorkeling in the shallow water. When they began turning over rocks, what felt like a wasted day turned into an amazing intertidal discovery. In this episode, Chloé and Marcos are joined by their colleague Juan Sempere-Valverde to tell the exciting story of their new segmented polychaete worm, and to encourage everyone to pay attention to annelids and the great value they bring to science.
Just a quick disclaimer for this episode, for some reason my primary recording didn’t save so i’m using the backup. As a result the quality is not great, and for that I really apologize! A reminder that every episode has a transcript (below) so please use that to aid in any hard-to-hear parts.
Chloé Löis Fourreau, Marcos A.L. Teixeira, and Juan Sempere-Valverde’s paper “Two new records and description of a new Perinereis (Annelida, Nereididae) species for the Saudi Arabian Red Sea region” is in volume 1196 of Zookeys.
It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1196.115260
A transcript of this episode can be found here: Chloé Löis Fourreau, Marcos Teixeira, and Juan Sempere-Valverde - Transcript
New Species: Perinereis kaustiana
Episode image credit: Juan Sempere-Valverde
New Species: Perinereis kaustiana
Episode image credit: Juan Sempere-Valverde
Follow Chloé on Twitter: ChaoticChloeia
Follow Juan on Instagram: @bem_lab and @zoologiaus
Read Marcos’ recent paper: https://doi.org/10.1080/14772000.2022.2116124
Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast)
Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)
If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com
If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod
Louis Nastasi has a deep love of wasps, and a particular fascination with Cynipid wasps, gall wasps that can specialize on just a few plants or even a single species. In this episode he tells us about their diversity and the tangled phylogenies he works on, and answers the question his paper poses; “Cryptic or underworked?” There’s so much we don’t know about gall wasps, and it has so many implications for conservation, agriculture, and more!
Louis Nastasi’s paper “Cryptic or underworked? Taxonomic revision of the Antistrophus rufus species complex (Cynipoidea, Aulacideini)” is in volume 97 of the Journal of Hymenoptera Research.
It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.3897/jhr.97.121918
A transcript of this episode can be found here: Louis Nastasi - Transcript
New Species: Antistrophus laurenae
Episode image credit: Antoine Guiguet
Send Louis a Silphium plant gall! Email him at: LFN5093@psu.edu
Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast)
Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)
If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com
If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod. Bonus episodes are coming soon!
What can tiny, flightless beetles tell us about the history of mountain geography and climate? It turns out, quite a bit! In this episode, Dr. Adam Haberski introduces us to the wild world of Staphylinid beetles, some of the most diverse creatures on the planet. We learn about the joys (and pitfalls) of collecting in the Southern Appalachians, as well as their billion-year-old history and the amazing beetle lineages that they helped shape.
Adam Haberski’s paper “A review of Nearctic Lathrobium (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae), with revision and descriptions of new flightless species from the mountains of the southeastern U.S.” is in volume 1198 of Zookeys.
It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1198.118355
A transcript of this episode can be found here: Adam Haberski - Transcript
New Species: Lathrobium balsamense, Lathrobium camplyacra, Lathrobium islae, Lathrobium lividum, Lathrobium smokiense, Lathrobium absconditum, Lathrobium hardeni, Lathrobium lapidum, Lathrobium solum, and Lathrobium thompsonorum
Episode image credit: Mike Caterino
Check out Adam’s amazing photography on instagram: @alaskamacro
Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast)
Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)
If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com
If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod
In part 3 of Taxonomy Basics, Marc Milne of the University of Indianapolis tells us all about the process of identifying and publishing new species. He has tips and tricks for microscope work, finding online resources, and many other facets of the description process.
Marc is a spider taxonomist and ecologist who specializes in several different groups including Linyphiids and Nesticids. He is also a professor of Biology, and teaches classes that include ecology and genetics.
Taxonomy Basics is a three part series on basic components of species description including collecting, preserving, and describing new species. This series focuses on entomological specimens, but has concepts that work across disciplines. Listen in as Evan Waite, Ashleigh Whiffin, and Marc Milne share their guidelines and discuss important concepts in taxonomy, curation, and beyond.
A transcript of this episode can be found here: Marc Milne - Transcript
Episode image credit: Marshal Hedin
Follow Marc on twitter: @forthespiders
Resources mentioned in this episode include:
The World Spider Catalog: https://wsc.nmbe.ch/
Spiders of North America: https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691175614/spiders-of-north-america
Salticidae of the World: https://www.jumping-spiders.com/
American Arachnological Society Website State-by-State Guide: https://www.americanarachnology.org/about-arachnids/arachnid-orders/
LinEpig: https://linepig.fieldmuseum.org/
All Bugs Go to Kevin (Facebook Group): https://www.facebook.com/groups/AllBugsGoToKevin
iNaturalist: www.iNaturalist.org
BugGuide: https://bugguide.net/
Some scientists to learn from online:
The Bug Chicks: https://www.thebugchicks.com/
Entomologia Asturias (Christian Pertegal): https://www.twitch.tv/entomologiaasturias
Entomology Abby: https://www.instagram.com/entomologyabby/?hl=en
Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast)
Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)
If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com
If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod
In part 2 of Taxonomy Basics, Ashleigh Whiffin of National Museums Scotland brings us into the entomology collection to learn the fundamentals of curation and preservation, including which pins to use, the importance of collection data, and much more.
Ashleigh is responsible for the care and development of a collection of 2.5 million insect specimens. She is particularly interested in collections care and science communication, and is a coleopterist, specializing in Carrion beetles (Silphidae). In the UK, she works with the Biological Records Centre to co-organise a National Recording Scheme for Carrion Beetles, promoting the importance of the group and encouraging more people to record them. In 2020, she co-authored an atlas on Silphids and Histerids and has featured on national TV, sharing her passion for these beetles.
Ashleigh recently helped develop a new training resource hosted on the National Museums Scotland website:
This self-guided resource is an introduction to Caring for Entomology Collections, covering the basics through a combination of videos and text, as well as links for where to go for additional information.
Taxonomy Basics is a three part series on basic components of species description including collecting, preserving, and describing new species. This series focuses on entomological specimens, but has concepts that work across disciplines. Listen in as Evan Waite, Ashleigh Whiffin, and Marc Milne share their guidelines and discuss important concepts in taxonomy, curation, and beyond.
A transcript of this episode can be found here: Ashleigh Whiffin - Transcript
Episode image credit: Molly Wilders
Connect with Ashleigh on Instagram/Threads: @ash_whiffin
X: @AshWhiffin
BlueSky: @ashwhffin.bsky.social
More info here: https://www.nms.ac.uk/collections-research/collections-departments/natural-sciences/meet-the-team/ashleigh-whiffin/
Places to be involved in virtual curation and other citizen science projects:
Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast)
Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)
If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com
If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod
In part 1 of Taxonomy Basics, Evan Waite from Arizona State University teaches us all about collecting entomological specimens. From which traps to use to tips on sharing your collection with others, Evan gives us all of the details with some great stories along the way.
Evan is a coleopterist and PhD Candidate at Arizona State University. His work focuses on ground beetles, but he’s broadly interested in beetle diversity and has a personal collection that includes over 2,000 specimens from all across the arthropod world. His collecting and taxonomic work has taken him across the country to many unique habitats, as well as a variety of entomological collections.
Taxonomy Basics is a three part series on basic components of species description including collecting, preserving, and describing new species. This series focuses on entomological specimens, but has concepts that work across disciplines. Listen in as Evan Waite, Ashleigh Wiffin, and Marc Milne share their guidelines and discuss important concepts in taxonomy, curation, and beyond.
Connect with Evan online: @Evantomology on all platforms
Read Evan’s paper about collecting bias, including a case study:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10323768/
Watch Evan’s talk “A Journey from Bugs to Birds” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asZWkrmAXZ4&t=3s
Chris Grinter’s website with a guide to collecting permits:
https://www.theskepticalmoth.com/collecting-permits/
UC Davis guide: How to Collect Insects: https://bohart.ucdavis.edu/how-collect-insects
A transcript of this episode can be found here:
Episode image credit: Evan Waite
Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast)
Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)
If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com
If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod
“Another spider paper?!” you might ask. “More new spiders, what’s so interesting?” Well in addition to a revised genus and three new species, Adrià Bellvert and Miquel Arnedo’s most recent publication highlights some of the unique challenges taxonomists deal with as they work to untangle species relationships. “I think that the important part [of this paper] is it interfaces very well, it summarizes very well the kind of problems that.. we have to address when we are trying to understand the diversity of mega diverse groups,” says Miquel. Things like deteriorated specimens, missing label information, and difficulty collecting also contribute. But by the end of their story we see that time, effort, and collaboration can bring about some really important findings.
Miquel and Adrià’s paper “Integrating museum collections and molecules reveals genus-level synonymy and new species in red devil spiders (Araneae, Dysderidae) from the Middle East and Central Asia” is in volume 921 of the Journal of European Taxonomy
It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2024.921.2429
A transcript of this episode can be found here: Adrià Bellvert and Miquel Arnedo - Transcript
New Species: Dysdera jaegeri, Dysdera naouelae, and Dysdera kourosh
Episode image credit: Adrià Bellvert
You can follow Adrià and Miquel on Twitter: @AdriaBellvert and @spidersysevo (Miquel’s lab)
Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast)
Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)
If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com
If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod
Skinks are one of the most diverse families of lizards, and Ishan Agarwal studies skinks in India, one of the most biodiverse countries in the world. From the forest to the lab to the museum, Ishan shares his experiences investigating a group of cryptic skinks that had quite a few surprises to share, including biology and behavior. What is it about skinks that makes them so captivating? How and why do scientists designate neotypes? Why is a slingshot part of a skink-catching field kit? Find out in this episode of the New Species Podcast.
Read Ishan’s paper here: https://doi.org/10.3897/vz.74.e110674
A transcript of this episode can be found here: Ishan Agarwal - Transcript
New Genus: Dravidoseps
New Species: Dravidoseps gingeeensis, Dravidoseps jawadhuensis, Dravidoseps kalakadensis, Dravidoseps srivilliputhurensis, and Dravidoseps tamilnaduensis.
Episode image courtesy of Ishan Agarwal
Follow Ishan on Instagram: @Geckoella
Dropbox link to Ishan's papers: https://www.dropbox.com/home/Public/IA%20publications
Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast)
Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)
If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com
If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod
Mike Stephan is a lawyer obsessed with scientific etymology, specifically tautonyms, binomial names in which the generic name and species name are exactly the same. Scientific naming conventions and customs have a rich history, and as Mike says, “[taxonomic names] in some perhaps unintended way tell the greater story of human anthropology and history.” Come along for the ride as we discuss etymologies of all shapes, sizes, and redundancies and learn a little about people along the way.
Order Mike’s book: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tautonyms-michael-j-stephan/1143958127?ean=9798350910759
Read Mike’s recent paper proposing that botany allow tautonyms:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/tax.12902
A transcript of this episode can be found here: Mike Stephan - Transcript
Interview with Stefano Mammola about spider names: https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/jxWszZc24Hb
Interview with Alireza Zamani about a new species named after Brian: https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/VhSS5Lf24Hb
Follow Mike on Instagram (and submit your draw-tonym): @Tautonyms
Episode image courtesy of Mike Stephan
Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast)
Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)
If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com
If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod
There are no snakes in Alaska, so what’s that snakelike shape crossing the road? Few people would guess it’s actually thousands of fly larvae moving in a very peculiar pattern that gives the snakeworm gnat their common name. Dr. Thalles Pereira and his coauthors spent lots of time rearing, observing, and sharing their findings with their community in the process of describing this new species, and use citizen science data of this behavior in addition to morphological and molecular analyses in this paper. Listen in as Thalles brings us through the labs and back roads of Alaska to learn why gnats are so special!
Thalles Pereira’s paper “Discovery of snakeworm gnats in Alaska: a new species of Sciara meigen (Diptera: Sciaridae) based on morphological, molecular, and citizen science data” is in volume 6 issue 2 of Integrative Systematics.
It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.18476/2023.673937
A transcript of this episode can be found here: Thalles Pereira - Transcript
New Species: Sciara serpens
Episode image courtesy of Thalles Pereira via Integrative Systematics Stuttgart Contributions to Natural History
Check out Thalles’ Researchgate profile: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Thalles-Pereira-2
Video of the snakeworm larval behavior: https://doi.org/10.7299/X7WM1DQ9
View these specimens and their observational records on Arctos: https://arctos.database.museum/search.cfm?guid_prefix=UAM%3AEnto%2CUAMObs%3AEnto&scientific_name=Sciara%20serpens&scientific_name_match_type=match&family=Sciaridae
Springtail antifreeze protein paper: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-60060-z
Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast)
Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)
If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com
If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod
This is a short episode to share some thoughts and feedback from this year's New Species community survey, as well as some updates on what is to come for the podcast.
Take the community survey here before March 1st: https://forms.gle/ayoZfXzadr2kd3st5
Check out our Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod
And the Website:
www.newspeciespodcast.net
Who wouldn’t want to receive thousands of millipedes in the mail? When Dr. Henrik Enghoff does it’s through his partnership with FoRCE, the Forest Restoration and Climate Experiment, a group researching tropical forest dynamics and their relationship with things like human disturbance and climate change. They collect millipedes through their field season and Henrik identifies them to increase our knowledge of millipede systematics. In this interview he shares stories about the diversity of millipedes, the exciting world of scanning electron microscopy, and why it’s important to care about creatures that others might pass by.
Henrik Enghoff’s paper “A mountain of millipedes XI. The trachystreptoform spirostreptids of the Udzungwa Mountains, Tanzania” is in volume 918 of the European Journal of Taxonomy.
It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2024.918.2405
A transcript of this episode can be found here: Henrik Enghoff - Transcript
New Genus: Udzungwastreptus
New Species: Attemsostreptus cataractae, Attemsostreptus leptoptilos, Attemsostreptus julostriatus, Lophostreptus magombera, Udzungwastreptus marianae
Episode image credit: A.R. Marshall
Learn more about FoRCE: https://force-experiment.com/
And project DiSSCo: www.dissco.eu
Other recent papers by Henrik and his team:
A new distinct, disjunct giant millipede of the genus Spirostreptus from Tanzania, and a solution for orphaned Spirostreptus species – Zootaxa https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5389.2.9
A new species of Lophostreptus Cook, 1895 discovered among syntypes of L. regularis - Zookeys https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1188.115802
Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast)
Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)
If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com
If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod
How many nature enthusiasts can relate to this scenario: you’re watching the landscape go by as you drive, and suddenly you see an area that could be favorable habitat for your target species. Stop the car! That’s what Prakrit Jain did, and it helped him and his coauthors describe a new species of Paruroctonus scorpion from the San Joaquin Valley. So much makes this scorpion interesting, from the unique and at-risk habitat it occupies to the fascinating story of its description. Why describe new species? Prakrit says it best: “Because if this scorpion can get conservation attention then it doesn’t just save the scorpion it saves everything that lives alongside it, and that might be thousands of different species.”
Prakrit Jain’s paper “A new species of alkali-sink Paruroctonus Werner, 1934 (Scorpiones, Vaejovidae) from California’s San Joaquin Valley” is in issue 1185 of Zookeys.
It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1185.103574
A transcript of this episode can be found here: Prakrit Jain - Transcript
New Species: Paruroctonus tulare
Episode image courtesy of Prakrit Jain
Follow Prakrit on Instagram: @bothrops_et_al
Connect with Prakrit on iNaturalist: @prakrit
iNaturalist records of this new species: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/192661164
News coverage of this species description:
https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/new-species-scorpion-california-san-joaquin-18537552.php
Take the community survey: https://forms.gle/y7utvaRuxeCQVMJy9
Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast)
Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)
If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com
If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod
Southern Africa is home to over 1,200 species of irises, and if that number doesn’t blow you away, hearing Dr. John Manning’s speak about his new species certainly will. In this fascinating episode we are taken on a deep dive into Iridaceae’s stunning pollinator-driven diversity, evolution over millions of years and several continents, and the critical role of herbaria as the backbone of science past, present, and future. “They look static, and they look like dead plant specimens,” John says, “but they represent a great deal of life.”
Dr. John Manning’s Paper, “Moraea saxatilis, a new montane species from the Groot Winterhoek Wilderness Area of the Cape Floristic Region, South Africa” is in volume 165 of the South African journal of Botany.
It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sajb.2023.12.008
A transcript of this episode can be found here: John Manning - Transcript
New Species: Moraea saxatilis
Episode image courtesy of John Manning
Learn more about the Compton Herbarium here:
https://www.sanbi.org/biodiversity/foundations/biosystematics-collections/compton-herbarium/
Learn more about the CREW program here:
https://www.sanbi.org/biodiversity/building-knowledge/biodiversity-monitoring-assessment/custodians-of-rare-and-endangered-wildflowers-crew-programme/
Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast)
Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)
If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com
If you would like to support this podcast, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod