Finding new species seems wondrous! Several scientific organizations working around the globe searching all continents and oceans have done just that. The California Science Academy reports finding 72 new species of wildlife, plants and even bugs, including a translucent one, as well as a new species of sunflower, which doesn’t look like a sunflower but which DNA shows it is. Other worldwide groups report over 1300 mammal species over the last 20 years. Some of the species seem offshoots of others, but in the main they are new, show mammal diversity and how the species interact with their environments. The scientists say it matters because conservation efforts cannot occur unless there is first identification and documentation of the species which need attention. So far, the good news is that discoveries outpace extinctions. Of course it does advance human knowledge.
I wanted to share this for another reason. We so often forget how much we do not know, and can be so complacent about our own ignorance, that just the simple fact so many new species have been discovered makes us pause and ponder and marvel and be both more aware and more humble.
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