Anyone Ever Found A New Species?

[seanm]

Has anyone here ever discovered a new species? Could be anythind from a snail to a saurapod!!

I have been lucky enough to find a new species of multi arm starfish.It is only a trace fossil but it is clearly defined With sixteen arms of the mid jurassic it is totally unique in the fossil record. It is currently in the Natural History Museum in London while it is being resurched and papers written.

[Gatorman]

Cool it looks like a flower.

[TMNH]

You are so lucky! I wish I could find a new species! Ahh well, maybea someday.

That is a beatiful specimen that you found there. Will you get naming rights?

Edited June 1, 2010 by TMNH

[seanm]

Yeh I get the choice of name. I will be naming it after my wife as she puts up with my rocks everywhere

[Rover]

Well done, mate! I haven't found any new species myself, nor do I know anyone else who has, but it would be pretty nice to, as I'm sure you well know.

[PaleoRon]

Two so far.

[Harry Pristis]

My late wife has a procyonid (raccoon/coati predecessor) named after her.

[Auspex]

Congratulations!

There are several members who can walk with that particular swagger

[JohnJ]

Congratulations, sean...and a potentially wise choice on the name. Can you say who will be writing the description at the NHM?

[JarrodP]

Congratulations!

There are several members who can walk with that particular swagger

LOL...Since Lance is too humble.....a new Pterosaur after Lance Hall!

Aetodactylus halli

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aetodactylus

Edited June 2, 2010 by JarrodP

[Uncle Siphuncle]

Finding undescribed species comes with time and effort in the field. Finding someone ready, willing, and able to describe it in your lifetime is the hard part...

[Dave pom Allen]

2 birds(petral and a small albertros).1 fish.1 penguin. 1 seal and a dolphin from the miocene/pliocene all but 1 awaiting formal id. happy hunting all

[siteseer]

Has anyone here ever discovered a new species? Could be anythind from a snail to a saurapod!!

I have been lucky enough to find a new species of multi arm starfish.It is only a trace fossil but it is clearly defined With sixteen arms of the mid jurassic it is totally unique in the fossil record. It is currently in the Natural History Museum in London while it is being resurched and papers written.

Congratulations on the discovery.

Fossil Heliaster have been found in the Miocene-Pliocene of Florida. They have more than the usual five arms as well.

[bear-dog]

Just one but i'm doing my happy dance :jig: because the University of Florida and the Smithsonian are going nuts tryind to place it and have been for over 8 years now.

[Boesse]

I've discovered a new species of baleen whale, and one new genus and one new species of delphinoid toothed whales, all since summer 2006, from the Purisima Formation of central California. Working to increase the list... Bobby

Edit: P.s. The great thing is, as a researcher, I get to study and name them myself - one of these will definitely be named in honor of a friend of mine who has done an incredible amount of collecting in the Purisima Formation.

Edited June 2, 2010 by Boesse

[MOROPUS]

I found the 8th paratype (the first 8 fossils) of the archeogasteropod Clanculus Verai, a new specie of sea snail from the Pliocene of Malaga.

[MOROPUS]

This means, that when I discover this rather small gasteropod, it was still undescribed.

As it was quite rare (and I had no clue for ID it), I donated it to the local paleontology museum.

The director of wich, was doing a description of other seven remains (uncompleted shells; mine was the best preserved one, even with still living colour in it`s shell), included it in his description of the new specie.

I didn`t know this, so he name it Clanculus (an already known family) Verai (The doctor`s surname is Vera-Pelaez).

[LanceH]

Finding undescribed species comes with time and effort in the field. Finding someone ready, willing, and able to describe it in your lifetime is the hard part...

I would add it's also about being able to recognize something in your collection maybe new and letting more knowlegable people look at it. Who knows how many new things are just sitting on someone's closet shelf gathering dust.

[Ocalasix]

yeah cool....

[Angus Stydens]

I have found four or five so far, but I suspect there are a few more that have not been fully prepped and studied. I have been collecting in two marine Oligocene marine formations in my area for 45 years now, and since there are relatively few marine Oligocene formations worldwide, and these are the richest of them all, the chances of finding a new species is greater. I recently was fortunate enough to have a new species of skate named after me, raja mccollumi. It was collected in the Chandler Bridge formation (late oligocene)in Summerville, S.C.

[crinus]

I found a new Devonian brittle star and it was named after me (Acinetaster konieckii). This star also represented a new family of brittle stars. Unfortuantely the new family was not named after me. Here is the link to the paper that was published.

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/48513

I was also in on the find of a 28 arm starfish from the same locality. It was named after the two brothers that collected it with me. Both publications came out on the same day so the writer tried to be fair with the naming. This is the link to that publication.

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/48514

I do have a new crinoid that has yet to be written up. As was stated earlier, trying to find someone qualified and willing to write it up is the difficult part.

crinus

[Xiphactinus]

I found a Pennsylvanian insect while a student at the University of Kansas. It was one of the last fossils described by the famous Frank Carpenter. In the KU collections now. Here's the paper Harvard published on it:

http://psyche.entclub.org/99/99-141.html

[seanm]

Looking at the responses its great to see that so many regular joe's who go out collecting as a hobby have had the chance to find new things for the fossil record.

I must admit though its a great feeling when it happens so for all you out there who havent done so yet carry on kicking rocks cause you never know whats in the next one! And for those of us who have been lucky Well done and hopefully the next one isnt to far away.

[ebrocklds]

i have found 6-7 new ferns from the Manning Canyon Shale, a mississippian/Pensylvanian deposite. also a complete megasecopteran (looks like a dragonfly). it is likely the oldest winged insect found. still working on the paper with two professors at Brigham Young University. also three species of shrimp from the same locality. i also found a trilobite that is still unamed but is in the process, others had found better examples before i found mine. and lastly i have helped to excavate several early Morrison Jurassic dinosaurs that are probable new species.

Brock

[Ludwigia]

Hi and congratulations to everybody on your finds!

I haven't found any new species myself, but 2 colleagues of mine in the German Forum www.steinkern.de have each discovered a new species of crab in the Upper Jurassic layers near Solnhofen in Bavaria,where, as you well know, the Archaeopterix was first discovered. These layers are amazing! The crabs are even more rare than the birdie!

Of course the crustaceans have been named after their discoverers. Udo's Holotype is called Reschia barbarei and Rainers find is named Etallonia raineralberti. Both of them are in the Stuttgarter Naturkunde Museum and have been studied and identified by Dr. Guenther Schweigert there. Here's the Literatur on it:

SCHWEIGERT, G. (2010): New genera and species of “thalassinideans” (Crustacea: Decapoda: Axiidea, Gebiidea) from the Upper Jurassic of Eichstätt and Brunn (S Germany), in: ARCHAEOPTERYX - Jahreszeitschrift der Freunde des Jura-Museums Eichstätt, Band 2009, S. 21 – 30.

And here's a Photo of Rainer's Etallonia.