In January 2026, the California Academy of Sciences announced the description of 72 new species of animals, plants and fungi for 2025. Among them are a bird, six geckos, eleven sea slugs and many other organisms found on six continents and in three oceans. These discoveries come amid accelerating biodiversity loss driven by climate change and human activity.
Particular attention was drawn by the Galápagos lava heron (Butorides sundevalli). For a long time it was considered a subspecies of the South American striated heron, but genetic analysis and measurements of the bill showed that it is a separate species, more closely related to North American herons. The bird is common in the archipelago, yet its evolutionary history remained a mystery for more than a century. It is now clear that even in well-studied places, evolution continues to work.
No less remarkable are the finds from the ocean twilight zone. Ichthyologist Luis Rocha described a new fish, Plectranthias raki, from the Maldives, and invertebrate zoologist Terry Gosliner added eleven sea slugs, including species with Indo-Pacific and Californian names in Indigenous languages. These discoveries were made at depths of 100–500 metres, where plastic waste is already found alongside unknown organisms.
Among the terrestrial finds, the woolly devil (Ovicula biradiata) stands out — a new genus and species in the aster family, discovered in Big Bend National Park in Texas. The plant appears only after rain on rocky soils and was identified thanks to citizen science data. Such "belly plants" show that even protected areas hold surprises.
Museum collections played an important role. One of the new species of cardinalfish had lain in storage for almost thirty years after an expedition in 1997 off the coast of Cuba. Such archives make it possible to return to old specimens when new methods and understanding emerge.
Each description adds a fragment to the picture of how ecosystems function and how resilient they are to pressure. Collections, genetics and international cooperation turn individual finds into a tool for conserving and restoring nature.
By describing new species, scientists are at the same time documenting what can still be protected.
