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You would possibly suppose that Europe is so nicely studied that no massive animals stay undiscovered. Yet right this moment, a brand new species of big keelback slug from Montenegro was introduced within the open-access Biodiversity Data Journal. The animal, as large as a medium-sized carrot, was found on a citizen-science expedition and collectively described by its contributors.
The worldwide group of citizen scientists from Italy, the Netherlands, Serbia, South Africa, and the United States discovered the slug in July 2019 whereas exploring the spectacular Tara Canyon, Europe’s deepest gorge, on inflatable rafts. The brownish-gray animals, with a pointy ridge alongside the again, and 20 cm in size when absolutely stretched, had been hiding below rocky overhangs within the narrowest a part of the ravine.
At first, the newly found slugs appeared superficially indistinguishable from the ash-black keelback slug (Limax cinereoniger), which additionally lives within the Tara Canyon. The group had to make use of a transportable DNA lab to work out that there’s a 10% distinction between the 2 slugs within the so-called DNA barcode. Moreover, after they dissected a couple of of them, they discovered variations within the reproductive organs as nicely. This was sufficient to resolve {that a} new species had been found, they usually named it Limax pseudocinereoniger to point its similarity to L. cinereoniger.
The discipline journey was run by Taxon Expeditions, which organizes actual scientific expeditions for most people, with the goal to make scientific discoveries. Rick de Vries, an online editor and illustrator from Amsterdam who discovered the primary specimen of L. pseudocinereoniger, says: “It’s an unimaginable thrill to carry an animal in your palms and to know that it’s nonetheless unknown to science.”
Zoologist Iva Njunjić, one of many authors of the paper, thinks that extra unknown species are more likely to be present in Tara Canyon and the Durmitor National Park, of which it’s half. “Using a mix of DNA evaluation and anatomy will in all probability reveal extra species which are equivalent on the surface however really belong to totally different species,” she says.
In 2023, Taxon Expeditions plans to take a brand new group of citizen scientists to Montenegro with a mission to find new species and doc the hidden biodiversity.
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More data:
Menno Schilthuizen et al, A brand new big keelback slug of the genus Limax from the Balkans, described by citizen scientists, Biodiversity Data Journal (2022). DOI: 10.3897/BDJ.10.e69685
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Citizen scientists from three continents assist uncover a brand new, big slug from Europe (2022, June 22)
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