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https://theconversation.com/hidden-in-plain-sight-the-race-to-discover-new-species-before-theyre-gone-283594>
"When most people imagine scientists discovering new species, they probably
still picture an expedition into the unknown.
A naturalist travels somewhere remote, perhaps on a wooden ship, and traipses
through the jungle to encounter an animal or plant never before described by
science. The intrepid explorer brings back specimens or observations to a
museum, where they can be compared, named and described.
There is some truth to this stereotype. Between 1854 and 1862, scientist Alfred
Russel Wallace travelled through the Malay Archipelago, discovering animals and
insects unknown to Western science. This led him to the theory of evolution by
natural selection, contemporaneously with Charles Darwin.
Antarctica had its own era of discovery. In 1840, scientists on a French
expedition encountered what we now know as Adélie penguins. Imagine seeing
penguins for the first time: strange black-and-white birds waddling over the
ice, sliding on their bellies, leaping from freezing seas.
Of course, “discovery” is a loaded word. Many animals and plants described by
Western science were already known to Indigenous peoples and local communities.
What changed was their entry into the formal scientific naming system – the
global process by which species are compared, classified and recognised.
Today, scientists are still finding new life in remote places and hidden inside
the DNA of animals we thought we already knew."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
