In a remarkable contribution to science and biodiversity, six researchers at the National Museum have described 62 new species over the past five years. This is according to results published in the Five-Year Strategic Plan End Term Report for the period ending March 2025.
According to Sharon Snell, CEO of the Museum, these new species have all been described in leading international scientific journals. These discoveries highlight both the richness of our natural heritage and the importance of museum collections. Many of the new species were described following recent field expeditions, but others came to light while curating old museum specimens, some of which were collected many decades ago.
Taxonomy is the science of classifying and describing new species and is important for Africa’s conservation initiatives. It is a vitally important discipline with regard to conservation, as species can only be protected once they have been identified and described. Taxonomic research is often meticulous and time-consuming, with the process from initial discovery to publication often taking several years.
The Museum is privileged to have six qualified and highly skilled taxonomists. The new species described by them include 31 mites, 11 flies, 10 dung beetles, nine pseudoscorpions and one lizard. The researchers responsible for these discoveries are Dr Lizel Hugo-Coetzee, Dr Gimo Daniel, Burgert Muller, Jan-Andries Neethling, and Jarmaine Magoai from the Museum’s Terrestrial Invertebrates Department, and Dr Michael Bates from the Animal and Plant Systematics Department.
South Africa’s diverse habitats have proven especially fruitful, with new species originating from the Eastern Cape (Fort Beaufort, Hogsback), Free State (Fauresmith, Franklin Game Reserve, Golden Gate Highlands National Park, Harrismith), Western Cape (Cederberg Mountains, Rheenendal, West Coast National Park) and the Northern Cape.
International collaborations have also expanded the Museum’s reach, with new species described from Mozambique, Madagascar, Malawi, Angola, Lesotho, Liberia, Kenya, Togo, Uganda and Ethiopia. A highlight includes the identification of several dung beetle species from Mount Mabu in Mozambique, based on extensive expeditions led by Dr Daniel.
Another exciting find was a new green-eyed lizard species from Angola, belonging to the genus Cordylus. Identified through a combination of detailed morphological analyses and modern molecular techniques, this discovery illustrates the ongoing value of integrative taxonomy in understanding reptile diversity.
Although the exact number of described animal species in South Africa remains unknown, current estimates suggest it exceeds 65,000. Assessing the number of undescribed species is even more challenging: for insects alone, projections range between 45,000 and 90,000 species.
South Africa is also exceptionally rich in plant diversity, with approximately 24,000 known plant species. An additional 1400 to 1575 species are still expected to be discovered.
Much of this biodiversity is represented in the collections of the National Museum. The animal collections, comprising insects, mites, arachnids, reptiles, amphibians, birds, mammals and fossils, include over 530,000 specimens. The plant collection (herbarium) contains more than 28,500 specimens.
Significantly, for invertebrates (e.g., insects, mites, spiders and pseudoscorpions), the Museum houses 654 primary types, i.e., the specimens used when new species were described. As invertebrates represent the vast majority of Earth’s biodiversity, it is expected that most future species discoveries will continue to come from this group.
For many groups of animals and plants, DNA markers (e.g., mitochondrial and nuclear DNA) are used in addition to morphology to evaluate relationships between different species, or populations of what are thought to be the same species. Often, results of the DNA analyses suggest that certain populations are different to an extent that they may represent undescribed species, even though this is not apparent based only on their external appearance. Once the new species are ‘identified’ using DNA, other museum specimens can be matched or classified based on similarities and differences in such traits as colour pattern, size and scale counts.
The Museum is fortunate to have on its staff Dr Cora Stobie, who is a trained geneticist and who is currently working with Dr Bates to determine the relationships between different populations of South Africa’s common girdled lizard, of which there may be a few new species. In some studies even tissue samples from formalin- or alcohol-preserved museum specimens have been used for DNA extraction to study evolutionary links.
These discoveries are not just scientific milestones, they are vital for conservation and for understanding the ecosystems that sustain life. The National Museum remains committed to documenting and preserving biodiversity, both nationally and across the African continent, through dedicated research and by publishing the scholarly DHET-accredited journal Indago.
REFERENCES:
Bates, M.F., Rovira, J.L., Stanley, E.L., Branch, W.R. & Vaz Pinto, P. 2023. A new species of green-eyed Cordylus Laurenti, 1768 from the central highlands of Angola, and the rediscovery of Cordylus angolensis (Bocage, 1895) (Squamata: Cordylidae). Vertebrate Zoology 73: 599–646. https://doi.org/10.3897/vz.73.e95639
Daniel, G.M., Strümpher, W.P. & Josso, J.-F. 2023. Dung beetle fauna from Mount Mabu, Mozambique. Part 1: A new species of Onthophagus Latreille, 1802, and a checklist of species belonging to group 3 (d’Orbigny 1913) (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Zootaxa 5258(4): 429–442. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5258.4.4
Ermilov, S.G., Hugo-Coetzee, E.A. & Khaustov, A.A. 2021. Malgacheliodes martensi spec. nov. (Acari, Oribatida, Licnodamaeidae) from South Africa. Zootaxa 4984(1): 357–367. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4984.1.26
Indago: Investigating nature and humanity in Africa. https://nationalmuseumpublications.co.za/about-indago
Magoai, M.M.J. & Muller, B.S. 2024. The first record of Atherigona from Lesotho (Diptera, Muscidae), with description of a new species. African Invertebrates 65(2): 49–60. https://doi.org/10.3897/afrinvertebr.65.131744
Mamathaba, M.P, Yessoufou, K. & Moteetee, A. 2022. What does it take to further our knowledge of plant diversity in the megadiverse South Africa? Diversity 14(9): 748. https://doi.org/10.3390/d14090748
Muller, B.S., Swart, V.R. & Snyman, L.P. 2024. Revision of Afrotropical Suragina Walker, 1859 (Diptera, Athericidae). African Invertebrates 65(2): 247–327. https://doi.org/10.3897/afrinvertebr.65.140524
Neethling, J. & Neethling, C. 2023. A systematic revision of the South African Gymnobisiidae (Pseudoscorpiones: Neobisioidea). Zootaxa 5256(6): 501–543. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5256.6.1
Scholtz, C.H. &Chow, S.L. 1995. Insects in southern Africa: how many species are there? South African Journal of Science 91: 124–126.
Comments are closed.