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'Chicken from hell', cartwheeling spider among top 10 new species for 2015

A cartwheeling spider, a bird-like dinosaur and a fish that creates "crop circles" on the sea floor are among the species identified by the State University of New York's (SUNY) College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) top 10 new species for 2015.
Some 18,000 species, great and small, were discovered in 2014, adding to the 2 million already known. But an estimated 10 million species are still unknown to science.
Below are the 10 best new additions.

1. Feathered Dinosaur: Anzu wyliei

PHOTO: Anzu wyliei is a bird-like dinosaur nicknamed the "chicken from hell".(Supplied: Mark Klingler, Carnegie Museum of Natural History)
Luckily for us, this feathered dinosaur, nicknamed "the chicken from hell", is extinct.
Pieces of its skeleton were discovered in North and South Dakota in the Hell Creek Formation and indicate the animal grew up to 3.5 metres high and weighed between 200 and 300 kilograms.
The dinosaur had a mixture of bird and dinosaur-like features, including feathers, hollow bones, and a parrot-like beak. Like the T Rex and the Triceratops, it also made nests and sat on eggs until they hatched.

2. Coral Plant: Balanophora coralliformis

Despite having a coral-like appearance, this plant was found around 1,524 metres above sea level in the mossy forests of Mount Mingan in the Philippines.
It is a parasitic plant, meaning it is incapable of photosynthesis and therefore must draw its energy from other living plants.
Scientists believe the plant is critically endangered.

3. Cartwheeling Spider: Cebrennus rechenbergi

This spider from the sand dunes of Morocco cartwheels to thwart predators, moving twice as fast as when it runs.
Even before the spider had been officially named, its behaviour inspired a biomimetic robot that can similarly walk or roll.

4. The X-Phyla: Dendrogramma enigmatica

This mushroom-shaped animal was found on the sea floor, at a depth of 1,000m, off the coast of Point Hicks in Victoria.
Scientists believe it may be related to jellyfish, corals, sea anemones and other jellies, but it is possible it will have to be classified under an entire new category.
Its relationships to other animals are likely to remain a mystery until other specimens can be collected for DNA analysis.

5. Bone-house Wasp: Deuteragenia ossarium

This wasp from China is the first animal found to use chemical weapons to thwart predators that might be after its offspring.
Mothers fill part of their nest with dead ants, which give off volatile chemicals that mask the scent of larvae, throwing off would-be predators.

6. Indonesian Frog: Limnonectes larvaepartus

This frog from Indonesia breaks the rule of anuran reproduction.
Rather than laying eggs, as almost all the world's 6,455 species of frogs do, or giving birth to froglets, it deposits tadpoles into shallow pools.

7. Walking Stick: Phryganistria tamdaoensis

Despite belonging to the "giant stick" family, this new species of stick insect is known to only grow up to 23cm long.
The largest stick insect known to scientists, "Chan's megastick" resides in Borneo and grows up to 56cm long.
Scientists say its discovery is compelling evidence that in spite of their size, more giant sticks remain to be discovered and our knowledge of these masters of camouflage is far from complete.

8. Sea Slug: Phyllodesmium acanthorhinum

This new species of sea slug impressed SUNY with its beauty, photographing with "graceful lines" and "vivid colouration".
But the animal is not just a pretty face, with scientists also hailing the species as "the missing link" between its relatives that eat hydroids (tiny stinging jellies) and those that eat corals.

9. Bromeliad: Tillandsia religiosa

Unbeknown to scientists, this plant has long been used to decorate elaborate, Christmas altar scenes in Mexico.
It has rose-coloured spikes and flat green leaves and can be found growing up to 1.5m tall on rocky surfaces in the northern regions of Morelos in Mexico.

10. Pufferfish: Torquigener albomaculosus

For 20 years, scientists have searched for the animal responsible for creating unexplained "crop circles" on the seafloor off the coast of the Japanese island, Amami-Oshima.
As it turns out, this Japanese pufferfish constructs the curious circles as a way to attract a mate.
The circles are about two metres in diameter and their intricate, geometric designs help to minimise ocean currents and protect eggs from turbulent waters and possible predators.
ABC/Reuters
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