How many new species can one museum discover in a single year?

The answer

In 2025, researchers at the California Academy of Sciences described 72 new species: 15 beetles, 12 bush crickets, 11 sea slugs, 7 fishes, 7 plants, 6 geckos, 5 molluscs, 2 true lizards, 2 wasps, 2 worms, 1 bird, 1 cicada, and 1 skink. The discoveries spanned ecosystems from tropical rainforests to coral reefs to desert highlands, with specimens collected from over 20 countries. Each new species required years of fieldwork, specimen collection, morphological analysis, and DNA sequencing before it could be formally described and named. Many of these species are already under threat from habitat loss - they can't be protected until they're scientifically documented, making taxonomy one of conservation's most urgent and underfunded disciplines.