Copyright 2012-2013, Kris Heeter, Ph.D.

Ever since I was a child, one of my favorite movies was the classic "Dr. Doolittle".

I was so fascinated by his excursions, his ability to talk the animals, and the discoveries he made.

Looking back, I suspect that "Dr. Doolittle" influenced my choice of study over the years.

I've always been enthralled by the complexity and diversity of life. As a child, I dreamed of trekking the rainforests or exploring the oceans to discover new and exotic new life.

In some ways my dream has been fulfilled - I've seen aspects of life for the first time that no one else has ever seen. It's an amazing to discover something that no one else has ever seen before. And while I no longer do that type of research, I'm still fascinated by the new species that zoologists, marine biologists, entomologists, ecologists, and microbiologists discover.

A released report by the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University compiles a list of species that were identified in 2009. While this report was just released (in 2012), note that it takes several years to complete a year's worth of data.

The aforementioned Species Institute mines the international literature for evidence of newly named species. Discoveries are made not only by scientists, but by amateur species explorers as well.







