From the missing link connecting apes and humans, to the diabolical Dementor wasp: These are 11 Amazing new animal species

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Sick Discovery
Did you know that frogs can help researchers discover new species of insects?  That’s because the amphibians can forage and hunt in places that are inaccessible to humans.  Scientists will examine the frog’s stomach contents to see what they can discover.  That’s how a bizarre new species of ant was identified … literally in the vomit of a frog from Ecuador.  Scientists there flushed out the stomach of a poisonous frog referred to as the ‘Little Devil’ … frogs like this obtain their toxic properties from compounds contained in the ants they consume. The newly discovered  insect is less than a quarter of an inch long, and has a long mouth … thought to be used for capturing prey even tinier than itself.  Since the only specimen of this ant species was found dead, not much is known about it.  

Mini-Megalodon (meg-uh-lo-don) 
Researchers have found a new species of shark … that existed some 20 million years ago.  Fossilized teeth found in California, North Carolina and two other locations measured nearly two inches long.  The newly discovered extinct species of shark was thought to be around the size of today’s great white, around 13 feet long.  Experts say the ancient critter belongs to same family as the super predator Megalodon … or, the ‘mega-toothed shark’.  Scientists say the big shark would have had a geographic distribution, so they don’t know why it hasn’t been recognized until recently.  The mystery may have led to it being named, M. paradoxodon  (m. paradox-uh-dun). 

Laia (lie-YAH), 
Researchers in Spain found the remains of a new species of smaller ape … and it might have been a common ancestor not only to chimpanzees and gibbons … but to humans as well!  The partial skeleton of an adult female hominid were located in a landfill in Barcelona … Around 70 fossils of the creature, nicknamed Laia (lie-YAH)  after the city’s patron, were found overall -- and date back over 11 million years!  Analysis revealed that it possessed features of both smaller apes like gibbons, and the larger, great apes like gorillas …and existed some 14 million years ago.  Meaning the newly discovered species would have existed before either group. The discovery suggests that the entire ape family tree may have descended from an animal that was far smaller than initially thought.  Experts used high-resolution computer imaging to create a likeness of the animal … and estimate it weighed up to 11 pounds and would have in fact resembled a gibbon. 

New Dwarf Lemur
Many of the world’s most unusual creatures make their home in Madagascar … and here’s another one.  A new species of dwarf lemur was discovered on the island located in the Indian Ocean.  It wasn’t formally identified until some 10 years after its discovery.  You can get a nice look at the critter perched in a tree in this picture by Richard Randriamampionona (Rand-ria-mamp-ion-OHna).   Those big eyes eyes almost seem to be looking straight through you, right?  Genetic analysis confirmed that its characteristics were distinct enough from other lemurs to be categorized as a new species.  You might say the primate lives up to its status as a dwarf lemur … As an adult it weighs about 11 ounces and measures around 7 inches long … but has a tail that reaches nearly 11 inches!   The picture might make it look bigger than it really is.  While its conservation status is still unknown, it’s estimated that 90% of lemurs are critically endangered due to deforestation and poaching.

1.Distant Relatives
Researchers made a bizarre discovery in an underground cave in Africa … the remains of a creature that could be an unknown species of human … from 3 million years ago!  Paleoanthropologists have reconstructed a skeleton of the specimen that stands just under 5 feet tall … in all, around 15 such skeletons were found.  Named,“Homo naled (nah-leh-dee)i”, it was found in the Dinaledi (din-ah-LEH-dee) Chamber of South Africa’s Rising Star Cave System.  Experts say the strange species exhibits human like adaptations to the hand and wrist … in addition to having feet and lower limbs that are human like.  Its skull is smaller that those of latter day humans and those of its era … which would indicate a smaller brain -- but experts theorize the creatures could have lived alongside those humans with larger brains.  The fact that the skeletons were found underground leads some scientists to believe that the hominins may have buried their dead -- and the 15 skeletons are thought to represent the largest collection of a single hominin species so far found in Africa.