Daniels, S.R. and Barnes, A. (2025)
By chance, he discovered a new species, now baptized with his nickname. The most curious is the species, with several million years, still exists.
A student at the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa was walking around a river when he found a black velvet worm.
“I had a basic knowledge of velvet worms from the cable, Having found one for the first time at Table Mountain in 2019. My older brother was tasked by his zoology teacher, Prof. Savel Daniels, of collecting velvet worms, ”said the young man, Rohan Barnard.
At the time, Rohan had no idea that he had discovered a new species of velvet worm, now appropriately appointed by Rohan velvet worm, or scientifically, Peripatopsis barnardi.
“The origin of these forest spots dates back to the beginning of the Miocene, there about 23 to 15 million yearswhen the region was tempered and subtropical. However, during the late Miocene, the region has undergone significant climate change, with a decrease in precipitation due to the appearance of Benguela’s proto-checking proto-current and two geotectonic elevation events, ”says Savel Daniels, the main author of the new one published in Ecology and Evolution.
“These events have resulted in a mosaic complex of habitat connectivity and isolation, which we know today as the Cape Fold Mountains, leading to the expert of habitats such as velvet worms,” he explains to.
“It was thanks to the data of the scientist citizens that we were able to identify the new species. In Cape Fold Mountains, we now know that Each peak mountain has an endemic species. This suggests that in unmarked areas, there is likely that there is a new additional diversity, waiting to be found, ”says Daniels.
But the most interesting thing is that the species is a “undead fossil”, that is, the species still exists today. And the species is not any. Its discovery is relevant because modern velvet worms are seen as a separate evolution line (and placed in a distinct phylum) that emerged independently of a long marine ancestor – probably the Hallicogenia.
“It’s amazing to realize that I discovered a living fossil“, Comments the young student.! It’s like finding a lost link we didn’t even know. It gives me hope that there is still much to find out. But it also worried about the future, that we lose animals and plants by extinction that we didn’t even know they existed,” he warns.
