Scientists at the Natural History Museum, London have described and named 262 new species to science in 2025

· In 2025, Natural History Museum curators, researchers and scientific associates have described 262 new species and published over 700 research papers, while also breaking ground on a new state-of-the-art collections, research and digitisation centre.

· From jewel-bright butterflies over Borneo’s rainforest to ghostly corals 5,000 metres below the Pacific Ocean, and from dinosaur-rich rocks in Colorado to cutting-edge analyses of asteroid Bennu, Natural History Museum science is reshaping our understanding of life on Earth and beyond as the race intensifies to document biodiversity in the face of the planetary emergency.

· The discovery and naming of new species remains central to the Museum’s mission. By investing in collections, leading global digitisation efforts and conducting research that spans deep time, deep oceans, outer space and everyday school grounds, Museum scientists are working to ensure that we discover, understand and protect nature before it is too late.

Over the last 12 months, scientists from London’s Natural History Museum have been busy collecting, studying and cataloguing the extraordinary diversity of life on Earth. Museum scientists have given official names to 262 species, including new toads and fish, butterflies and bees and a smattering of ancient sharks.

This year’s total is dominated by moths and butterflies (Lepidoptera), with 81 new species described, including a moth named for Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg.

Among the most spectacular discoveries are the jewel butterflies in the genus Hypochrysops. In a major reassessment led by Museum scientific associate John Tennent, researchers revisited this group of iridescent butterflies, many with metallic blue, green and orange wings.

Hypochrysops borneensis was seen flitting high above Borneo’s rainforest hilltops in mid-afternoon sunshine. Hypochrysops russelli is known from a single specimen collected in Papua New Guinea in 1969. Its forest home has since been significantly damaged, raising questions about whether it still survives in the wild.

Stories like these highlight the irreplaceable value of museum collections. Some specimens cared for by the Museum are the only known record that a species ever existed. Other invertebrate discoveries this year include 24 beetles, four wasps, three flatworms, a fly, a bee, an ant and a scale insect.

New life in the deep sea

Museum researchers took a deep dive into the oceans mapping life some 5,000 metres beneath the surface in the Clarion Clipperton Zone of the Pacific; an area between Hawaii and Mexico which is rich in polymetallic nodules identified for potential deep-sea mining.

One striking discovery is Deltocyathus zoemetallicus, a white coral with a fan-like fringe, found growing directly on these mineral nodules. Scientists also described three new species of polychaete worms from the surrounding sediment, plus eight parasitic copepods, two amphipods and two crabs from other marine environments.

Frogs from the wettest place on Earth and toads that give birth to live young

Back on land, Museum scientists named 42 new amphibians and reptiles this year.

Many of these come from northeastern India, one of the wettest places on Earth. Scientific associate Dr Deepak Veerappan has been involved in describing 13 frogs and two agamid lizards from this region, alongside 11 new snakes, including Xylophis chenkaruppan, a species found only in the biodiversity hotspot of the Western Ghats.

In Tanzania’s highland forests, scientists drew on a century of collections to redefine what we know about amphibian reproduction. Revisiting preserved specimens of the tree toad genus Nectophrynoides, they combined DNA data with information on body size, shape and acoustic calls. This led to the recognition of three new live-bearing species that give birth to fully formed young rather than laying eggs; Nectophrynoides saliensis, N. uhehe and N. luhomeroensis.

“These discoveries underscore the diversity of live-bearing toads and the importance of protecting East Africa’s forests,” says curator Dr Simon Loader, who helped name the new species. “If we lose these forests, we risk losing one of the most unusual forms of amphibian reproduction known.”

Also described this year are a new caecilian (a limbless amphibian), three geckos from caves in Cambodia, four fish from southern Africa’s Lake Malawi and the Cunene River, and a new red-toothed shrew from China.

Old rocks, new species

Museum researchers have also been busy describing prehistoric life preserved in rocks. A new dinosaur, Enigmacursor mollyborthwickae, was revealed from the Morrison Formation of Colorado, USA. Dog-sized and long overlooked, its fragmentary remains were re-examined by Museum palaeontologists who realised they belonged to an entirely new species.

“While the Morrison Formation has been well-known for a long time, most of the focus has been on searching for the biggest dinosaurs,” says palaeontologist Professor Susie Maidment. “Enigmacursor shows there is still plenty to discover, even in well-studied places.”

Several other new fossil species were originally discovered in the UK, including a sail-backed dinosaur from the Isle of Wight, a new tree-dwelling rhynchocephalian, a lizard-like animal from southern England, and a 37-million-year-old snake.

In ancient oceans, scientists named eight new fossil sharks, including Pararhincodon torquis, found near Salisbury and Newhaven and distantly related to modern collared carpet sharks of Australia and southeast Asia.

Redefining science: venom and the origins of life

Beyond naming new species, Museum scientists have pushed the boundaries of how we classify life and understand our origins.

Building on work with Nectophrynoides, the Tanzanian tree toads, DNA from Museum specimens helped scientists show that multiple live-bearing species had been “hiding in plain sight” in collections for decades – a powerful demonstration of how historical specimens can transform modern biology.

In another field-shifting study, Dr Ronald Jenner and colleagues broadened traditional definitions of venom. Rather than restricting venom to toxins injected into animals, they argued that it should also cover toxins injected into plants or even members of the same species.

Exploring our cosmic and human origins

Museum meteorite specialists were at the heart of global efforts to study samples from asteroid Bennu. Using state-of-the-art analytical facilities at the Museum at South Kensington, they discovered that Bennu likely had both the environment and chemical ingredients necessary to produce molecules associated with the origin of life.

“There were things in the samples that completely blew us away,” says Professor Sara Russell, who co-led the study. “The combination of molecules and minerals preserved are unlike any extraterrestrial samples studied before.”

By comparing the samples to meteorites in the Museum’s collection, the team are building a clearer picture of how life-forming chemistry may have emerged in the early Solar System.

Closer to home, scientists used DNA from hundreds of specimens, including those cared for at the Museum, to unravel the origins of the London Underground mosquito (Culex pipiens form molestus). Their work suggested that this mosquito, long thought to have evolved in London’s underground tunnels, actually arose more than 1,000 years ago in early agricultural societies of the Middle East.

Understanding nature and human impact

Tackling environmental crises means understanding human culture as well as the natural world. Researcher Dr Sophia Nicolov has been exploring what the Museum’s whale, dolphin and porpoise specimens reveal about the history of whaling and empire. Many specimens were collected via commercial whaling operations, some bearing the physical scars of harpoons.

“Seeing the shattered jaw was a confronting experience,” says Sophia. “Understanding these histories reinforces our responsibility to preserve the specimens and to learn all we can from them.”

In Antarctica’s Ross Sea, which has absorbed large amounts of CO₂ over recent decades, Dr Hugh Carter joined a 2025 expedition retracing century-old explorations to study how sea urchins are responding to more acidic waters. By CT-scanning historic specimens and comparing them with newly collected ones, he found signs that today’s shells may be more fragile, an early warning for how marine life could fare in a warming, acidifying ocean.

Investing in collections, digitisation and education

2025 also marked a transformational moment for the Museum’s physical and digital collections.

Construction began on a new state-of-the-art collections, research and digitisation centre, and the Museum appointed its first Director of Collections, Jessica Bradford, to oversee the largest ever move of natural history specimens to the new site and to help lead DiSSCo UK, a national programme to digitise the UK’s 137 million natural science specimens.

“Getting to know our vast collections, and the talented, dedicated curators who care for them, has been so inspiring,” says Jessica. “These ambitious, transformational programmes will secure the future of our collections, and I am excited to be part of the journey.”

The Museum’s digital collections continue to be heavily used worldwide. More than six million specimens have been digitised, with data downloaded billions of times and cited in thousands of research papers, accelerating discovery on global challenges such as biodiversity loss, emerging diseases and food security.

To prevent further declines as we move through the planetary emergency, it’s vital that the Museum continues to describe and name new species helping us to understand and protect the ecosystems on which we all depend.

ENDS

Images are available here.

Natural History Museum Press Office

Tel: +44 (0)20 7942 5654 / 07799690151

Email: press@nhm.ac.uk

About The Natural History Museum

The Natural History Museum is a world-leading scientific research centre and one of the world’s most visited museums. Our mission is to create advocates for the planet – people who act for nature.

Our 400 scientists are finding solutions to the planetary emergency - from reversing biodiversity loss to resourcing the green economy.

We are seeking an additional £150 million to transform our South Kensington building: placing our groundbreaking research at its heart, revitalising four existing galleries, opening two new magnificent galleries and delighting 1 million more visitors a year with the wonders of the natural world.