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b'Let\'s look at some of the most interesting animals discovered last year!
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\\nFurther reading:
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\\nNewly-discovered \\u2018margarita snails\\u2019 from the Florida Keys are bright lemon-yellow
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\\nTiny spirits roam the corals of Japan\\u2014two new pygmy squids discovered
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\\nStrange New Species of Aquifer-Dwelling Catfish Discovered in India
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\\nBizarre New Species of Catfish Discovered in South America
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\\nUnicorn-like blind fish discovered in dark waters deep in Chinese cave
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\\nNew Species of Hornshark Discovered off Australia
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\\nCryptic New Bird Species Identified in Panama
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\\nNew Species of Forest Hedgehog Discovered in China
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\\nNew species of voiceless frog discovered in Tanzania
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\\nThe weird new spiny katydid:
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\\nShow transcript:
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\\nWelcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I\\u2019m your host, Kate Shaw.
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\\nIt\\u2019s time for our annual discoveries episode, where we learn about some animals discovered in the previous year! There are always lots more animals discovered than we have time to talk about, so I just choose the ones that interest me the most.
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\\nThat includes the cheerfullest of springtime-looking marine snails discovered in the Florida Keys. The Florida Keys are a group of tropical islands along a coral reef off the coast of Florida, which is in North America. A related snail was also discovered off the coast of Belize in Central America that looks so similar that at first the scientists thought they were the same species with slightly different coloration. A genetic study of the snails revealed that they were separate species. The one found in the Keys is a lemony yellow color while the one from Belize is more of a lime green.
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\\nThe snails have been placed into a new genus but belong to a group called worm snails. When a young worm snail finds a good spot to live, it sticks its shell to a rock or other surface and stays there for the rest of its life. Its shell isn\\u2019t shaped like an ordinary snail shell but instead grows long and sort of curved or curly. The snail spreads a thin layer of slime around it using two little tentacles, and the slime traps tiny pieces of food that float by.
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\\nThe new snails are small and while the snail\\u2019s body is brightly colored, its shell is drab and helps it blend in with the background. Scientists think that the colorful body may be a warning to potential predators, since its mucus contains toxins. It mainly lives on pieces of dead coral.
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\\nAnother invertebrate discovery last year came from Japan, where two new species of pygmy squid were found living in seagrass beds and coral reefs. Both are tiny, only 12 mm long, and are named after little forest spirits from folklore. Despite its small size, it can eat shrimp bigger than it is by grabbing it with its little bitty adorable arms. Both species have been seen before but never studied until now.'