The Great Unknown

I find it astounding that even with all of the technology we now have there are still parts of the world that have yet to be explored. Even today, new species are still being discovered, which just makes me wonder how many species we have killed off without even knowing what they were.

I remember when I was in Costa Rica in 2005, our guide was pointing out species of plants that he said were new and waiting to be classified. He was hoping to get credit for finding one of them, and thus get the naming credits. It made me feel so small that there are so many different organisms in the world. I think it is the little kid in me that just wants to poke and prod and understand all the amazing new things there are to study. 

In the last week a new species of bat (that was actually first sighted in the 1970's) was discovered to be a distinct species in Ecuador, and a new species of squid was found in the Indian ocean. I find it pretty exciting that there are still things to explore.