T. Rex Leech

 

Photograph courtesy PLoS ONE

A new leech king of the jungle, Tyrannobdella rex—or "tyrant leech king"—was discovered in the remote Peruvian Amazon, National Geographic News reported in April.
The up-to-three-inch-long (about seven-centimeter-long) leech has large teeth, like its dinosaur namesake Tyrannosaurus rex. What's more, the newfound critter's "naughty bits are rather small," noted study co-author Mark Siddall, curator of invertebrate zoology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.
For these reasons and more, the bizarre bloodsucker is an editors' pick for one of the oddest new species of 2010.
Get the full story: "'Tyrant King' Leech Discovered, Attacks Orifices."

New Purple Octopus?

Photograph courtesy Bedford Institute of Oceanography

This unidentified purple octopus is one of 11 potentially new species found during a July deep-sea expedition off Canada's Atlantic coast.
The 20-day expedition aimed to uncover relationships between cold-water coral and other bottom-dwelling creatures in a pristine yet "alien" environment, according to the researchers' blog.
See more pictures: "'Spectacular' Deep-Sea Species Found off Canada."

"Yoda Bat"

Photograph courtesy Piotr Naskrecki, Conservation International

This tube-nosed fruit bat—which became a Web sensation as "Yoda bat"—is just one of the roughly 200 species encountered during two scientific expeditions to Papua New Guinea in 2009, scientists announced in October.
Though seen on previous expeditions, the bat has yet to be formally documented as a new species, or even named. Like other fruit bats, though, it disperses seeds from the fruit in its diet, perhaps making the flying mammal crucial to its tropical rain forest ecosystem.
See more pictures: "Tube-Nosed Bat, More Rare Species Found." 

"Ninja" Slug

Photograph courtesy Peter Koomen

Boasting a tail three times the length of its head, the newly described long-tailed slug is found only in the high mountains of the Malaysian part of Borneo, scientists said in April.
The new species shoots its mate with "love darts" made of calcium carbonate and spiked with hormones—hence its nickname: ninja slug. Scientists believe this Cupid-like behavior may increase reproductive success. (Video: Ninja Woman.)
See more pictures: "'Ninja' Slug, Longest Insect Among New Species."

Sneezing Snub-Nosed Monkey

Photograph courtesy Ngwe Lwin

A new monkey species in Myanmar is so snub-nosed that rainfall is said to makes it sneeze—but that's apparently the least of its problems, conservationists announced in October.

The only scientifically observed specimen (pictured) had been killed by local hunters the time researchers found it—and was eaten soon after.
Get the full story: "New Snub-Nosed Monkey Discovered, Eaten."

Wood-Eating Catfish 

Photograph by Michael Goulding/Copeia

A new species of armored, wood-eating catfish (pictured underwater) found in the Amazon rain forest feeds on a fallen tree in the Santa Ana River in Peru in 2006.
Other so-called suckermouth armored catfish species use their unique teeth to scrape organic material from the surfaces of submerged wood. But the new, as yet unnamed, species is among the dozen or so catfish species known to actually ingest wood, National Geographic News reported in September.
See more pictures: "New Armored, Wood-Eating Catfish Found in Amazon." 

The Simpsons Toad

Photograph courtesy Robin Moore, ILCP

Nosing around for "lost" amphibian species in western Colombia in September, scientists stumbled across three entirely new species—including this beaked toad.
"Its long, pointy, snoutlike nose reminds me of the nefarious villain Mr. Burns from The Simpsons television series," expedition leader Robin Moore said in a November statement.
See more pictures: "'Mr. Burns' Toad, More New Amphibians Found."

Self-Cloning Lizard

Photograph courtesy Lee Grismer

You could call it the surprise du jour: A popular food on Vietnamese menus has turned out to be a lizard previously unknown to science, scientists said in November.

What's more, the newfound Leiolepis ngovantrii is no run-of-the-mill reptile—the all-female species reproduces via cloning, without the need for male lizards.
Read more: "New Self-Cloning Lizard Found in Vietnam Restaurant."

Squid Worm

Photograph courtesy Laurence Madin, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Squid? Worm? Initially, this new species—with bristle-based "paddles" for swimming and tentacles on its head—so perplexed Census of Marine Life researchers that they threw in the towel and simply called it squidworm, National Geographic News reported in November.
Found via remotely operated vehicle about 1.7 miles (2.8 kilometers) under the Celebes Sea (see map) in 2007, the four-inch-long (ten-centimeter-long) creature turned out to be the first member of a new family in the Polychaeta class of segmented worms.
Read more: "'Flamboyant' New Squid Worm Surprise

Pink Handfish

Photograph courtesy Karen Gowlett-Holmes

Using its fins to walk, rather than swim, along the ocean floor in an undated picture, the pink handfish is one of nine newly named species described in a scientific review of the handfish family released in May.
Only four specimens of the elusive four-inch (ten-centimeter) pink handfish have ever been found, and all of those were collected from areas around the city of Hobart (map), on the Australian island of Tasmania.
See more pictures: "Nine Fish With 'Hands' Found to Be New Species."
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