National Museum of Natural History Species of the Day Collection

This Collection contains a complete archive of all creatures featured on the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History's "Species of the Day" feature on its home page (http://mnh.si.edu) since 20 April 2010. The sort field contains the month and day of the last time a creature was shown. Those shown more than a year ago have '999' in the sort field.

To nominate a species, please leave us a comment in the Newsfeed with your suggestion, including why you think it would make a great Species of the Day! If you can paste a link to the species you are interested in, that would also be helpful.

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- Life
- Eukaryota
- Opisthokonta
- Metazoa
- Protostomia
- Spiralia
Segmented Worms

Annelida

999. The annelids (segmented worms) include a tremendous diversity of marine forms, as well as the more familiar leeches and earthworms, among others.
- Life
- Eukaryota
- Opisthokonta
- Metazoa
- Protostomia
- Ecdysozoa
- Arthropoda
- Chelicerata
- Arachnida
- Acari
- Ixodida
Softbacked Ticks

Argasidae

999. Unlike the ixodid (hard) ticks (Family Ixodidae), which stay attached to their hosts for up to several days while feeding, most argasid ticks (Family Argasidae) are adapted to feeding rapidly (for about an hour), then dropping off the host.
- Life
- Eukaryota
- Opisthokonta
- Metazoa
- Protostomia
- Ecdysozoa
- Arthropoda
- Chelicerata
- Arachnida
Pseudoscorpions

Pseudoscorpiones

07.16. Pseudoscorpions superficially resemble small scorpions, but they lack the elongate tail and sting.
- Life
- Eukaryota
- Opisthokonta
- Metazoa
- Protostomia
- Ecdysozoa
- Arthropoda
- Chelicerata
- Arachnida
Tailless Whip Scorpions

Amblypygi

999. The long slender "whips" of a tailless whip scorpion are actually the highly modified first pair of legs, which function as antenna-like tactile and chemoreceptors.
- Life
- Eukaryota
- Opisthokonta
- Metazoa
- Protostomia
- Ecdysozoa
- Arthropoda
- Hexapoda
Springtails

Collembola

999. Springtails are extremely abundant and extraordinarily widespread, occurring even in Antarctica.
- Life
- Eukaryota
- Opisthokonta
- Metazoa
- Protostomia
- Ecdysozoa
- Arthropoda
- Hexapoda
- Insecta
- Pterygota
Earwigs

Dermaptera

12.14. The roughly 2,000 species of described earwigs are elongate and slender insects that are typically brown or black (although other colors, such as metallic green, are seen in a few species) and have the front pair of wings reduced and leathery (some species are wingless); the idea that earwigs enter people's ears is an old myth.
- Life
- Eukaryota
- Opisthokonta
- Metazoa
- Protostomia
- Ecdysozoa
- Arthropoda
- Hexapoda
- Insecta
- Pterygota
- Endopterygota
- Diptera
Bee Flies

Bombyliidae

999. Many fly species in this family are very convincing visual mimics of bees.
- Life
- Eukaryota
- Opisthokonta
- Metazoa
- Protostomia
- Ecdysozoa
- Arthropoda
- Hexapoda
- Insecta
- Pterygota
- Mantophasmatodea
Rock Crawlers

Mantophasmatidae

999. This enigmatic group of African insects was first discovered by scientists in 2002.
- Life
- Eukaryota
- Opisthokonta
- Metazoa
- Protostomia
- Ecdysozoa
- Arthropoda
- Hexapoda
- Insecta
- Pterygota
- Endopterygota
- Mecoptera
Snow Scorpionflies

Boreidae

999. Boreids, the various species of which are found at relatively high elevations or latitudes, are among the small proportion of insects that may be encountered in the snow.
- Life
- Eukaryota
- Opisthokonta
- Metazoa
- Protostomia
- Ecdysozoa
- Arthropoda
- Hexapoda
- Insecta
- Pterygota
- Endopterygota
- Neuroptera
Mantidflies

Mantispidae

999. After hatching, the larvae of many mantispid species locate and develop within spider egg sacs, feeding on the eggs.
- Life
- Eukaryota
- Opisthokonta
- Metazoa
- Protostomia
- Ecdysozoa
- Arthropoda
- Multicrustacea
- Malacostraca
- Peracarida
Hooded Shrimp

Cumacea Krøyer 1846

999. The cumaceans are mostly small (typically <8 mm) bottom-dwelling crustaceans that are a major food source for birds and fish in many regions.
- Life
- Eukaryota
- Opisthokonta
- Metazoa
- Protostomia
- Spiralia
Spiny Headed Worms

Acanthocephala

999. The roughly 1100 species of described acanthocephalans are obligate intestinal parasites of vertebrates, especially fishes.
- Life
- Eukaryota
- Opisthokonta
- Metazoa
- Protostomia
- Ecdysozoa
- Arthropoda
- Oligostraca
Ostracodes

Ostracoda Latreille 1802

12.11. Ostracods are abundant and distinctive crustaceans found worldwide in virtually all types of aquatic environments and are known from depths of 7,000 m in the sea; although most ostracods are tiny (0.1 to 2 mm), members of at least one species can exceed 3 cm.
- Life
- Eukaryota
- Opisthokonta
- Metazoa
- Protostomia
- Spiralia
Lamp Shells

Brachiopoda

999. The rich fossil history of brachiopods makes this group of particular interest to paleontologists.
- Life
- Eukaryota
- Opisthokonta
- Metazoa
- Deuterostomia
- Vertebrata
- Tetrapoda
- Synapsida
- Cynodontia
- Mammalia
Elephant Shrews

Macroscelididae

10.06. Despite the name, elephant shrews are not closely related to shrews--in fact, they are members of the Afrotheria and therefore more closely related to elephants than to shrews.
- Life
- Eukaryota
- Opisthokonta
- Metazoa
- Protostomia
- Spiralia
Arrow Worms

Chaetognatha

999. Although chaetognath species diversity is low, local abundance of a particular species can be very high and chaetognaths are major players in many marine food webs.
- Life
- Eukaryota
- Opisthokonta
- Metazoa
- Deuterostomia
- Vertebrata
- Chondrichthyes
"Sharks, Skates And Rays"

Elasmobranchii

08.04. The elasmobranchs are a diverse group of fishes that includes the sharks, skates, and rays (the elasmobranchs and a group of fishes known as chimaeras together comprise the "cartilaginous fishes"; a far greater number of species are in the group known as the "bony fishes").
- Life
- Eukaryota
- Opisthokonta
- Metazoa
- Protostomia
- Spiralia
Cycliophorans

Cycliophora

999. Cycliophora is a phylum that was recognized only in 1995 following the description of <i>Symbion pandora</i>, which was discovered living on the mouthparts of Norwegian Lobsters (<i>Nephrops norvegicus</i>) in the North Atlantic; watch the video from Creature Features explaining the weird and wonderful life cycle of cycliophorans.
- Life
- Eukaryota
- Opisthokonta
- Metazoa
- Protostomia
- Ecdysozoa
Water Bears

Tardigrada

999. The Tardigrada are microscopic animals that look superficially like miniature eight-legged teddy bears. They live in habitats with at least intermittent moisture and can form resistant resting stages enabling them to endure extreme environmental conditions, including intense heat and cold, radiation, desiccation, and even the vacuum of space.
- Life
- Eukaryota
- Archaeplastida
- Angiosperms
Torchwood Family

Zygophyllaceae

999. On this last day of the year, our "Species" of the Day is the plant family Zygophyllaceae, the last plant family in D.J. Mabberley's classic dictionary of plants.

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