A New Species of Mud Dragon with Maria Herranz

Have you ever heard of Mud Dragons?

They’re actually a group of marine invertebrates that can be found in oceans across the globe. And, as Dr. María Herranz tells us in this interview, collecting and processing them is a unique challenge. Listen in to find out how a piece of copy paper and Madonna in the early 90s are connected to these fascinating creatures!

María Herranz’s paper “Expanding the Echinoderes coulli group (Kinorhyncha: Cyclorhagida) with a new species from the Chuuk Islands, Micronesia” is in Volume 302 of Zoologischer Anzeiger. It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcz.2022.11.010

New Species: Echinoderes inaequalis

Episode image courtesy of María Herranz

Follow María on twitter: @Maríaherranz___ Check out María’s website: https://www.Maríaherranzm.com/ And visit the Natural History Museum of Denmark’s Collections Portal: https://collections.snm.ku.dk/en