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Discoveries of the
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (ATBI)

  • "New to Science" species have never been identified anywhere in the world before the ATBI.


  • "New to Park" species have never been identified in the Park before the ATBI.


  • "Previously Known" species were known to exist in the Park prior to the ATBI.


  • Much thanks goes to Dr. Becky Nichols, at the Park's Twin Creeks Science and Education Center, for her tireless work in keeping the list below up-to-date. She continues to spend much time not only in querying scientists for new findings, but also in sifting through old reports and other data sources to locate and enumerate the Park's historic inventory records.
Neophylax kolodskii

Illustration by Nancy Lowe

Smokies Species Tally
(As of July, 2008)

Organism Group Historic Records (prior to ATBI) New to Park
(since ATBI began)
New To
Science
Total
Discovered
Acari (mites) 21 106 56 183
Algae 358 564 78 1,000
Amphibians (frogs, toads, and salamanders) 41 2 0 43
Annelids (segmented worms: aquatic and terrestrial) 14 35 6 55
Aranea (spiders) 224 240 41 505
Archaea 0 0 44 44
Aves (birds) 237 7 0 244
Bacteria 0 179 270 449
Bryozoa (moss animalcules) 0 1 0 1
Chilopoda (centipedes) 20 9 0 29
Cnidaria (freshwater jellyfish) 0 2 0 2
Coleoptera (beetles) 887 1,378 42 2,307
Collembola (springtails) 55 100 60 215
Crustaceans (crayfish, copepods, etc.) 14 66 27 107
Dermaptera (earwigs) 2 0 0 2
Diplopoda (millipedes) 49 25 1 75
Diplura (bristletails, etc.) 4 4 4 12
Diptera (flies) 559 291 27 877
Ephemeroptera (mayflies) 125 6 4 135
Fish 71 6 0 77
Fungi (mushrooms, etc.) 2,157 583 57 2,797
Hemiptera (true bugs) 254 223 4 481
Hymenoptera (bees, wasps, ants, etc.) 216 475 23 714
Ixodida (ticks) 7 4 0 11
Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) 891 916 36 1,843
Lichens 393 164 15 572
Mammalia (mammals) 65 1 0 66
Mecoptera (scorpionflies) 18 2 1 21
Microcoryphia (jumping bristletails) 0 2 1 3
Mollusca (snails, clams, etc.) 125 51 7 183
Nematodes (nematode worms) 6 6 1 13
Nematomorpha (horsehair worms) 2 3 0 5
Neuroptera (Lacewings, antlions, etc.) 12 31 0 43
Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) 61 32 0 93
Opilionids (daddy longlegs or harvestmen) 0 12 0 12
Orthoptera (grasshoppers, crickets, etc.) 76 31 1 108
Orthopteroids (cockroaches, mantids, walking sticks, etc.) 7 6 0 13
Pauropoda 5 27 13 45
Plants: non-vascular 482 9 0 491
Plants: vascular (trees, wildflowers, grasses, etc.) 1,598 62 0 1,660
Platyhelminthes (flatworms, etc.) 11 8 1 20
Plecoptera (stoneflies) 104 5 2 111
Protozoa 0 33 2 35
Protura 11 5 10 26
Scorpions and Pseudoscorpions 2 1 0 3
Psocoptera (barklice) 18 49 8 75
Pthiraptera (chewing and sucking lice) 8 39 0 47
Reptiles (snakes, lizards and turtles) 38 2 0 40
Siphonaptera (fleas) 17 9 1 27
Slime Molds 128 136 11 275
Symphyla (garden centipedes) 0 0 2 2
Tardigrades (water bears) 3 51 18 72
Thysanoptera (thrips) 0 46 0 46
Thysanura (silverfishes) 0 1 0 1
Trichoptera (caddisflies) 155 78 5 238
Viruses 0 5 11 16
Organism Totals: 9,551 6,129 890 16,570

REFERENCES

Nichols, Becky. 2008. Personal communication, Great Smoky Mountains National Park.