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Prince Mohammed bin Salman Royal Reserve Reveals Five Species New to Global Science

The latest discoveries bring the total number of terrestrial species identified in the reserve to 791 - SPA
The latest discoveries bring the total number of terrestrial species identified in the reserve to 791 - SPA
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Prince Mohammed bin Salman Royal Reserve Reveals Five Species New to Global Science

The latest discoveries bring the total number of terrestrial species identified in the reserve to 791 - SPA
The latest discoveries bring the total number of terrestrial species identified in the reserve to 791 - SPA

The Prince Mohammed bin Salman Royal Reserve has announced groundbreaking discoveries, including five species new to global science, three species previously unrecorded in Saudi Arabia, and 34 new global range extensions.
These discoveries bring the total number of terrestrial species identified in the reserve to 791. Although the reserve encompasses just 1% of Saudi Arabia’s terrestrial area, it is home to more than 50% of the Kingdom’s terrestrial species. The findings are the culmination of four years of intensive ecological baseline studies led by Saudi and international experts, SPA reported.
Chief Executive Officer of the Prince Mohammed bin Salman Royal Reserve Andrew Zaloumis highlighted the global significance of these discoveries, stating: “At a time when the IUCN has warned that 28% of species globally are at risk of extinction, these discoveries underscore the importance of the Prince Mohammed bin Salman Royal Reserve as a bioclimatic refugium. As climate change increasingly impacts traditional habitats, the reserve serves as a sanctuary for species. The iconic Wadi Al-Disah, with over 200 documented species, is a key site on UNESCO’s tentative list for the World Heritage Bioclimatic Refugia of Western Arabia. These achievements were made possible through strong collaboration between natural scientists from Saudi Arabia and 14 other countries over the past four years.”
Among the five species new to science are two reptiles and three plants, each with ecological and cultural significance. The gecko (Hemidactylus sp.) features distinctive brown horizontal stripes from neck to tail and white nodules along its back. This gecko preys on small invertebrates, such as mosquitoes, playing a vital role in pest control within desert ecosystems. The Hejaz black-collared snake (Rhynchocalamus hejazicus), a small, non-venomous species, is bright red with a striking black collar.
The three plants include the globe thistle (Echinops sp. aff. glaberrimus) from the Asteraceae family, which supports pollinators with its vibrant blooms and has historically been used medicinally for infections and inflammation. The mignonette (Reseda sp. aff. muricata), valued for its herbal properties, is commonly used in teas and perfumery. The hogbean (Hyoscyamus sp.) from the Nightshade family has a complex history, having been utilized as both a poison and in early anesthesiology and palliative care.
Since 2021, the reserve has partnered with organizations such as KAUST to conduct seasonal ecological surveys that document biodiversity and seasonal variations across taxonomical groups. To date, these efforts have recorded 461 plant species, including three new to science, one new to Saudi Arabia, and 11 global range extensions.
The surveys have also documented 240 bird species, including seven global range extensions, along with 39 reptile species, 18 bat species, 31 rodent and large mammal species, one amphibian, and one freshwater fish.
Senior Restoration and Wildlife Ecologist at Prince Mohammed bin Salman Royal Reserve Development Authority Josh Smithson remarked on the challenges of surveying the reserve. He explained that its vast size and ecological diversity required a phased approach, starting with high-value ecological areas and progressively expanding study sites. Eco-monitoring programs now complement this baseline work, enhancing the understanding of ecological functionality and diversity while informing reserve management plans.
The Prince Mohammed bin Salman Royal Reserve has published four peer-reviewed academic papers on its biodiversity, with four additional papers awaiting publication. The reserve remains committed to sharing its findings with the local and global scientific and conservation community.

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Scientists Release Plans for an Even Bigger Atom Smasher to Address the Mysteries of Physics

Mike Lamont, director for accelerators and technology, center left, and Fabiola Gianotti, center right, director general of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), speak with members of the U.S. House of Representatives in the Large Magnet Facility during a visit to CERN facilities in Meyrin, near Geneva, Switzerland, Friday, March 21, 2025. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)
Mike Lamont, director for accelerators and technology, center left, and Fabiola Gianotti, center right, director general of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), speak with members of the U.S. House of Representatives in the Large Magnet Facility during a visit to CERN facilities in Meyrin, near Geneva, Switzerland, Friday, March 21, 2025. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)
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Scientists Release Plans for an Even Bigger Atom Smasher to Address the Mysteries of Physics

Mike Lamont, director for accelerators and technology, center left, and Fabiola Gianotti, center right, director general of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), speak with members of the U.S. House of Representatives in the Large Magnet Facility during a visit to CERN facilities in Meyrin, near Geneva, Switzerland, Friday, March 21, 2025. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)
Mike Lamont, director for accelerators and technology, center left, and Fabiola Gianotti, center right, director general of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), speak with members of the U.S. House of Representatives in the Large Magnet Facility during a visit to CERN facilities in Meyrin, near Geneva, Switzerland, Friday, March 21, 2025. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)

Top minds at the world's largest atom smasher have released a blueprint for a much bigger successor that could vastly improve research into the remaining enigmas of physics.

The plans for the Future Circular Collider — a nearly 91-kilometer (56.5-mile) loop along the French-Swiss border and below Lake Geneva — published late Monday put the finishing details on a project roughly a decade in the making at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research.

The FCC would carry out high-precision experiments in the mid-2040s to study “known physics” in greater detail, then enter a second phase — planned for 2070 — that would conduct high-energy collisions of protons and heavy ions that would “open the door to the unknown,” said Giorgio Chiarelli, a research director at Italy’s National Institute of Nuclear Physics, The AP news reported.

“History of physics tells that when there is more data, the human ingenuity is able to extract more information than originally expected,” Chiarelli, who was not involved in the plans, said in an e-mail.

For roughly a decade, top minds at CERN have been making plans for a successor to the Large Hadron Collider, a network of magnets that accelerate particles through a 27-kilometer (17-mile) underground tunnel and slam them together at velocities approaching the speed of light.

“Ultimately what we would like to do is a collider which will come up with 10 times more energy than what we have today,” said Arnaud Marsollier, a CERN spokesman. “When you have more energy, then you can create particles that are heavier.”

The blueprint lays out the proposed path, environmental impact, scientific ambitions and project cost. Independent experts will take a look before CERN's two dozen member countries decide in 2028 whether to go forward, starting in the mid-2040s at a cost of some 14 billion Swiss francs (about $16 billion).

CERN officials tout the promise of scientific discoveries that could drive innovation in fields like cryogenics, superconducting magnets and vacuum technologies that could benefit humankind.

Outside experts point to the promise of learning more about the Higgs boson, the elusive particle that has been controversially dubbed “the God particle,” which helped explain how matter formed after the Big Bang.

Work at the particle collider confirmed in 2013 the existence of the Higgs boson — the central piece in a puzzle known as the standard model that helps explains some fundamental forces in the universe.

“This set of reports represents an important milestone in the process, but a full sense of the likelihood of it being brought to fruition will only be known through careful studies by scientists, engineers and others, including politicians who must make difficult decisions at time when uncertainty rules the day,” Dave Toback, a professor of physics and astronomy at Texas A&M University, said in an e-mail.

The new collider “provides an exciting opportunity for the particle physics community, and indeed all of physics, on the world stage,” said Toback, who was not affiliated with the plans, and who worked for years at the Fermilab Tevatron collider in the United States that was shut down in 2011.

CERN scientists, engineers and partners behind the plans considered at least 100 scenarios for the new collider before coming up with the proposed 91-kilometer circumference at an average depth of 200 meters (656 feet). The tunnel would be about 5 meters (16 feet) in diameter, CERN said.