One small step for leeches, one giant leap for leechkind! For the first time, we have concrete evidence that at least one species of terrestrial leech in Madagascar can jump. Mai’s work is important to conservation efforts because leeches are increasingly being collected to survey vertebrate biodiversity. By analyzing their blood meals, researchers are able to identify other animals living alongside the leeches, ranging from wildcats to frogs to ground-dwelling birds. Read more about Mai's research in our latest blog post.

Have you ever seen a leech jump? Let us know in the comments!

During a recent expedition, a team of Museum researchers experimented with a new method of tracking endangered animals. But first, they had to bare their arms and legs and attract bloodsucking leeches!

Learn more about this research.

On a recent expedition to the lush forests of Cambodia, a team of Museum researchers experimented with a new method of tracking endangered animals. But first, they had to bare their arms and legs and attract bloodsucking leeches.

Learn more about the expedition.

New Leech Species Named for Author Amy Tan

Using an innovative method for peering inside soft-bodied animals, researchers have described a new species of leech and named it after best-selling author Amy Tan.

Chtonobdella tanae, a terrestrial leech from Australia, is the first new species of invertebrate without chitinous or calcified tissues (like a shell or exoskeleton) to be described using computed tomography (CT) scanning. The work was recently published in the journal Zoologica Scripta, and represents a new avenue for studying soft-bodied organisms like worms and jellyfish—especially those like Chtonobdella tanae which, at about 1 centimeter long and 2 millimeters wide, is too small to dissect.

“Historically, to get an idea of what the internal structure of a soft-bodied invertebrate looks like, you have to dissect it by hand or painstakingly section the specimen and then reconstruct it in three dimensions,” said Michael Tessler, lead author on the paper and a student in the comparative biology doctoral program at the Museum's Richard Gilder Graduate School. “CT imaging is not only more precise than physical dissection, but it also doesn’t require us to destroy the specimen we’re studying.”

How does Amy Tan feel about this honor? Read on the Museum blog.