Newswise — SYRACUSE, NEW YORK — The College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) will announce the Top 10 New Species for 2017 this month.

News about the Top 10 New Species will be distributed in an embargoed news release Thursday, May 18. The embargo will lift at 6 a.m. EDT Tuesday, May 23.

Information about downloading and using images will be included in the news release.

ESF releases the Top 10 list each year in conjunction with the May 23 birthday of Carolus Linnaeus, the “Father of Taxonomy.” His work in the mid-18th century was the beginning point for “modern” naming and classification of plants and animals.

Each year since 2008, the ESF International Institute for Species Exploration (IISE) has released a list of 10 species chosen by an international committee of taxonomy experts as the top new species reported during the previous year. The honorees are chosen from among an estimated 18,000 species described for the first time each year. The purpose of the Top 10 is to draw attention to biodiversity and the science and institutions engaged in its exploration. ESF President Quentin Wheeler is the founding director of the institute.