Grey-faced sengi (Rhyncocyon udzungwensis

This sengi or elephant shrew was first discovered in 2006 in Uzungwa National Park, Tanzania. Italian scientist, Francesco Rovero, from the Trento Museum of Natural Sciences caught the tiny mammal on a camera trap. The grey-faced sengi is much bigger than any other - roughly the size of a rabbit. It weighs about 700g and has a long, flexible nose which resembles an elephant's trunk. Strangely, elephant shrews are not related to shrews but they do share a common ancestor with elephants

Langkawi bent-toed gecko (Cyrtodactylus macrotuberculatus

This extraordinary gecko was first discovered in 2008 on an island off North-western Malaysia by Dr Lee Grismer and his team. It uses its amazing eyesight and grip to catch its forest-dwelling prey at night. But what made it a discovery of the decade was that this forest gecko has also recently been found in a limestone cave. The cave gecko looks similar to those living in the forest but has some remarkable visible differences. Dr Grismer believes this could be evolution in the making - a gecko that has evolved to live in a cave. The lizards may have moved into the caves to avoid predators - specifically pit vipers that live in the forest

TOOBED NOSED BAT

This bat with yellow ears and nose, reminiscent of Yoda from Star Wars, was discovered in Papua-New Guinea. Though seen on previous expeditions, the bat has yet to be formally documented as a new species, or even named. Like other fruit bats, though, it disperses seeds from the fruit in its diet, perhaps making the flying mammal crucial to its tropical rain forest ecosystem

SLOTH

This species, discovered on the island on Escudo de Veraguas off the Carribean coast, shows how quickly the process of evolution can happen. The pygmy sloth has been isolated on its tiny island habitat for just 9,000 years - when rising sea levels cut the island off from the mainland. The sloths are slower and more placid than their mainland relatives and, remarkably, they can swim. They seem suitably adapted to their Caribbean island lifestyle. Pygmy sloths are less than half the size of a normal sloth and they only eat mangrove leaves - a low-nutirent diet that explains their diminutive stature. There are just 200 of them on the island so every mangrove tree counts for these vulnerable creatures. Decade of Discovery, a collaboration between Conservation International and the BBC's Natural History Unit, will be broadcast at 20.00BST on Tuesday 14 Decmber on BBC Two 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcfuRpcJNsU&feature=player_embedded

ISOPODS

The giant isopod, known scientifically as Bathynomus giganteus, is the largest known member of the isopod family. It is very closely related to the small pillbugs that you can find in the garden. It is a carnivorous crustacean that spends its time scavenging the deep ocean floor. Food is extremely scarce at these great depths, so the isopod has adapted to eat what ever happens to fall to the ocean floor from above. It will also feed on some of the small invertebrates that live at these depths

LONG NOSED CHIMEAERA

Biologists have gone to great lengths to describe the long-nosed chimaera, Harriotta raleighana, whose kind can reach five feet in length. Its stiletto-like nose reminded one of "the nose contour of a supersonic jet aircraft." Others have dubbed it "rattail," for obvious reasons. In South Africa, it is known as the "ghost shark," though it is only distantly related to sharks. A touch of the venomous spine on the first dorsal fin can kill a person, though such a fate is unlikely given the 8,000-foot depths at which this creature lives.

WRINKLE FACED BAT

This creature is found in and around central America. It is a fruit eater but it does not come under the fruit bat category. t is classified as a leaf-nosed bat but does not have a leaf nose. It has an unusually shaped skull which is thought to allow the bat to eat a wider range of foods than other bats.