The Wooly Devil, or Ovicula biradiata​, was first spotted by botany volunteer Deb Manley and a park ranger in Big Bend National Park in Texas in March 2024.

Tens of thousands of national parks and forest employees were terminated last week. The cuts, part of a larger push to cut federal spending, have left federal employees worried about the future of public lands and employment opportunities.

The tiny species was previously unknown to science, according to a further investigation by the National Park Service.

Two staff members at Big Bend National Park have discovered a new plant. In March 2024, a volunteer with the Big Bend National Park botany program and a supervisory interpretive park ranger first noticed some very tiny plants sprinkled among the desert rocks in a remote area in the northern reaches of the park.