Even though it may seem as though humans have discovered everything there is to know about our planet, researchers are frequently discovering new creatures. Here are some of the five most interesting species discovered this year 

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The most recently discovered animal on this list, the Camiguin Hawk-Owl only lives on the small island of Camiguin Sur, in the Philippines. It has blue-gray eyes and sings a long song that builds throughout the night and features a low, growling tone.
“The owls don't learn their songs, which are genetically programmed in their DNA and are used to attract mates or defend their territory; so if they're very different, they must be new species," the Pam Rasmussen, a zoologist with Michigan State University, who discovered the owl, told Fox News. "When we first heard the songs of both owls, we were amazed because they were so distinctly different that we realized they were new species."

The “sneezing monkey” is a type of snub-nosed monkey that was discovered in the forests of Myanmar. It has a nose that is so upturned, it sneezes every time it rains. In order to stop itself from inhaling water, the monkey sits with its heads tucked between its knees during storms, according to LiveScience.

Discovered in the Pacific Northwest, the hook-footed spider is not only a new species, but also an entirely new family of species. Also known as Trogloraptor, the spider is three inches wide and has long, flexible hooks on the end of its legs that it uses to snatch their pretty in midair

A mushroom discovered on the island of Borneo, the Spongebob Mushroom, named after the popular cartoon character, is a bright orange fungus shaped like a seasponge. Despite the fact that it doesn’t live in the ocean, researchers named it after Spongebob because of a unique property.
“It’s just like a sponge with these big hollow holes,” San Francisco State University’s Dennis Desjardin said, according to National Geographic. “When it’s wet and moist and fresh, you can wring water out of it and it will spring back to its original size. Most mushrooms don’t do that.”

Though it is named after a plant, the Walking Cactus is actually a type of Lobopodia -- an extinct group of armored animals with wormlike bodies and multiple legs. Researchers discovered fossils of the animal in China and dated it back 520 million years.