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Winner of Invertebrate of the Year 2026 crowned – and it is the size of a grain of rice

The leaf sheep, a neon green solar-powered slug, has inspired at least one Pokémon character and triumphs in global ballot See the top 10 shortlist here Chris Packham: ‘Life as we know it hinges on invertebrates’ A neon green solar-powered slug that lives underwater is the winner of the increasingly popular Invertebrate of the Year competition run by the Guardian. The leaf sheep, Costasiella kuroshimae, triumphed in

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Ledger record
#1038
First seen
20 Aug 2026, 12:18 UTC
Last checked
21 Aug 2026, 14:20 UTC
Version history
2 versions
Current fingerprint
ce611f8695da...35c73b
01

Publisher layer

Recorded article metadata

Publisher
The Guardian
Country
England / United Kingdom
Source published
20 Aug 2026, 11:00 UTC
Source updated
No update timestamp supplied
Byline
Patrick Barkham
Section
Environment
Source-supplied excerpt
The leaf sheep, a neon green solar-powered slug, has inspired at least one Pokémon character and triumphs in global ballot See the top 10 shortlist here Chris Packham: ‘Life as we know it hinges on invertebrates’ A neon green solar-powered slug that lives underwater is the winner of the increasingly popular Invertebrate of the Year competition run by the Guardian. The leaf sheep, Costasiella kuroshimae, triumphed in
02

Change layer

Observed version timeline

  1. 2
    Revision observed

    Winner of Invertebrate of the Year 2026 crowned – and it is the size of a grain of rice

    The leaf sheep, a neon green solar-powered slug, has inspired at least one Pokémon character and triumphs in global ballot See the top 10 shortlist here Chris Packham: ‘Life as we know it hinges on invertebrates’ A neon green solar-powered slug that lives underwater is the winner of the increasingly popular Invertebrate of the Year competition run by the Guardian. The leaf sheep, Costasiella kuroshimae, triumphed in

    Changed fieldsdescriptionTextcontentText
    Version SHA-256
    ce611f8695da...35c73b
    Capture SHA-256
    b4421a3dcc78...c56595
  2. 1
    Initial capture

    Winner of Invertebrate of the Year 2026 crowned – and it is the size of a grain of rice

    The leaf sheep, a neon green solar-powered slug, has inspired at least one Pokémon character and triumphs in global ballot A neon green solar-powered slug that lives underwater is the winner of the increasingly popular Invertebrate of the Year competition run by the Guardian. The leaf sheep, Costasiella kuroshimae, triumphed in the global ballot after hundreds of thousands of readers around the world read about and s

    Changed fieldstitlebylinedescriptionTextcontentTextsourcePublishedAtsourceUpdatedAtsectionimageUrltags
    Version SHA-256
    cb852b556cda...a2293e
    Capture SHA-256
    5b8cf17d332a...1a6bb3
03

Interpretation layer

Labels with declared origins

Not an adjudication.

Publisher categories are copied from source metadata. Machine signals report observable wording or format and do not determine truth, intent, ethics, or wrongdoing.

  • machine content-type Reported news observable-rules-v1 / 70% rule confidence
  • publisher category Environment rss-category
  • publisher category Invertebrates rss-category
  • publisher category Marine life rss-category
  • publisher category Wildlife rss-category
04

Public response layer

Reception snapshots

No reviewed reception capture yet.

Comment counts and samples remain absent until a lawful, source-specific capture method is reviewed. Absence is recorded instead of estimated.

05

Evidence layer

Capture provenance

Capture ID
#489
Observed
20 Aug 2026, 14:33 UTC
HTTP result
200 / parsed
Raw payload
482,569 bytes, private gzip evidence
Collector
news-ledger/0.1
Public boundary
metadata and excerpt