A rainbow-headed snake, a tiny frog and a lizard with dragon-like horns are among more than 150 new species confirmed by scientists last year in the ecologically diverse, but threatened Mekong region, researchers said yesterday.
Winding its way from the Tibetan plateau through the mountains and jungles of Southeast Asia, the Mekong River helps sustain one of the most diverse regions on the planet.
Each year scientists announce new species, after an often lengthy identification process, highlighting how much more there is to learn about the region.
Photo: AFP / Montri Sumontha
However, there are fears many species may die out before even being discovered in an area of the world that is rapidly developing, where rule of law is notoriously shaky and wildlife smuggling rampant.
“The Greater Mekong region is a magnet for the world’s conservation scientists because of the incredible diversity of species that continue to be discovered here,” said Jimmy Borah, from the WWF’s Greater Mekong team. “They are racing against time to ensure that these newly discovered species are protected.”
The Greater Mekong region — which includes southwestern China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar — is under intense pressure from dam and road building as well as a thriving illegal wildlife trade, much of it centered around the lawless Golden Triangle area where the latter three meet.
Photo: AFP / Australian Museum / Jodi Rowley
“Many collectors are willing to pay thousands of dollars or more for the rarest, most unique and most endangered species,” Borah said.
In total, scientists described 163 new species last year, including nine amphibians, three mammals, 11 fish, 14 reptiles and 126 plants.
Among the most eye-catching are Parafimbrios lao, a snake found in the limestone karsts of northern Laos whose scales reflect rainbow-like colors around its head.
On the Thai island of Phuket, which has seen huge development in recent decades, scientists found a lizard (Acanthosaura phuketensis) with a fearsome-looking ridge of horns down its head and back.
And in the country’s northern Chiang Rai Province researchers found a newt (Tylototriton anguliceps) with dazzling red and black markings that they likened to a Klingon’s head from the Star Trek franchise.
In Cambodia and Vietnam, a new frog species, Leptolalax isos, that at 3cmlong, could fit on a fingertip was also discovered.
It was first spotted in 2006, but peer-reviewed confirmation that it was indeed a new species took nearly a decade.
Between 1997 and last year there have been 2,409 new species described in the Greater Mekong, the equivalent of two new discoveries a week.
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