With 367 new species discovered in the Greater Mekong Region over the past 2 years, the World Wildlife Foundation has proclaimed it to be a Global Diversity Hotspot.
Even as the region’s ecosystems are threatened by development, poaching and climate change, scientists continue to find new wildlife, from skydiving geckos to a fish with genitals in its head.
The Independent highlighted some of the recent finds:
“One of the 15 species highlighted in its report Mysterious Mekong is a new species of flying squirrel (Biswamoyopterus laoensis), discovered in 2013 after being described for the first time from a single animal skin found in a bush-meat market in Laos.
A new species of parachute gecko (Ptychozoon kaengkrachanense), was discovered in the montane evergreen forest in western Thailand’s Kaeng Krachan National Park. The camouflage-patterned gecko extends flaps of skin on its flanks and between its toes to help it glide down from branch to tree trunk.”
Another new species, the Cambodian tailorbird, was described in 2013 by scientists after it was discovered in plain sight, living in dense shrub on the outskirts of the capital Phnom Penh. Tailorbirds are named after the habit of weaving leaves into a nest and the species has already been listed as “near threatened”.
Who knows what else lies in the region’s rivers and jungles?
