New Species Discoveries in 2016
A crocodile lizard that has been turned into a cartoon character, a snail-eating turtle discovered in a Thai food market and a horseshoe bat that would not look out of place in a Star Wars movie are just three of the 115 new species discovered by scientists in the Greater Mekong region in 2016.
The Greater Mekong region is already home to some of the most iconic species in the world, but every year this list grows longer as more and more scientists head to the region to climb mountains, wade through rivers, and muddy their boots in search of the mysteries that nature is still hiding. At the swift pace of at least two species discovered per week on average, scientists are reminding us of all the creatures that coexist with the 237 million people who also call this region home.
In 2016, researchers introduced us to 115 new mammals, amphibians, reptiles and plants found throughout the five countries of the Greater Mekong region […] This brings the total number of news species of plants, birds, mammals, reptiles, fish and amphibians discovered in the region between 1997 and 2016 to 2,524.
While it’s amazing to see the diversity of species being discovered every year, many of these species are under direct threat from human activity.
