04 Jan. 2019

International NGO WWF announced in its report released Wednesday, December 12th, the discovery of 157 new animal and plant species in the Greater Mekong region during 2017, encompassing Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Myanmar. The kingdom itself recorded the arrival of 41 new animal and plant species.

The Greater Mekong region, which flows through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam, harbors a treasure trove of biodiversity. Its fauna and flora include Asian elephants, tigers, leopards, several species of pangolins, ibises, freshwater dolphins, and more. The Mekong alone is home to three times more fish species than the Amazon River. A total of 2.6 million tons of fish are caught annually, representing 25% of global freshwater catches.

Each year, scientists participate in describing and classifying new species present in the Greater Mekong region. Some are discovered after meticulous fieldwork, sometimes involving months of work on site, and years of laboratory authentication.

The Two-Striped Lizard!

The report confirms that scientists discovered 41 new animal and plant species in Cambodia. In total there are 26 new plant species*, five frogs**, four fish***, two snakes****, and four lizards*****. Among the latter is the dixonius kaweesaki, or Sam Roi Yot dixonius in English. It takes its name from its genus (dixonius) and the famous mountain range of the same name (Sam Roi Yot) in Prachuap Khiri Khan province, on the coast of the Gulf of Thailand. Its natural habitat, in other words. This specimen was identified as a new species thanks to the two transverse bands running across it from snout to tail, spanning east to west across the diameter of its eyes. None of the seven previous dixonius species possess this distinctive feature. This gecko family was further discovered in 1997 with two additional specimens.

The Sam Roi Yot dixonius is the eighth specimen of the dixonius lizard family ©WWF

* : thismia brunneomitroides / curcuma prasina / ceropegia digitiformis / dischidia kerrii / fimbristylis fusiformis / fimbristylis fusiformis / jasminum peninsulare / jasminum ranongense / phyllanthus kaweesakii / memecylon maxwellii / damrongia tribounii / kaempferia noctiflora / asplenium minutifolium / peperomia heptaphylla / peperomia masuthoniana / peperomia multisurcula / peperomia sirindhorniana / phanera larseniana / dorcoceras brunneum / dorcoceras glabrum / chimonocalamus elegans / pogostemon nudus / strobilanthes phyllocephala / rungia sinothailandica / begonia tenasserimensis / heteropanax thaiensis ** : fejervarya muangkanensis / rhacophorus feae / rhacophorus maximus / rhacophorus orlovi / rhacophorus rhodopus *** : acantopsis rungthipae / acantopsis dinema / acantopsis ioa / paracanthocobitis nigrolineata **** : oligodon saiyok / oligodon huahin ***** : dixonius kaweesaki / cnemaspis lineogularis / cnemaspis phangngaensis / cnemaspis thachanaensis

Thibault Bourru

Thibault Bourru

A passionate lover of literature and Asia, Thibault shares his experiences through his writing.