04 Jan. 2019

The international NGO WWF announced in its report published Wednesday, December 12th, the discovery during 2017 of 157 new species from fauna and flora in the Greater Mekong region, which includes 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. The fauna and flora notably 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 tonnes of fish are caught each year, representing 25% of global freshwater catches.

Each year, scientists participate in the description and classification of new species present in the Greater Mekong region. Some are uncovered after meticulous fieldwork, sometimes involving months of labor on site, and years of laboratory authentication.

The Two-Banded Lizard!

The report confirms that scientists discovered 41 new animal and plant species in Cambodia. There are in total 26 new plant species*, five frogs**, four fish***, two snakes****, and four lizards*****. Among the latter is the dixonius kaweesaki, or Sam Roï Yot dixonius in English. It takes its name from its genus (dixonius) and the famous massif of the same name (Sam Roï Yot) in Prachuap Khiri Khan Province, on the Gulf of Thailand coast. Its habitat, in essence. This specimen was identified as a new species thanks to the two transverse bands that run across it from snout to tail, spanning from east to west across the diameter of the eyes. None of the seven previous dixonius species possess this aesthetic trait. This family of geckos was moreover discovered in 1997 with two new specimens.

The Sam Roï 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 devotee of literature and Asia, Thibault shares his experiences through his writing.