| Posted: January 14, 2015
Ichthyophis cardamomensis, a new species of worm-like amphibian discovered in Cambodia
A new species of limbless amphibian has been discovered in Cambodia by a Cambridge scientist.
Herpetologist Neang Thy, from the Cambridge-based charity Flora and Fauna International, discovered the creature in remote part of the country formerly held by the Khmer Rouge.
Ichthyophis cardamomensis is a caecilian, an order of limbless amphibians that can often be mistaken for snakes, with larger species known to grow to 1.5 metres in length.
Measuring 32.17 cm, it was unearthed in the forested Cardamom Mountains Range, one of the largest remaining areas of habitat for more than 80 threatened species.
“These discoveries are important to demonstrate that much of Cambodia’s biodiversity remains unknown and unstudied by science, and many more areas need to be searched,” said Mr Thy.
In recent years the Cardamom region had revealed its extensive reptile and amphibian diversity, including frogs, turtles, lizards and crocodiles.
"We are still learning about this area and the animals in it, since it was a region formerly held by the Khmer Rouge and the mountains were closed to researchers until the 1990s," he said.
"The Cardamom region it is under threat from logging, land concessions, and other habitat destruction, and the danger of any new species, including the new caecilian, is that they may be discovered one year and go extinct the next."
No comments:
Post a Comment