Sneezing monkey, geckos, mussels… At least 100 new species have been discovered in Burma in ten years, a sign of the country’s “staggering” biodiversity, announced the NGO Fauna and Flora International (FFI). This “incredible streak of discoveries” began in 2010 with Stryker’s snub-nosed monkey, a small black primate known as the “sneezing monkey”, the conservation group said.
During these ten years, which saw the dissolution of the Burmese junta and the opening of the country (before a coup in early 2021), scientists from all over the world were able to travel through tropical forests, explore caves, descend rivers and weave your way through karst rock formations.
Exciting news: since 2010, we & our partners have discovered 100 new species in Myanmar!
From Popa langurs to Ywangan crocodile newts, each is a reminder of how much more there is to learn about our amazing natural world and greater reason to protect it.https://t.co/hGoCvMCQAr
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“One day, a new species! »
“Myanmar is home to biological riches that most countries can only dream of. Its forests are home to some of the most spectacular wildlife in mainland Southeast Asia,” FFI said in a statement, which nonetheless highlights the “threats” facing this biodiversity, from logging to hunting. through agriculture and infrastructure development. This catalog, which the NGO had originally planned to unveil last year, at the time of the coup, also includes a cave-dwelling crab, a carnivorous snail and 17 species of freshwater mussels.
Scientists have also found 37 different species of geckos living in karst formations in the east of the country, many of them very isolated and located only on a single hill or cave. In a single two-week expedition, 15 new species had been identified: “one day, a new species! says biologist Aung Lin. And the chances of finding new ones are “very high,” said Lee Grismer of La Sierra University, whose team found the majority of the geckos and hopes to organize further expeditions.
For a few years, Burma’s openness allowed researchers to travel to remote areas of the country that had previously been off-limits, said Ngwe Lwin, FFI’s Burma manager. Not always easy though. Like when he and his team tracked down a new species of monkey in Kachin State, near the Chinese border, in 2010. Locals said the animal was easy to find, especially in the rain, its upturned nose collecting water forcing it to sneeze. They had even indicated the place where to find it.
But after days of fruitless walking in the dense forest, the team found only one dead specimen, accidentally captured in a bear trap, says Ngwe Lwin, adding that since then a protection zone has been set up and that local hunters are less likely to use these traps.
