The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) published a report this week describing the 211 new species discovered in the Eastern Himalayas over recent years (2009-). This rich, biodiverse mountain range located in Asia spans over Northeastern India, Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet and Northern Myanmar (Burma).
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This includes a species of fish affectionately called the "Dracula" fish due to its vampire-like fangs. There is no need to worry however- this cutie is only 1/2 inch long.
Another species discovered is a sneezing snub-nosed monkey, called the Burmese Snub-Nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus strykeri) The species sneezes when it rains due to rain getting into its evolutionarily inconvenient nose. To deal with this, the monkey spends its rainy days with "its head tucked between its knees", according to WWF. An actual photo of it in the wild is included below. Following that is a digitally-created image of it.
Of these species discovered a new species of banana was included. This species is called the Musa Markkui, which was found in northern India.
Fascinatingly, a species of air-breathing walking fish had been discovered as well. This species, called a Vibrant Blue Dwarf 'Walking' Snakehead fish (Channa andrao), was found in a Bengalese Swamp. Even though it has gills, this species of fish can actually survive completely on land for four days.
To understand the sheer amount of species discovered during this time period, it boils down to about 34 species were discovered each year. Alarmingly, this region is under threat from a multitude of pressures, including deforestation, poaching, population growth, mining and the wildlife trade, just to name a few. Sami Tornikoski, leader of the WWF Living Himalayas Initiative, stated that "The challenge is to preserve our threatened ecosystems before these species, and others yet unknown are lost". We can only hope that this new, huge discovery will help drive people to protect and treasure this fragile, beautiful ecosystem.
