The Hindu : Front Page : 11 new species identified

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Thursday, Sep 27, 2007
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11 new species identified

James Randerson

— Photos: AFP/AP

FLORAL SURPRISES: Two of the species discovered in Vietnam.

London: Eleven new species, including a snake and two butterflies, have been discovered in a region of Vietnam known as the Green Corridor, the WWF has revealed.

Five orchids and three other plants make up the rest of the haul of species new to science. They all appear to be unique to Vietnam’s Annamites mountain range.

Ten other plant species, including four orchids, are being examined to check whether they are also new to science. The area in Thua Thien Hue province is already renowned among conservationists following the discovery of several new large mammal species in the 1990s.

“You only discover so many new species in very special places, and the Green Corridor is one of them,” said Chris Dickinson, chief technical adviser in the area for WWF. “These latest discoveries could be just the tip of the iceberg,” he said.

The new snake species, called the white-lipped keelback, lives close to streams where it feeds on frogs and other small animals. Its body is covered with red spots and it sports a yellow-white strip on its head. It is 80 cm long.

Three of the new orchid species are leafless and contain no chlorophyll. Rather than using the sun’s energy they live on decaying matter, like many fungi. The other new plants include the Aspidistra nicolai, which has an almost black flower, and a new species of arum, the Cryptocoryne vietnamica. — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2007

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