New Mekong Species Photos: Fangless Snake, Bald Bird

Bald Songbird

Photograph courtesy Iain Woxvold via WWF

With a nearly featherless head, the bare-faced bulbul is the only known species of bald songbird in Asia.

The bird (Pycnonotus hualon) was discovered in forests living on the sides of rugged limestone peaks in Laos and has a distinctive call that consists of a short series of whistled, dry bubbling notes.

Unlike some of the other newly discovered species, the bare-faced bulbul resides within a habitat that is protected under Lao national law.

Published December 25, 2010

Stone-Sucking Fish

Photograph courtesy Nonn Panitvong via WWF

One of the 26 new species of Greater Mekong fish highlighted in the WWF report is this previously unknown catfish of the genus Oreoglanis.

Found in rocky, fast-flowing streams all over Thailand, the new catfish is distinguished by its large pointed teeth and a notch in its lower lip.

The fish's unique body shape, combined with its enlarged fins, form a sucker-like mechanism that allows it to stick to hard substrates during torrential rains, earning it the nickname of "stone-sucking fish" among the Thai people.

(Read more about the potential impacts of a plan to dam the Mekong River.)

Published December 25, 2010

Cricket Frog

Photograph courtesy Jodi Rowley via WWF

This small, mottled amphibian, found hiding in a pile of leaves in Vietnam's Quang Nam Province, has an identity crisis. It's a frog but its croak sounds like a cricket.

The few specimens of this new species (Leptolalax applebyi) that have been collected were all found at the headwaters of rocky streams in high-elevation forests.

Even as new species are being discovered in the Greater Mekong region, scientists worry about others that are being lost. Some recent tragedies: the likely local extinction of the Javan rhino and the dramatic decline of wild tigers in the region.

Published December 25, 2010

Fangless Snake

Photograph courtesy Nikolai Orlov via WWF

This fangless snake (Coluberoelaps nguyenvansangi) represents not only a new species to science, but a new genus as well.

Thin, with dark blue sides and a narrow band along the spine, the so-called dwarf fossorial snake lacks fangs and venom.

One of ten reptiles discovered in the Greater Mekong region in 2009, this snake was found in the Lam Dong province of southern Vietnam. It is thought to feed on earthworms, snakes, small lizards, amphibians, and fish.

Published December 25, 2010

Wild Banana Plant

Photograph courtesy Markku Hakkinen via WWF

Not all of the recently discovered species in the Greater Mekong were animals. For example, this new species of wild banana plant (Musa chunii), was found in the Tongbiguan Nature Reserve in the Dehong District of China.

Published December 25, 2010

Greater Mekong Mountains

Photograph courtesy Supol Jitvijak via WWF

The misty Dawna-Tenasserim mountains on the Thai-Myanmar border are part of the Greater Mekong region and home to some of the new plants and animals highlighted in the WWF report.

At the recent UN Convention on Biological Diversity in Nahoya, Japan, WWF urged governments to pool finances to help protect the region against biodiversity loss and future climate change.

The region is already warming and experiencing more extreme floods, droughts, and storms as a result of shifting whether patterns.

“Biodiversity is not evenly distributed around the globe. These new species are a timely reminder of the extraordinary biodiversity in the Greater Mekong,” WWF's Chapman said.

“Therefore a greater allocation of funds is needed to ensure these valuable ecosystems are conserved.”

Published December 25, 2010