Photos: "Elvis Monkey," Cloning Lizard Among New Mekong Species

"King" of the Jungle
Illustration courtesy Martin Aveling, FFI via WWF
Sightings of the camera-shy "Elvis monkey" (pictured) are about as rare as modern-day sightings of the King himself.
Known for its Presleyan pompadour, Rhinopithecus strykeri—1 of some 208 new species found in Southeast Asia's Greater Mekong region last year, according to a new WWF report—hasn't yet been captured alive on camera.
(See a photo of a dead R. strykeri [warning: graphic picture].)
Discovered in Myanmar's section of the Greater Mekong-a sprawling realm of water, wetlands, mountains, and forests-was well known to local Himalayan hunters, but its discovery stunned scientists like Stuart Chapman, conservation director of WWF's Greater Mekong program, based in Vientiane, Laos.
"This is really the end of the era of large mammal discovery, so to have a new primate discovered in this area, unknown to science, is extremely rare," Chapman said. "Looking ahead we may only ever see one or two more discoveries like this. And it's sort of a bittersweet moment, because we think this species already has very low numbers."
Local hunters say that the pug nose on "Snubby," as scientists have nicknamed the species, causes the animal to sneeze repeatedly in rainstorms.
If true, Chapman said, this physical anomaly may make the animals more susceptible to hunting and/or place them at some natural disadvantages. "But the fact is that right now we know very, very little about it."
—Brian Handwerk
Published December 13, 2011
Scaling Down
Photograph courtesy Vampire/WWF
With a bite presumably worse than its bark, this new species of wolf snake was found in the mountains of China's Yunnan Province. Named for the large fangs found in both their jaws, wolf snakes are nocturnal hunters that prey on frogs and lizards.
(See "Snake-Fang Evolution Mystery Solved—'Major Surprise.'")
Growing as long as 20 inches (50 centimeters), the wolf snake is one of 28 new reptiles discovered in 2010 in the Greater Mekong Region, which stretches through parts of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and China. The rest of the 208 new species include 145 plants, 25 fish, 7 amphibians, 2 mammals, and 1 bird.
Published December 13, 2011
Elusive Orchid
Photograph courtesy L. Lee Grismer via WWF
A local plant hunter plucked this orchid from a remote part of Vietnam's Daklak Province—much to the joy of experts at London's Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, who identified the plant as a new species. (See more orchid pictures.)
The orchid is 1 of 16 new orchid species described in 2010—all small in number and range. Their very uniqueness puts such species at risk when conditions change in their corner of the world.
Some 70 similar orchid species have recently been lost in Indonesia, scientists estimate, due to the impacts of illegal logging.
Published December 13, 2011
Sweet Find
Photograph courtesy Jörg Bohlen via WWF
One of more than 300 new fish species discovered in the Mekong since 1997, the "gherkin fish" is a type of loach named for its pickle-ish appearance. Worldwide, the Mekong ecosystem is second only to the Amazon's in terms of freshwater fish diversity.
Known to live in only two clear gravel-bed streams in southern Thailand, "this fish highlights two things," WWF's Chapman said. "One is that the unique biology of this species is perfectly adapted to a very specific habitat. The other is how vulnerable it is to extinction.
"All it would require is an intervention to that limited area, like a dam or pollution or overfishing, and it could disappear." (See "New Mekong Dam a Go, and a Blow to Megafishes?")
Published December 13, 2011
Bird in Hand
Photograph courtesy Ulf Johansson, Swedish Museum of Natural History via WWF
The limestone leaf warbler's loud, distinct call gave researchers their first inklings that they might have a new bird species on hand in 2010.
Living in a mountain rage stretching across Laos and Vietnam, the warbler is named for the limestone karst region in which it breeds.
"The region's birds are pretty well documented," WWF's Chapman explained. "We only see one or two new bird discoveries here in a year, so any new bird discovery is a special occasion."
(See "First New U.S. Bird Species in Decades—Already Extinct?")
Published December 13, 2011
Dinner-plate Discovery
Photograph courtesy Lee Grismer
Leiolepis ngovantrii was new to science in 2010 but well known to residents of Vietnam's Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province (see map), where the lizards are sold live at restaurants. (See "New Self-Cloning Lizard Found in Vietnam Restaurant.")
Ngo Van Tri, of the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, found the lizards on offer at a local eatery. Subsequent study by colleague L. Lee Grismer of California's La Sierra University determined that the animal was an all-female species.
The lizards are capable of reproducing in the absence of males via a self-cloning process that culminates in virgin birth.
Published December 13, 2011
Predatory Pitcher
Photograph courtesy François Mey via WWF
This flower has a taste for flesh. Growing to nearly 40 inches (100 centimeters) tall, the plant is one of five species of carnivorous pitcher plant discovered in 2010 in the Mekong region.
Nepenthes holdenii has been found on only two peaks, both in Cambodia's Cardamom Mountains, at elevations of 1,970 to 2,625 feet (600 to 800 meters) above sea level. The other four species are from Thailand.
"It sits there exuding these beautiful odors and attempts to attract into its pitcher small, unsuspecting species, from insects to small mammals and even birds," WWF's Chapman said. "They essentially die by drowning in the acidic contents of the pitcher and are digested by those acids.
"It's really an extraordinary adaptation for a plant to make. Rather than draw nutrients from the poor soil in which it grows, it supplements its nutrients by 'eating' these other species."
(Related: "Bat Uses Pitcher Plant as Toilet; Plant Benefits.")
Published December 13, 2011
King Mekong
Photograph courtesy Gordon Congdon via WWF
The Mekong River, shown in Cambodian forests, supports one of the world's great species-diversity hot spots.
"Biodiversity isn't evenly distributed around the planet," WWF's Chapman said. "Some areas are more blessed than others, and the Mekong region is one of those. There's huge diversity in habitat, from moist mountaintops down to deep, dark swamps and a river that runs through it which is Asia's richest, in terms of fish species."
Even as scientists fear the loss of Mekong species due to a host of pressures, an amazing age of discovery continues.
"Some parts of this region have had wars, or what have you, and have only relatively recently been opened up to science," Chapman said. "That, combined with the tremendous range of habitat types, means that discoveries are being made literally every other day, which is really extraordinary.
"I just can't think of a parallel, globally, where there would be this level of discovery."
Next: See some of the thousands of new species recently discovered on New Guinea >>
Published December 13, 2011