To avoid forgotten land mines, La Sierra University reptile expert Lee Grismer and his son, Jesse, waded far up a Cambodian river last August hunting new species. Their wet, two-mile hike took place during a weeks-long trek through remote Southeast Asian rainforests. They traversed Vietnamese jungles and Cambodia’s Cardamom Mountains, the former stronghold of murderous Cambodian dictator Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge army. Former Khmer Rouge soldiers, wearing their iconic red headscarves, served as the Grismer’s guides.
The team’s perilous venture paid off. The herpetologist and his 25-year-old son discovered between six and eight new species, including a small, brown pit viper adorned with jagged, black stripes and a golden brown gecko with white stripes and dark green eyes.
The team’s perilous venture paid off. The herpetologist and his 25-year-old son discovered between six and eight new species, including a small, brown pit viper adorned with jagged, black stripes and a golden brown gecko with white stripes and dark green eyes.
Island & Cave Discoveries
The father-son species detective team found the pit viper on top of a small Vietnamese island. The Grismers, together with a Vietnamese colleague, discovered the gecko in caves in the Mekong Delta of southern Vietnam. They came upon another new gecko species following their two-mile, night-time river wade in Cambodia.
Lee Grismer
Grismer teaches herpetology, vertebrate natural history, anatomy and physiology at La Sierra University in California. He is a member of several societies and in 2002 published a 409-page tome titled ‘Amphibians and Reptiles of Baja California, Including Its Pacific Islands and the Islands in the Sea of Cortes.’ The book includes detailed photography and information about species and their environments. It derives from 22 years of field research in remote areas.
The father-son species detective team found the pit viper on top of a small Vietnamese island. The Grismers, together with a Vietnamese colleague, discovered the gecko in caves in the Mekong Delta of southern Vietnam. They came upon another new gecko species following their two-mile, night-time river wade in Cambodia.
Lee Grismer
Grismer teaches herpetology, vertebrate natural history, anatomy and physiology at La Sierra University in California. He is a member of several societies and in 2002 published a 409-page tome titled ‘Amphibians and Reptiles of Baja California, Including Its Pacific Islands and the Islands in the Sea of Cortes.’ The book includes detailed photography and information about species and their environments. It derives from 22 years of field research in remote areas.
Grismer has discovered upwards of 40 new animals over the last eight years, mainly in Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Baja California, Mexico. He has amassed more than 8,000 tissue samples in a lab freezer awaiting analysis.
Last summer’s trip to Asian jungles resulted in the acquisition of about 300 specimens of 40 to 50 different species including frogs, legless amphibians called apodans, turtles, lizards and snakes.
Zootaxa, an international journal for animal taxonomists, published an article Feb. 29 announcing the pit viper, whose scientific name is Cryptelytrops honsonensis. Magnolia Press in Auckland, New Zealand publishes Zootaxa. The journal will also soon post an article announcing the gecko discovery.
Source:
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/do/ecco.py/view_item?listid=1&listcatid=284&listitemid=2587
Last summer’s trip to Asian jungles resulted in the acquisition of about 300 specimens of 40 to 50 different species including frogs, legless amphibians called apodans, turtles, lizards and snakes.
Zootaxa, an international journal for animal taxonomists, published an article Feb. 29 announcing the pit viper, whose scientific name is Cryptelytrops honsonensis. Magnolia Press in Auckland, New Zealand publishes Zootaxa. The journal will also soon post an article announcing the gecko discovery.
Source:
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/do/ecco.py/view_item?listid=1&listcatid=284&listitemid=2587
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