New Snake and Gecko Amongst New Species Discovered in Cambodia & Vietnam

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.

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.

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

Photo 11 new species In Vietnam

Scientists find new species in Vietnam

Species found in remote region known as 'Green Corridor'

Sept. 26, 2007

HANOI, Vietnam - Scientists have discovered 11 new species of plants and animals in Vietnam, including a snake, two butterflies and five orchid varieties, the Worldwide Fund for Nature said Wednesday.

The new species were found in a remote region known as the "Green Corridor" in Thua Thien Hue province in central Vietnam, it said.

"You only discover so many new species in very special places, and the Green Corridor is one of them," Chris Dickinson, WWF's chief technical adviser in the region, said in a statement.

Source:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20990436/

Vietnam, 21 new species found in forest that has kept its secrets since the Ice Age

From The Times

September 26, 2007

Lewis Smith, Environment Reporter

Up to 21 new species of animals and plants have been discovered in a remote region of Vietnam. Scientists have confirmed that they have identified eleven previously unrecorded species, and that ten more are still being examined.

The finds include a frog-eating snake, two butterflies, orchids that grow like fungi and an aspidistra with a flower that is almost black.

The area of central Vietnam where the finds were made is known as the Green Corridor; several mammals were discovered there in the 1990s.

Zoologists involved in the expeditions to the Annamite mountain range said that the area was so rich in wildlife that the recent discoveries may represent a small sample of the unknown species living there.

“You discover so many new species only in very special places, and the Green Corridor is one of them,” said Chris Dickinson, of the WWF, which led the expeditions. “Several large mammal species were discovered in the 1990s in the same forests, which means that these latest discoveries could be just the tip of the iceberg.”

A significant number of threatened creatures and plants was also identified during the survey, which was carried out in 2005 and 2006.

Among these were fifteen reptiles and amphibians, six bird species and the highest known concentration of the white-cheeked crested gibbon, which is one of the most endangered primates in the world.

The Green Corridor includes extensive tracts of wet evergreen forests and ecologically valuable areas of lowland river. It is thought to be the home of the saola, a forest-dwelling ox discovered in 1992.

The new snake has been named the white-lipped keelback, Amphiesma leucomystax, because of the broad stripe on its upper lip giving the appearance of having a white moustache. It can grow to more than 2½ft (80cm) long.

Two butterflies were identified, including one for which a genus had to be created, to add to the six that have been discovered in the region since 1996. Scientists said that the discovery of the new genus was of particular significance because it was an indicator of the unique ecological properties of the forests.

Of the five confirmed orchids, three were unusual in being leafless. They do not have chlorophyll and do not photosynthesise and have survived by feeding on nutrients provided by decaying material, just as many fungal species do.

An aspidistra, Aspidistra nicolai, had a dark blue flower that was almost black, and other new plant species include a type of arum, Cryptocoryne vietnamica, with yellow flowers surrounded by funnel-shaped leaves.

The second aspidistra, which has delicate yellow flowers, has yet to be named. The discovery comes after the identification in 2005 of six species of aspidistra that were collected on an expedition in 1996 and grown at the Munich botanical gardens until they could be officially described by scientists.

Environmental organisations are concerned about the future of wildlife in the region because of threats from activities such as hunting, illegal logging and development.

Dr Dickinson said: “The central Annamite mountains of Vietnam and Laos are unique and amazing forests. They are very wet forest areas with little or no dry season, with no month receiving less than 40mm of rain.

“Such forests are naturally quite localised and appear to have acted as Ice Age refugia - old forests that have been climatically stable for millennia. Due to previous isolation and a stable climate, these forest areas have evolved a suite of species restricted to these very wet forests.

“One problem is that the sale of wild orchids to local Vietnamese is quite common, with many extracted from valuable forests areas. How many new species of orchid are being sold in the markets of Hue to Vietnamese tourists and locals we have no idea of knowing.”

Authorities in Thua Thien Hue province have pledged to conserve and manage the forest’s sustainably.

Hoang Ngoc Khanh, director of the Thua Thien Hue provincial forest protection department, said: “The area is extremely important for conservation and the province wants to protect the forests and their environmental services, as well as contribute to sustainable development.”

— A frog thought to have been extinct for almost 20 years has been found in a South American forest.

The brown and metallic-green tree frog, Isthomhyla rivularis, was thought to have been one of several amphibians killed off by a combination of a fungal virus and the effects of climate change.

The rediscovery raises hopes that the creature reputed to be the first victim of climate change, the golden toad, Bufo pere-glenes, may yet be found again.

Andrew Gray, the curator of herpetology at the Manchester Museum, part of the University of Manchester, came across the frog at the Monteverde Cloud forest reserve in Costa Rica. He scaled a tree during the night as he tried to identify a male frog calling from a bough. “One look at the specimen in my hand and I knew I had caught something very special,” he said.

11 new species discovered in Vietnam's Green Corridor

11 new species discovered in Vietnam's
Green Corridor Jeremy Hance

September 29, 2007

White-lipped keelback snake. Photo by Raoul Bain.

Loris. Photo by Dr. Leonid Averyanov

Gastrodia theana. Photo by Dr. Leonid Averyanov

Aspidistra species. Photo by Dr. Leonid Averyanov

Forests of the "Green Corridor" in Vietnam. Photo by Dr. Leonid Averyanov

On September 26th, scientists from World Wildlife Fund announced the discovery of eleven new species: one snake, two butterflies, five orchids, and three other plants in Vietnam's biologically rich Green Corridor. The discoveries were made between 2005 and 2006.


The snake, with a defining white yellow-stripe just below its eyes, has been named the white-lipped keelback. It feeds on small river animals and can grow to nearly a yard in length.

The butterflies are a skipper from the genus Zela, and a specimen that looks to be of a new genus in the subfamily Satyrinae. Since 1996 eight species of butterfly have been discovered in this area, making it of particular interest for lepidopterists. Two experts are currently studying the butterflies in the region.

Three of the new orchids are exceptionally unique; they are entirely leafless and live on decaying matter rather than photosynthesis. There are an additional ten orchids under study that may turn out to be new to science as well. The other plants include a yellow arum and an aspidistra with flowers that appear almost black. Dr. Chris Dickinson, WWF's chief scientist in the Green Corridor states that "discoveries of so many new species are rare and occur only in very special places like the Green Corridor."

This lowland wet evergreen forest has long been a goldmine for new and rare species. The saola, one of the world's rarest mammals, was only discovered in 1992. The main threat to this shy forest bovine is hunting. But good news arrived recently as the provinces of Thua Thien Hue and Quang Nam have agreed to a ten point action plan to save the saola, including two new reserves. Other threatened mammals in the Green Corridor include the white-cheeked gibbon, the red-shanked Douc's Langur, the Truong Son Muntjac deer, and the loris. Additionally fifteen species of reptiles and amphibians and six species of birds are known to be threatened. The endangered Edward's pheasant, a unique case, was only rediscovered in the 1990's after it had long been assumed extinct. Dr. Dickinson says that these discoveries "may be just the tip of the iceberg."

Unfortunately, the eleven new species of the Green Corridor are already considered threatened according to WWF scientists. Logging, hunting, and development provide the major threats.

Source:
http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0929-hance_vietnam.html

Rediscovery of Edwards Pheasant

Lophura hatinhensis

In addition to these mammals, a pheasant was discovered in 1975. Sometimes called Vo Quy's pheasant after its discoverer, Lophura hatinhensis is now being successfully bred in captivity in Hanoi Zoo (who I wish to thank).

Ga Lung: Lophura hatinhensis
The male is contrastingly black deep blue, red and white and the and female a less conspicuous brown colour.
Credit: Hanoi Zoological Gardens, Ms Nguyen Thi Cuc Phuong and V. Weitzel

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In addition to these, Dr Ha Dinh Duc of the National University of Hanoi reports that a colleague at Hue University another goat-like animal near A Luoi in Thua Thien Province (unpublished). Dr Pham Nhat (Forestry University, Xuan Mai) reports two unusual civet specimens from Lao Cai Province in the far northwest [Lam Nghiep 2/1995:22 (1995)]. Peter and Feiler [Zool. Abh. Staat. Mus. f. Tier. Dresden 48(11) (1994)] describe a new bovid from Vietnam and Cambodia. The animal, which resembles a small kouprey, was named Pseudonovibos spiralis Peter and Feiler.

We suspect that the taxonomic position of some mammals we have known for a while will change as we learn more about their distributions. We have a program to map primate distribution by asking international colleagues travelling to help us. We work with the Institute for Ecology and Biological Resources in Hanoi and the National University of Hanoi (Faculty of Biology).

Crossposted from clari.world.asia.vietnam
Subject: Extinct pheasant found in Vietnam
Date: Wed, 4 Sep 1996 5:30:28 PDT

       HANOI, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- Vietnamese villagers searching for
dinner  instead caught a pheasant species endemic to Vietnam but
thought to be ecologically extinct, the World Wide Fund for Nature said
Wednesday.

       A male and female pair of Edwards pheasants (Lophura edwardsi)
were captured by villagers in a remote area of central Vietnam, the
firsttime live specimens have been collected since 1928. The pheasants
were destined for the soup pot before local foresters working with the
WWF intervened.

       The Edwards pheasants were already considered rare when French
ornithologist Jean Delacour brought 15 of them back to Paris for the
first time in 1923.

       ``This is yet another feather in the cap of conservation in
Vietnam,'' said Dawood Ghaznavi, Asia Pacific program director at WWF
International in Switzerland. ``Rediscovering this pheasant after 70
years means mankind has a second chance to save this exquisite bird and
its habitat.''

       The birds were found near Bach Ma National Park in Thua
Thien-Hue  Province, the only protected area in the country where the
Edwards pheasant, which needs wet forest land, was thought could exist.
A popular summer resort during the French colonial period, Bach Ma
harbors six out of 12 pheasant species in Vietnam.

       Three previous scientific expeditions, conducted between 1988
and  1944, failed to find or even sight the Edwards but the search was
renewed after villagers in the area reported they exist.

       Together with local forest authorities, the WWF said it now
plans to increase the number and training of forest guards in the area
and to launch a public awareness campaign to help the pheasants survive
in the wild.

       The original collection of Edwards pheasants brought to France
has  grown to several hundred among private breeders in Europe, David
Hulse, WWF's representative in Hanoi, said.

       However, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to use this
population to reintroduce the species in Vietnam because the ``endemic
knowledge'' would have been bred out of them after many generations in
captivity, he said.

       The 22,000 hectare Bach Ma was severely damaged by defoliants
sprayed during the Vietnam War post-war logging but in recent years
there have been some reforestation efforts.

       A recent WWF-sponsored survey, conducted by the Vietnam-Russian
Tropical Center, identified 176 species of butterflies, several that
are thought to be new to science, Hulse said.

       Two new large mammals and a fresh water fish have been
discovered in  Vietnam in recent years. A third new large mammal was
discovered in Vietnam's central highlands about a year ago by German
scientists but they were only able to find old skulls, suggesting the
creature was already extinct, Hulse said.

Sent to AVSL-L by:  "'C.Michele' Claudia Michele Thompson"


http://coombs.anu.edu.au/~vern/species/edwardsi.txt

New large mammal species in Vietnam

New species in Vietnam

Pseudoryx nghetinhensis
Megamuntiacus vuquangesis

Until this decade, no new large mammal species have been described for many years. Our knowledge of the faunal diversity of Vietnam was impeded by years of war and limited international contacts.

Pseudoryx nghetinhensis

This is the first of the new mammal species discovered. First found in Vu Quang forest reserve, which is in Ha Tinh province of north central Vietnam. Specimens are also known from Nghe An province just to the north, and it is suspected from Thua Thien-Hue province and Dak Lak in the southern central highlands. Based on this information, we believe that Pseudoryx nghetinhensis has a wider distribution.

Sao La: Pseudoryx nghetinhensis
This photo shows the characteristic long, recurved spindle-shaped horns of this species.
Credit: Forest Inventory and Planning Institute and V. Weitzel

Megamuntiacus vuquangensis

This robust muntjak deer was discovered in Vu Quang forest reserve, in Ha Tinh province. Specimens have been found in Nghe An province, and in Dak Lac province. This suggests that Megamuntiacus vuquangensis also has a wider much distribution than is known. See also Schaller and Verba (1996) for recent analysis of material from Laos.

Mang Lon: Megamuntiacus vuquangensis
This specimen shows the robustness of this deer, which is about the size of a large dog. The antlers have shorter, thicker pedicel or base and longer tines than the common Muntiacus muntjac.
Credit: Forest Inventory and Planning Institute and V. Weitzel

Another new species of muntjak deer, Muntiacus trungsonensis has been identified in scrub forest in the heavily war-damaged but dense scrub forest of Quang Tri in Vietnam'centre.

DESCRIPTION OF THE GIANT MUNTJAC
(MEGAMUNTIACUS VUQUANGENSIS) IN LAOS

GEORGE B. SCHALLER AND ELISABETH S. VRBA

Wildlife Conservation Society, Bronx, NY 10460 (GBS)
Department of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University,
P.O. Box 6666, New Haven, CT 06511 (ESV)

The giant muntjac (Megamuntiacus vuquangensis) was discovered in 1994 in evergreen forests of the Annamite Mountains that border Laos (Lao People's Democratic Republic) and Vietnam. We describe its known distribution in Laos and provide the first detailed description of the species. Comparison of its skull and antlers with those of sympatric red muntjacs (Muntiacus muntjak) and other muntjacs support its designation as a distinct species. Morphological and genomic DNA data suggest that the giant muntjac belongs with other muntjacs in the genus Muntiacus and not in a genus of its own.

Source: Journal of Mammalogy 77(3):675-683 (1996)

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Source :
http://coombs.anu.edu.au/~vern/species.html
http://coombs.anu.edu.au/~vern/species/schaller.html