In the ponds of Taunggyi, the capital of Shan State, lurks T. shanorum, a tiny crocodile newt whose existence was made known to scientists from the World Wildlife Fund only last year.
T. shanorum, named after the state in which it lives, is “no stranger to the people of Taunggyi,” WWF said in a statement released on Tuesday. “But for years it was mistaken for a close relative with a wide range. On closer inspection, researchers noticed T. shanorum’s flattened head and duller coloration and confirmed it as a new species using genetic analyses.”
This cute newt was one of 139 newly discovered species found in the Greater Mekong Region in 2014, including 90 plants, 23 reptiles, 16 amphibians, nine fish and one mammal, WWF said.
Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar make up the Greater Mekong Region. While Myanmar wasn’t alone in hosting new species, it certainly had the least terrifying.
Among the new finds: the world’s now second-largest insect (54 centimetres), which looks like a massive stick with legs, was found in Vietnam; a “long-fanged” bat, identified in Laos and Vietnam; and a cockroach-hunting wasp, which uses venom to turn its prey into a “passive zombie.”
The wasp was named Ampulex dementor in a public poll. The name comes from the “soul-sucking dementors” in the Harry Potter books.
Alas, Myanmar’s crocodile newt, T. shanorum, is at risk, WWF says, citing construction on Taunggyi University’s campus, which “threatens to cut off the water flow to their core breeding ponds, threatening their survival.”
The newts are already battling increasing urbanization and the international trade. Demand is high in China for newts, where they are used as a source of traditional medicine.
Newly discovered species are not protected, so they can be imported legally, WWF said in the statement.
“For species like T. shanorum with unknown or small populations, even a little bit of collection can do a lot of damage.”
Photo: WWF/Tim Johnson
