World’s Largest Huntsman Spider Among 1000 New Species Discovered in Mekong Region
Tuesday, December 16th, 2008
The Gumprechts Green Pitviper is among the 1068 new species discovered in the Greater Mekong Subregion between 1997 and 2007. Photo: Rene Ries.
More than 1,000 new species have been found in the Greater Mekong Subregion over the last 10 years, according to a report from WWF.
The report, entitled First Contact in the Greater Mekong, says that 1068 species previously unknown to science were discovered in the region between 1997 and 2007.
WWF also say that potentially thousands of new species of invertebrate was also discovered during this period.
Highlights include the discovery of the world’s largest huntsman spider. WWF say the spider has a leg span of 30 centimeters across. That’s 12 inches - about the size of a dinner plate.
The Gumbrechts Green Pitviper (Trimeresurus gumprechti), a bright green snake first described in 2002, was also a key discovery.
Another star discovery was the dragon millipede, which according to WWF, is “startingly hot pink” in color and produces cyanide.
The New Species
Among the new species discovered in the Greater Mekong were:
- 519 plant species
- 279 fish species
- 88 frog species
- 88 spider species
- 46 lizard species
- 22 snake species
- 15 mammal species
- 4 bird species
- 4 turtle species
- 2 salamander species
- 1 toad species
Stuart Chapman, Director of WWF’s Greater Mekong Program couldn’t contain his excitment by the findings.
“It doesn’t get any better than this,” he said.
“We thought discoveries of this scale were confined to the history books. This reaffirms the Greater Mekong’s place on the world map of conservation priorities.”
Total Species Count in the Greater Mekong
According to WWF, there is more than 23,000 species of fauna and flora in the Greater Mekong.
These include:
- 20,000 species of plant
- 1,200 bird species
- 800 species of reptiles and amphibians
- 430 mammal species
- 1,300 fish species in the Mekong River basin
The Mekong River has more species per unit than the mighty Amazon. This photo was taken where the Mekong and the Nam Kahn rivers converge. Photo: Alcyon.
More Species Per Unit Than The Amazon
Although the mighty Amazon River contains more species than the Mekong River, the Mekong actually contains more species per unit than the Amazon.
This makes the Mekong, by length, the richest waterway for biodiversity on the planet.
Threats to The Greater Mekong
The Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) encompasses nations and territories located in Mekong River basin. These regions/territories are Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Burma and Yunnan Province of China
Conservation International has ranked the Greater Mekong as one of the top five most threatened biodiversity hotspots in the world.
Specific threats to the Greater Mekong include:
- forest conversion for agricultural plantations
- unsustainable logging and the illegal timber trade
- wildlife trade over fishing
- dam and road construction
- mining
WWF indicates that these threats are increasing due to accelerating economic development, population growth and increased consumption patterns of the region.
Full Report [pdf file, 7.26 MB]
