Over 1000 New Species Found!

[ALien]

With the current extinction rate 100 to 1000 times greater than the natural rate found in fossil evidence, it could be looked upon as fortuitous the discovery of over 1000 species of animals in the Greater Mekong region of Southeast Asia. World Wildlife Foundation researchers found a great variety of animals, according to the Star, including the world's largest Huntsman spider, a green pit viper, a hot pink dragon millipede, and a Laotian rock rat thought to have been extinct for a 11 million years.

World Wildlife Foundation researchers reported in First Contact: New Species Discoveries that the area, which is comprised of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and China's Yunnan province, "is a major global hotspot for biodiversity," according to spokesman Pete Ewins.

The World Conservation Union reported back in 2004 that species were disappearing at an alarming rate. In just the previous two decades, 15 species had gone extinct and another 12 existed only in captivity. With the growing fear of climate alterations and bolstered by the knowledge that they could be running out of time World Wildlife Foundation researchers entered the Mekong area after it stabilized politically and began documenting the many heretofore "undiscovered" species of fauna.

Among the discoveries was 88 new species of spiders. One species, the Heteropoda maxima, is considered to be among the largest Huntsman spiders every encountered. It has a leg span of over 30 centimeters (roughly 12 inches). Huntsman spiders, contrary to popular belief, are not lethal killers. Their venom is not potent enough. However, they do account for many human deaths each year, due to their nature of dropping from trees, bamboo, and bushes, causing the startled person to endanger themselves in an attempt to escape them.

READ MORE

[Truthed]

I just saw this on CNN, some crazy stuff. Apparently they only found one new mammal which was a striped rabbit, looked crazy.


Edit: here are some pics i found:

[kidflash2008]

Cool pictures, Truthed. I do hope we take care of Mother Earth, as she will take care of us.

[okirun]

The 3rd one looks like a rat-squirrel

This is pretty interesting, I hope they find a 100 pound spider next.. or did they

[Mingus]

Perhaps it's evolution, since we seem to be finding species dying off and then finding new ones. We'll probably lose the polar bear and find something completely new in the sea (since the DNA will be all over the place anyway... maybe it won't dissolve).

[kissbang]

It seems that time managed to pass by these creatures by, as they migrated to the safety of the deep mountain range that forms a peninsula through southeast Asia unaffected by the coming and going of the ice ages.