A total of 139 new species were discovered in 2014 in the Greater Mekong Region (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam), according to a report released this week.
The newly found collection includes 90 plants, 23 reptiles, 16 amphibians, 9 fish and 1 mammal, according to the authors at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
The lone mammal is this long-fanged bat Hypsugo dolichodon, whose teeth were "very conspicuous even for the first sight," said Tamas Gorfol, one of the researchers who named the new species. The teeth help the bat, which hails from three locations in Vietnam, to chomp into hard-shelled prey, such as large shelled insects.
Tom Gray, Manager of Species Conservation for WWF-Greater Mekong, told Discovery News that more bat species will likely be named soon, since other researchers are now analyzing bat finds that take a while to review.
"There is a chance some of these bats could go extinct even as they are being named," Gray said. "Southeast Asian landscapes are changing dramatically due to rapid development, leaving fewer and fewer refuges for bats."
The newly found collection includes 90 plants, 23 reptiles, 16 amphibians, 9 fish and 1 mammal, according to the authors at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
The lone mammal is this long-fanged bat Hypsugo dolichodon, whose teeth were "very conspicuous even for the first sight," said Tamas Gorfol, one of the researchers who named the new species. The teeth help the bat, which hails from three locations in Vietnam, to chomp into hard-shelled prey, such as large shelled insects.
Tom Gray, Manager of Species Conservation for WWF-Greater Mekong, told Discovery News that more bat species will likely be named soon, since other researchers are now analyzing bat finds that take a while to review.
"There is a chance some of these bats could go extinct even as they are being named," Gray said. "Southeast Asian landscapes are changing dramatically due to rapid development, leaving fewer and fewer refuges for bats."
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