This Year’s Top 10 New Species: Save The Philautus Maia
THE world is dying. Polar bears are dying. What will we do when the ice melts and even the German breeding programme can’t save the polar bears from extinction?
Why, we will move on and find some new creatures.
Each year the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University announces a list of the Top 10 New Species for the preceding calendar year. This is No. 4 from the menu. Save the Philautua maia:
ASU / IISE
4. Philautus maia
This species was described from a single female museum specimen collected around 1860. It and a number of related species from Sri Lanka are almost certainly now extinct. Its discovery demonstrates the importance of museum specimens in determining baseline information on biodiversity and in documenting the natural heritage of nations. Had this specimen not been collected in the 19th century, it would possibly have never been known.
Posted: 25th, June 2008 | In: Strange But True Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
