Two ZooKeys species included in the highlights of WWF's Greater Mekong Report
Two remarkable species described in ZooKeys have been included in the highlights of the recent WWF Greater Mekong Report.
More precisely, a reptile and an amphibian ‘first known’ from the pages of our journal made it to the special selection of 380 vascular plants and vertebrate animals discovered in 2021 and 2022 in the region, which comprises Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam.
“Discoveries of new species, like the ones highlighted in this report, help to fill the knowledge gap about what exists in the natural world,” begins the Foreword, written by Prof. Dr. Truong Q. Nguyen, Vice Director of the Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources at the Viet Nam Academy of Science and Technology and a regular author and reviewer at ZooKeys.
The importance of advancing our knowledge of the region’s biodiversity is underscored in particular by the case of the new species of extremely venomous snake which was described in 2021 from Southwestern China and Northern Myanmar. Bungarus suzhenae, or Suzhen’s krait, is named after Su-Zhen Bai, a goddess of Chinese myth. The report adds:
The name of this mythical figure who devoted herself to helping people was chosen to reflect the importance that this new species could play in providing effective treatment for krait bites.
The second noteworthy species featured in the Report that made its first official “appearance” in ZooKeys is the Quasipaa taoi frog. Endemic to Viet Nam’s Central Annamite mountains, the amphibian - to be colloquially referred to as the Tao’s Spiny Frog, pays tribute to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tao Thien Nguyen (Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology). Renowned for his central role in the study of amphibians in the country, he has himself published and reviewed regularly at ZooKeys.
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Photo caption: Paratype of Bungarus suzhenae sp. nov. in life. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1025.62305.figure11
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