Thousands of species discovered but failed to get media coverage

The media is always awash with recaps of the year gone at its end and the beginning of the new one. PHOTO | FILE 

In Summary

• Few people heard of discoveries last year of thousands of new species and organisms
• Researchers estimate that there are about 8 million species still unidentified by science skulking in remote corners of the world

 

By CHEGE MBITIRU
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The media is always awash with recaps of the year gone at its end and the beginning of the new one.

Predominant themes include lessons learnt from prominent dead, economic and political failures, more accurately A-to-Z of human activities. Unfortunately, dramatic occurrences dominate, the seemingly mundane shunned.

For example, few people heard of discoveries last year of thousands of new species and organisms. According to a short item in The Los Angeles Times, the number “runs into thousands”.

STILL UNIDENTIFIED
The newspaper added: “… researchers estimate that there are about 8 million species still unidentified by science skulking in remote corners of the world, and sometimes hiding out right under scientists’ noses.”

Lack of fanfare over these discoveries is plausibly because of tongue-twisting and hard to memorise names given these species and organisms. Try, for example, Poecilotheria rajaei, Hemicyllium halmahera and Rhacophorus helanae?

Names aside, these species and organisms can be interesting and even scary. The Hemicyllium is the third of walking shark species. A metre-long, they use fins to navigate over uneven coral reefs off an Indonesian island. Fortunately, they are harmless to humans.

In Sri Lanka, spider Poeilotheria rajae grows to be as large as a human face. Results of encounter with humans remain unclear. Small reptiles like lizards, snakes and even mice don’t live to tell tortuous death from its venomous bite though.

To find a new frog species, for example, researchers wade through mud, marshes and inhospitable terrain. But in Vietnam, a researcher spotted Rhacophorus helanae sitting on a log by a roadside not far from Ho Chi Minh City.

That was a mighty break. The 10-centimetre-long frog is green with white belly. Its hands and feet are webbed. It uses them parachute-style to glide from tree to tree.

Again, in Vietnam, lives Calotes bachae, a 10-centimetre-long lizard. Its colouration is spectacular. During the mating season, male Calote’s azure head shines spectacularly to attract females. In hunting, Colotes reduce their play of colours.