New species of caecilian discovered in Vietnam
Japanese and Russian scientists have discovered and described a new species of caecilian from Tây Nguyên, the Central Highlands of Vietnam, in the Japanese journal Current Herpetology, volume 31 (2012).
It is also the second caecilian species recorded in Vietnam, after another caecilian previously documented in the north of the country.
The caecilian Ichthyophis nguyenorum (Photo: Nguyễn Quảng Trường)
The new species, scientifically named Ichthyophis nguyenorum Nishikawa, Matsui & Orlov 2012, honors two Vietnamese herpetologists, Nguyễn Quảng Trường of the Viện Sinh thái và Tài nguyên sinh vật (Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources) in Hanoi and Nguyễn Thiên Tạo of the Bảo tàng Thiên nhiên Việt Nam (Vietnam National Museum of Nature), who have contributed to the discovery of many new species in Vietnam.
The researchers found the new caecilian during a field survey in Vietnam's Central Highlands in 2006. It differs from other striped caecilians in having fewer body segments in total, a continuous yellow stripe along its body and a stouter, more robust build.
According to Dr. Nguyễn Quảng Trường of the Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources (Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology), caecilians in general are quite rare. They live burrowed beneath leaf litter and in holes in the soil, making them difficult to find. Caecilians have been included in the Vietnam Red Data Book to protect these unusual amphibians in the wild.
New bent-toed gecko species discovered in Vietnam
Two zoologists have found a bent-toed gecko new to science in Cúc Phương National Park in Ninh Bình province, northern Vietnam.
Two rare turtles released into central Vietnam's Sao La Nature Reserve
Two critically endangered Bourret's box turtles seized in Huế have been released into the Sao La Nature Reserve in central Vietnam.
