Sneezing monkeys and walking fish among 200 new Himalayan species discovered
A snub-nosed monkey that sneezes when it rains, a walking fish and a jewel-like snake are among more than 200 new species discovered in the eastern Himalayas.
A new WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) report revealed that 550 new species, including plants, invertebrates and animals, have been found there since 2009 – a scale of discovery which confirms the region, spanning Bhutan, north-east India, Nepal, north Burma and southern Tibet, as among the most biologically diverse in the world.
One new bird – the spotted wren-babbler – was also discovered in the region over the period
One of the more unusual species discovered in recent years is Snubby, the nickname given to Rhinopitecus Strykeri, a black and white snub-nosed monkey which locals claim is easy to find when it is raining. This is because rainwater gets into their upturned noses causing them to sneeze – an eventuality they avoid if they can by sitting with their heads tucked between their knees.
Rhinopitecus Strykeri, a black and white snub-nosed monkey
The vibrant blue dwarf walking Snakehead fish is another unusual find. Amazingly this fish is able to breathe atmospheric air and can even survive on land for up to four days. And while its movements on land may appear more cumbersome than a smoothly slithering snake, it can writhe and wriggle its way up to 400m on wet land between bodies of water.
The vibrant blue dwarf walking Snakehead fish
The newly discovered bejewelled lance-headed pit viper, meanwhile, is emblazoned with an ornate yellow, red and orange pattern that, at first glance, looks like a carefully crafted piece of jewellery.
The bejewelled lance-headed pit viper
The region’s rich diversity – one in 10 of the world’s bird species lives there – is largely down to a landscape of steep mountains and valleys. This has created isolated habitats with many species that are unique to the area. However, climate change and intensive development is destroying the region’s eco-systems at an alarming level, with only a quarter of its original habitats remaining fully intact.
Eastern Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows in the Barun Valley of Nepal
(All images - credit: Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons licence)
