Guest guest Posted January 4, 2004 Report Share Posted January 4, 2004 This message was forwarded to you by yitzeling. Comment from sender: This article is from The Star Online URL: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2004/1/4/asia/7033872 & sec=asia ________________________ Sunday January 4, 2004 New species uncovered SOME unusual new faces have helped ring in this New Year & #150; fish, frogs, prawns, spiders, snakes, flies and other fauna. Despite Singapore & #146;s urban sprawl, researchers have over the past year discovered several dozen new species of such creatures that are native to the island. The bulk of them are insects, the least studied of creatures here. & #147;This tells us that even in Singapore, where we don & #146;t have much forest or mangrove, the diversity of animal life is much greater than we give it credit for, & #148; said Assoc Prof Peter Ng, director of the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research at the National University of Singapore (NUS). Such creatures are being found all the time, he added. Two new species of prawns, for example, were found in streams in the central catchment area, and dozens of new species of flies were spotted in swamps and forests. Local researches also found other new creatures during expeditions in the region, which is widely acknowledged as one of the least studied biodiversity hotspots. According to conservative estimates, the planet is home to between five and 10 million animal and plant species. Although 30 to 40 new species are uncovered weekly, only 1.8 million or so have been discovered by science over the last 250 years. It is believed that scientists are aware of fewer than one in 10 animals in existence in South-East Asia. Scientists are also turning conventional wisdom on its head by re-looking at old classifications with the help of new techniques, such as DNA profiling. For example, one famous giant freshwater prawn & #150; a popular food item & #150; had farmers scratching their heads because it sometimes refused to mate. The problem was solved with the recent discovery by NUS graduate student Daisy Wowor that what was long thought to be one species was actually two species that looked alike. & #147;After we found this out, we realised that getting the two to breed was like matching cats and dogs, & #148; said Prof Ng. & #147;The region is a gold mine of undiscovered species. And we & #146;re trying to find out as much as we can about them before they disappear. & #148; & #150; The Straits Times/Asia News Network <p> ________________________ Your one-stop information portal: The Star Online http://thestar.com.my http://biz.thestar.com.my http://classifieds.thestar.com.my http://cards.thestar.com.my http://search.thestar.com.my http://star-motoring.com http://star-space.com http://star-jobs.com http://star-ecentral.com http://star-techcentral.com 1995-2003 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Star Publications is prohibited. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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