The Great Mekong Find

Imagine a place where you will discover two new creatures a week. Well there is such place -- the Greater Mekong.

A total of 1068 species in the period of one decade (1997 to 2007) were newly identified by science in Greater Mekong, a region composed of the six countries through which the Mekong River flows including Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and the southern Chinese province of Yunnan.

According to World Wildlife Foundation (WWF), the new species discovered include 519 plants, 279 fish, 88 frogs, 88 spiders, 46 lizards, 22 snakes, 15 mammals, 4 birds, 4 turtles, 2 salamanders and a toad. Whew! That's a long list! Scientists say that these discoveries only attest to Great Mekong's reputation as a biological treasure trove.

Among the new finds is the world’s largest huntsman spider with a foot-long leg span. Mammal discoveries is a rarity in modern science yet several new mamals were found including an Annamite Striped Rabbit.

The surprises doesn't only come from the number of species discovered but also on how they were found. Most were discovered in unexplored jungles and wetlands but some showed up in strange places like a local food market such as the Laotian rock rat. In another instance, Siamese Peninsula pit viper was found slithering through the rafters of a restaurant in Khao Yai National Park in Thailand.

This reminds me the verses in Genesis. When God created everything. For sure there are still a lot of creatures out there that humans are still unaware, but God knows all of them. He created them.

And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth." And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.

And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1: 20-25

All images courtesy of World Wildlife Foundation