Some good news from the natural world.
The Laotian Rock Rat (below and video) and a new species of striped rabbit (above) are among more than 1,000 to be discovered and identified in the last decade in the rainforest wetlands of the Greater Mekong, which bridges Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Thailand, Vietnam and China. The rat was believed to have been extinct 11 million years ago.
“Among the most bizarre to be discovered was a hot-pink, spiny dragon millipede, Desmoxytes purpurosea.. The millipedes have glands that produce cyanide to protect them from predators…A huntsman spider, named Heteropoda maxima, measured 30cm across and was found in caves in Laos. It was described as the “most remarkable” of 88 new species of spider located in Laos, Thailand and the Yunnan province of China…
More photos and video, AFTER THE JUMP…
