New Species Found in the Philippines

New Species Found in the Philippines

As researchers braved the Philippine mountains and oceans, they found an overwhelming number of new species that are not known to science.

This included the likes of an inflatable shark, which swells up to protect itself from larger predators.  They also found shrimp-eating sharks, a dozen of new insects and spiders, more than 50 species of colorful sea slugs and deep-sea armored corals which uses spiky plates as its defense mechanism against possible enemies.

The field research work was done during a 42-day span that likely produced the discoveries of 300 unknown species.  Researchers form the California Academy of Sciences, toghether with the University of the Philippines and the National Museum of the Philippines braved leeches and other venomous creatures to successfully conclude the research.

The researchers went around the Luzon island, the largest island in the Philippine Archipelago, and they worked around its surrounding waters as well.

Working on the field is always a challenge, noted by the dean of science and research collections of the California Academy of Sciences,TerrenceGosliner.  Some of the challenges they faced included the suspension of work in the waters due to a typhoon.

However, the reseach proved to be very productive considering that it is the largest and most complex survey effort to be done in the Philippines.

The researchers are sharing the fruits of their labors with Filipino agencies and international groups, even suggesting that the nutrient-rich water that they tested is possibly housing the most diversed marine life in all of the waters of the earth.

Posted by Sophia Andrews on Tuesday June 28 2011, 5:15 AM EST. Ref: Yahoo news. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0