New species of rock-eating shipworm identified in freshwater river in the Philippines

International team of researchers studying biodiversity with an eye toward developing new drugs

Date:  June 19, 2019

Source:  University of Massachusetts at Amherst

A newly identified genus and species of worm-like, freshwater clam, commonly known as a shipworm, eats rock and expels sand as scat while it burrows like an ecosystem engineer in the Abatan River in the Philippines.

Local residents of Bohol Island tipped off an international group of scientists, including University of Amherst post-doctoral researcher Reuben Shipway, to the watery location of the bivalve, which the scientists named Lithoredo abatanica, using the Latin words for rock (litho) and the last two syllables of shipworm (teredo). Locals call the shipworm "antingaw," and new mothers are said to eat them in an effort to enhance lactation, Shipway says.

"These animals are among the most important in the river and in this ecosystem," says Shipway, a marine biologist working in the microbiology lab of professor Barry Goodell and lead author of the paper that describes L. abatanica, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. "As they bore elaborate tunnels in the limestone bedrock, these animals change the course of the river and provide a really rich environment for other aquatic species to live in. So far, this is the only place on earth that we know these animals exist."

Co-authors include Marvin Altamia and Daniel Distel of Ocean Genome Legacy Center at Northeastern University, where Shipway previously worked; Gary Rosenberg of Drexel University; Gisela Concepcion of the University of the Philippines; and Margo Haygood of the University of Utah.

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Please Do Not Feed These Tweezer-Beaked, Hopping Rats Peanut Butter!!!

By Rafi Letzter, Staff Writer | June 6, 2019 03:48pm ET

Scientists have named two newfound species of tweezer-beaked, hopping rats that are super not into peanut butter. Please offer them earthworms instead, thank you very much.

The critters are "docile" and long-nosed, and they hop around mountains in the Philippines looking for earthworms — the rats' preferred food. It appears that different species of the rats are isolated from one another in the upper reaches of individual mountains in the region, where the animals proliferate in surprisingly large numbers. One of the newfound species is named Rhynchomys labo (more or less Greek for "snout mouse of Mount Labo"), and the other is named Rhynchomys mingan ("snout mouse of Mount Mingan").

"They're quite bizarre," Eric Rickart, a curator of the Natural History Museum of Utah and lead author of the new descriptions, said in a statement. "They hop around on their sturdy hind legs and large hind feet, almost like little kangaroos. They have long, delicate snouts and almost no chewing teeth."

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New species of shrew discovered on a single mountaintop in the Philippines

by Mongabay.com on 11 May 2018

The newly described Palawanosorex muscorum, or the Palawan moss shrew, is known to live only near the peak of Mount Mantalingajan on Palawan Island in the southern Philippines.

The shrew has a stout body and broad forefeet with long claws, which it uses to dig through humus on the forest floor to look for earthworms.

The moss shrew has no close known relatives in Asia, and how it came to live on Mount Mantalingajan is a mystery, researchers say.

Scientists have described a new species of shrew that’s known to live only near the top of Mount Mantalingajan, the highest mountain on Palawan Island in the southern Philippines.

The animal was first spotted in 2007 by the late Danilo “Danny” Balete, a Filipino scientist and research associate at the Field Museum in Chicago, U.S., when his team was surveying the mountain’s biodiversity. But they could not identify the species. Now, Balete’s collegues have confirmed that the shrew found near the mountain’s peak is not just a new species, but belongs to an entirely new genus.

The shrew, dubbed Palawanosorex muscorum, or the Palawan moss shrew, has a stout body and broad forefeet with long claws, which it uses to dig through humus on the forest floor to look for earthworms, the researchers report in a new study published in the Journal of Mammology. The shrew also has a short tail covered by short, dense fur. By contrast, the Palawan shrew (Crocidura palawanensis), another species that’s endemic to the Philippines, has a slender body, slender feet and a very long tail covered with long bristles.

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A New Lizard? Well, New to Science - via Herp Digest

Observatory, New York Times, by Henry Fountain, 4/1217

The number of lizard species in the world — by most counts, around 4,000 — has just increased by one, with the announcement of a new species found on Luzon island in the Philippines.

But this is not a reptile you’d want in a home terrarium. It’s a 6-foot monitor lizard, gray with a spectacular pattern of colorful dots and other markings on its scales.

How did a species of lizard the size of a human remain undetected all these centuries? The answer is it didn’t. “It’s only new to science,” said Rafe M. Brown, an assistant professor at the University of Kansas and senior author of a paper describing the new species, Varanus bitatawa, in Biology Letters.

Dr. Brown said the lizard, which has a diet consisting almost entirely of fruit, was known to native people in the forested northeastern coastal region of Luzon. “They eat it, and it’s in their vocabulary,” he said. It first came to the attention of scientists about 10 years ago through a photograph of a local hunter with one of the lizards slung over his back. But it was not until last summer that an adult specimen was obtained from a hunter by two Kansas graduate students, Luke J. Welton and Cameron D. Silar.

The lizard is distinct, both in appearance and genetically, from a lizard of similar size found in southeastern Luzon. Unforested river valleys between the two areas probably served as a barrier to allow the two species to diverge, Dr. Brown said.

It’s not known if the species is threatened, but conservation in general is a concern in the Philippines. Being so large and colorful, the lizard could inspire efforts that could protect other animals.

Fisherman hands in giant pearl he kept under the bed for 10 years

Enormous pearl thought to have come from a giant clam could be the biggest in the world and, if authenticated, is estimated to be worth more than $100m

Elle Hunt

Wednesday 24 August 2016 04.05 BSTLast modified on Wednesday 24 August 201607.50 BST

A fisherman in the Philippines has kept what might be the largest natural pearl ever found hidden in his home for more than 10 years.

The enormous pearl is 30cm wide (1ft), 67cm long (2.2ft) and weighs 34kg (75lb). If it is confirmed to have formed within a giant clam, as has been reported, it would likely be valued in excess of US$100m.

According a report in the local Palawan News, a man from Puerto Princesa, on Palawan Island, found it more than a decade ago while out fishing. His boat’s anchor caught on the giant clam and he had to swim down to dislodge it.

He was not aware of its potential value but kept it as a good luck charm.

When he came to move to another part of the province, he entrusted it to his aunt, Aileen Cynthia Maggay-Amurao, who works in local government as a tourism officer.

 “That’s why he brought it to me, since it’s quite heavy,” she told the Guardian.

With his permission, she offered the pearl to the mayor, Lucilo R Bayon, to serve as new tourist attraction of city. It is now on display in the atrium of the New Green City Hall in Puerto Princesa.

Maggay-Amurao told the Guardian that she was now seeking help from experts to certify the pearl’s authenticity.

“So far based on our research in the web we cannot find any recorded article about this kind and as big as this size.”

The man was her nephew, and had kept it under his bed as a lucky charm, she said.

“He said every time he goes out for fishing he will touch the pearl.”

She made a call on Facebook for experts’ help in confirming the pearl’s authenticity.

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World's greatest concentration of unique mammal species is on Philippine island

July 14, 2016

Where is the world's greatest concentration of unique species of mammals? A team of American and Filipino authors have concluded that it is Luzon Island, in the Philippines. Their 15-year project, summarized in a paper published in the scientific journal Frontiers of Biogeography, has shown that out of 56 species of non-flying mammal species that are now known to live on the island, 52 live nowhere else in the world. Of those 56 species, 28 were discovered during the course of the project. Nineteen of the species have been formally described in scientific journals, and nine are currently "in the works."

"We started our study on Luzon in 2000 because we knew at the time that most of the native mammal species on the island were unique to the island, and we wanted to understand why that is the case. We did not expect that we would double the number already known," said Lawrence Heaney, the project's leader, who is the Negaunee Curator of Mammals at The Field Museum in Chicago.

Luzon is the largest island in the Philippines; at about 40,000 square miles, it's a bit larger than Indiana. According to the authors, Luzon has never been connected to any continental land—the species have been isolated, like the animals that live in Hawaii. But Luzon is much larger and at least five times older than the oldest island in Hawaii, and so has had time for the few species that arrived from the Asian mainland to evolve and diversify greatly.

On islands, scientists sometimes see a "sped-up" version of evolution—when animals are closed off from the rest of the world, in places where there are few or no predators or competitors, they are able to branch out into special adaptations, eventually forming new species. And not only is the island of Luzon isolated, but it's covered in mountains. The mountaintops form what scientists call "sky islands"—little pockets of distinctive habitat that the animals further adapt to. "The animals are isolated high on the scattered mountains, so they inevitably diverge. Given enough time, you begin to see huge biodiversity," explained Heaney. "In the process of trying to understand how that happens, we doubled the number of known species on Luzon."

Read more at:

Thousands of critically endangered turtles rescued in the Philippines

3,831 Palawan forest turtles, as well as Asian leaf turtles and southeast Asian box turtles, are rescued from a terrible conditions in remote warehouse

Wednesday 15 July 2015 12.53 BST

Thousands of critically endangered turtles have been saved from possible extinction after being rescued from terrible conditions in the Philippines, conservationists said Wednesday.

More than 4,000 live freshwater turtles and 90 dead ones were found in a dry concrete pond in a remote warehouse on the western island of Palawan four weeks ago in one of the country’s biggest wildlife rescues.

They included 3,831 Palawan forest turtles, a critically endangered species found only in the north of the large island, as well as 160 Asian leaf turtles and 25 Southeast Asian box turtles.

“The turtles were in terrible conditions,” said Sabine Schoppe, director of the Philippine Freshwater Turtle Conservation Programme.

The reptiles had apparently been without food or water for about six months, destined for the pet and food markets in Hong Kong and China, Schoppe said in a statement.

Veterinarians worked round the clock over the next few weeks to save the animals and prevent a potential species die-off.

“This number equalled the estimated remaining population of Palawan forest turtle in the wild, hence bringing the species to the brink of extinction,” the statement said.

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Illegal, cruel horse-fighting in Mindanao alive and kicking

Despite national and local laws, horse fight organizers are finding ways to hold their profitable derbies outside the gaze of authorities

Pia Ranada

Published 8:58 AM, Apr 18, 2015

Updated 8:08 PM, Apr 18, 2015

MANILA, Philippines – "Bratatatatatatat!" blares a commentator as two white male horses fight to the death in the village of Dawis, Digos City, Davao del Sur.

Their flanks, tense with the threat of violence, are matted with blood and dirt. After biting his adversary on the neck, one horse paws the ground like a bull.

The crowd goes wild and unseen whistles screech in ecstasy. The children, watching from nearby tree branches, cheer along with their elders, making private bets among themselves.

Recorded in video by animal rights group Network for Animals (NFA), the horse-fighting derby allegedly took place on May 16, 2014.

It is one of dozens of horse-fighting events that take place in Mindanao provinces every year.

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Undercover researchers expose new species of lizard for sale on Philippine black market

Date:

January 15, 2015

Source:

University of Kansas

Summary:

Amid the black-market pet trade in Manila, researchers have discovered two species of water monitor lizard that previously were unknown to science. Manila's criminal trade in animals ranges from pet stores "with many endangered and illegal species hidden behind the scenes" to major international wildlife violators and wholesale smuggling rackets.

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Philippine tarsier: Genetic proof of a new variety

Date:

August 19, 2014

Source:

University of Kansas

Summary:

The tarsier is the 'flagship' iconic species for promoting environmental stewardship and ecotourism in the Philippines, a nation suffering from large-scale destruction of natural habitat.

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Rare seahorses spotted for first time in Philippine waters

For the first time, two rare species of seahorse have been photographed in the Philippines.

The seahorses, a weedy pygmy seahorse (Hippocampus pontohi) and Severn’s pygmy seahorse (Hippocampus severnsi), were photographed near to the island of Romblon, which lies in the West Philippine Sea, by a citizen scientist.

They were then submitted to the iSeahorse app, which collates sightings from the public, before being verified by the Zoological Society of London’s (ZSL) Project Seahorse.

The discovery brings the number of seahorse species known to inhabit Philippine waters to 11.

Chai Apale, iSeahorse Philippines coordinator for Project Seahorse, said: “The exciting discovery of these seahorses in new waters demonstrates the important role citizen scientists can play in conservation.

“Seahorses are found across the globe from Hastings to the Seychelles. Now that the holiday season is in full swing, we’re encouraging the public to don their flippers and use the iSeahorse app to record their seahorse sightings.”

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Philippine police seize half-tonne of shark meat

Police in the central Philippines have seized half a tonne (1,100 pounds) of shark meat destined for use in fried fish snacks, the head of an illegal fishing task force said Saturday.

Meat from thresher sharks, a species listed as "vulnerable" by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), was found onboard a truck in the central island of Cebu on Wednesday, said Loy Anthony Madrigal, head of the Cebu task force.

"The people on board the truck... said they were just transporting fish. But when we checked the cargo, we found boxes of large chunks of shark torsos and packs of shark meat to be used as ingredients for tempura and fish balls," he said.

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Dynamite fishing kills 22 sperm whales

March 2014: Last weekend at least 22 dwarf sperm whales and 21 dolphins were killed as a result of ‘blast fishing’ off Siargao Island in the Philippines, a process by which fisherman use explosives to stun or kill marine life for easy collection.

Among the dead whales and dolphins were a mother dwarf sperm whale and her calf, which became stranded off a resort at Kamaligan, Barangay. Marine biologist Gianni Boy Grifoni and his assistant Stephanie Chua attempted to save the wounded whales, who they described as being badly injured. The whales also suffered stab wounds as the fisherman tried to kill the whales after the explosion had stunned and injured them. In spite of their efforts to help the animals, the calf died of its injuries on Saturday 22nd March, one day after the blast fishing took place. The mother died the following morning.

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An elephant monument is to rise from the ashes of the Philippines ivory crush

March 2014: A plan to build a giant, 13 feet, sculpture of a mother elephant protecting her calf from the ashes of the Philippines' ivory crush reports the Manila Times, the country's daily newspaper.

"It is a reminder to everyone about the Philippines' historical action regarding the destruction of ivory," Josie de Leon, chief of the environment ministry's wildlife division told AFP.

It will stand at the same Manila park where the Philippines crushed five tonnes of ivory were destroyed back in June. 

The decision to crush the ivory was taken after the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) as one of eight nations that was failing to do enough to tackle the illegal trade in elephant ivory. The country is a major transport hub for African ivory being smuggled into other Asian countries.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/elephant-monument.html

New forest reserve for Philippines

March 2014: An 80,000-acre reserve on Palawan Island in the Philippines is to be created by Rainforest Trust and the Center for Sustainability (a Palawan-based NGO) in association with the Puerto Princesa city government

Cleopatra’s Needle Forest Reserve is a biodiversity hotspot which is home to endemic species such as the Palawan bearcat, Palawan pangolin, and key populations of the Palawan horned frog, Philippine flat-headed frog, and Philippine cockatoo.

In November 2013, a study published in the journal Science identified Palawan as the world’s fourth most 'irreplaceable' area for unique and threatened wildlife.

“Rainforests, including those in Palawan, are the richest places on earth, holding the majority of the planet’s biodiversity, yet 100 acres of rainforests around the world are cleared every minute,” said Dr. Paul Salaman, chief executive officer of Rainforest Trust. “Our new project in the Philippines is an extraordinary opportunity to save a vast area of unprotected rainforest near an important UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Center for Sustainability, our local partner, has been laying the groundwork for this project for five years. The support of the city government of Puerto Princesa, recognized for its excellent conservation track record, has been critical. As a result, the new reserve is going to safeguard many rare endemic species.”

Rainforest Trust has already raised over $160,000 and requires an additional $40,000 to fund the development and protection of the reserve. This includes creating a management plan, increasing the number of wardens to enhance law enforcement, and providing sustainable livelihoods for the local Batak tribe.

www.rainforesttrust.org/ways-to-give

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/Philippines-reserve-014.html

Curious father cannot believe what his kind-hearted son does in his spare time

A curious father was left stunned after discovering where his young son was going on his daily walks.

He noticed his son left their house in the rural Philippines every day for two weeks, carrying a backpack, and one day he decided to tag along.

A curious father was left stunned after discovering where his young son was going on his daily walks.

He noticed his son left their house in the rural Philippines every day for two weeks, carrying a backpack, and one day he decided to tag along.

The pair stopped on the side of the road and moments later a group of starving stray dogs came towards them.

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Only in Cebu Zoo (Philippines) : Snake massage - via Herp Digest

Sunday, December 22nd, 2013, Cebu Daily News

Care for a snake massage?

Four Burmese pythons at the Cebu City Zoo are ready to give you one for free.

Touted as the only reptile service of its kind in the country, the exotic massage which started last month is drawing more visitors to the government zoo.

The zoo’s entrance fee is P25 for adults and P20 for children.

But there’s no charge for guests who lie down on a bamboo bed and experience the weight of full grown pythons slithering on their bodies.

“Mura ka ug gi tamakan ug bata,” said lawyer Jose Marie Poblete, Cebu City administrator. (It’s like having the weight of a child stepping on you.)

He tried the novel massage last December 10 during the blessing and inauguration of the zoo’s P4-million new viewing deck and comfort rooms.

TEN MINUTES ONLY

Pythons named Michelle (87 kilos), Walter (76 kilos), EJ (39 kilos) and Daniel (24 kilos) are taken out of their cages and placed one at a time atop visitors, who lie down on a bamboo bed near the zoo’s main entrance.

The snakes slowly move across human limbs for 10 to 15-minutes under the watchful eyes of zoo keepers.

“We have to set a time limit to accommodate all visitors who want to try it,” said the zoo manager Giovanni Romarate.

Not all visitors are that adventurous.

Eleven-year-old Richelle Joy Quiqui peeked anxiously from behind adult spectators who watched Poblete covered with snakes.

She couldn’t stand the sight, and walked away to rejoin her family’s picnic in a nearby shed.

The Cebu City Zoo is the only place in the Philippines offering snake massage.

In Indonesia, the Bali Heritage Reflexology and Spa offers snake massage using two six-foot long pythons. A 90-minute treatment would cost 480, 000 rupiah or $43.

The Burmese pythons in the Cebu City measure three to five meters long.

“You do not feel any grip. It’s more of pressure on your body because of the heavy weight of the snakes,” said Poblete.

The lawyer admitted he found it difficult to enjoy the experience because of his fear that the pythons would bite.

SAFE

Romarate assured that the snake massage is safe.

“Snakes do not attack as long as they are not harmed. We also made sure that we use pythons because they are not venomous,” said Romarate, who owns Michelle and Walter.

The two Burmese pythons were donated by a friend a few years ago and lived with Romarate and his family in their home in the mountain barangay of Tabunan. He brought the two snakes to the zoo in 2007 when he was employed as zoo manager.

Romarate said he thought of using their Burmese pythons as an attraction when the zoo’s lone Bengal tiger “Boggart” died six months ago.

Boggart was the crowd drawer in the zoo, which earns about P100,000 a month in entrance fees.

Most visitors are students from Cebu province and neighboring provinces on educational trips. The city zoo also has birds, monkeys, crocodiles, turtles, and a deer.

The idea of an exotic massage came about when the pythons were shown to guests from Tajikistan. Four pythons were placed on a bamboo bed for the guests to get a closer look.

One guest who saw the snakes crawl over the body of a zoo keeper called it a “snake massage”. Since then, the experience has been tried by various visitors daring enough to try something new, including Japanese, American and Canadian guests.

“At first, they feel fear but most of the guests who try the snake massage say that they like it. It’s like getting a hand massage. You get to enjoy the cold grip of our snakes,” said Romarate.

Some foreign guests donated meat to help feed the zoo snakes. Michelle, for example, consumes 25 chickens during her once-a- month feeding.

Romarate said he’s consulting a Cebuano physical therapist to help him enhance the service.

“I have not come across any actual study that shows therapeutic benefits of getting a snake massage,” he said “but we are working to improve the experience” and welcomes any help from other experts. /Doris C. Bongcac, Chief Of Reporters

Turtle Island sanctuary plans gains momentum

November 2013: Community efforts to curb poaching of endangered sea turtles in Tawi-Tawi, the Philippines, have been backed by local Moro folk seeking the immediate enactment of a bill to declare an island in the province a protected turtle sanctuary.

Tawi-Tawi congressional representative Ruby Sahali said members of the provincial maritime police and Department of Environment and Natural Resources representatives unit last week released to the sea 15 green sea turtles and 19 Hawksbill turtles found in a boat abandoned by armed poachers after a firefight with police five nautical miles off neighbouring Sipangkot and Sitangkai islands.

Read on

Stowaway cat found on freighter from Philippines to LA

LOS ANGELES – A 4-year-old cat that stowed away in a container ship headed from Manila, Philippines, to Los Angeles is gaining weight and getting stronger after the trip without food or water left it near death.

Los Angeles County animal control director Marcia Mayeda says the orange and white female cat was weak and frail after the 7,300-mile trip. But after two weeks of treatments, the feline is in fair condition.

Hospital staff named the cat Pinay, a common name for a female Filipino.

The cat has cleared quarantine but needs to be adopted into a calm home because she is still skittish. Potential adopters can email daccevents (at) animalcare.lacounty.gov.

A year ago, a kitten named Ni Hao survived a freighter trip from China and was placed in a home.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/07/31/cat-found-on-freighter-from-philippines-to-la/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+foxnews%2Fnational+%28Internal+-+US+Latest+-+Text%29#ixzz2acmmIk1Z

Endangered species found in slums

Manila - Five dead crocodiles, 14 critically endangered turtles and a cache of other rare species have been found in the home of a suspected wildlife trader in one of the Philippines' biggest slums, the government said on Friday.

The juvenile saltwater crocodiles, as well as 90 birds, were killed by the trader or his aides shortly before police and environment officials raided the place on Wednesday, Environment Secretary Ramon Paje said.

He denounced the unnamed suspects' “cruelty”.

“What's particularly alarming about this poaching incident is that there were reports that most of these endangered animals were intentionally killed to avoid detection by authorities,” Paje said in a statement.

The authorities also found 14 live Philippine forest and pond turtles in the address in Manila's Tondo slum district, he added.

The turtle species are considered “critically endangered” according to global “red list” compiled by the Swiss-based International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

All the animals, which also included 78 Palawan hill mynahs and 12 blue-naped parrots, are protected by Philippine law, which prohibits their trade or capture.

Paje said an informant tipped off the government that a wildlife trafficker was shipping protected animals to Manila from the western Philippine island of Palawan, one of the country's last wildlife refuges.

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