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A mysterious heart bone in chimps points to cardiac disease
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| Cnemaspis rishivalleyensis & Hemidactylus rishivalleyensis Agarwal, Thackeray & Khandekar, 2020. |
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| Atheris hetfieldi Ceríaco, Marques & Bauer, 2020 Hetfield’s Bush Viper || DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4838.4.9 Illustration by Arthur C. Wandeur |
Abstract
Two species of Bush Vipers, genus Atheris Cope, 1862, have been reported for the continental island of Bioko, Gulf of Guinea – Atheris squamigera and a putatively undescribed species, morphologically similar to Atheris chlorechis. The latter was only known from one specimen collected in the early 1900s and its taxonomic identity has never been fully resolved. Based on recently collected specimens of Atheris from Bioko Island, we reviewed all the available data and specimens through detailed morphological comparisons against all known species of the genus. Our results confirm that Atheris squamigera is present in Bioko Island, and that the second taxon is a new species, which we describe here as Atheris hetfieldi sp. nov. The newly described species presents a series of morphological characters that clearly differentiate it from all of its congeners. The description of this new species is the first of a new snake species from Bioko in more than 100 years and this species is the only snake currently recognized as endemic to the island.
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| Zoukaris festivus Anker & Corbari, 2020 |
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| Leptobrachella neangi Stuart & Rowley, 2020 |
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| Pristimantis zorro Rivera-Correa & Daza, 2020 |
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| Adult males of Pristimantis zorro sp. nov. in life: (A) MHUA-A 8813, SVL 20.1 mm, holotype; (B) MHUA-A 8814, SVL 20.5 mm, paratype; (C) MHUA-A 8815, SVL 20.3 mm, paratype, adult male; (D) MHUA-A 8816, SVL 19.5 mm, paratype; (E) MHUA-A 8817, SVL 21.5 mm, paratype; (F) MHUA-A 11165, SVL 20.1 mm, paratype; (G) MHUA-A 11166, SVL 21.3 mm, paratype; (H) MHUA-A 11167, SVL 20.8 mm, paratype. Photos by Adriana Restrepo, Carlos Marín and Juan M. Daza. |
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| Cyrtodactylus amphiptraeus Chomdej, Suwannapoom, Pawangkhanant, Pradit, Nazarov, Grismer & Poyarkov, 2020 Photos by C. Suwannapoom (A–B), N.A. Poyarkov (C–D), and P. Pawangkhanant (E–F). |
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| Variation in dorsal pattern in Cyrtodactylus amphiptraeus sp. nov. in life, from ... Pop Pra District, Tak Province, Thailand. A. Adult holotype male (AUP-00696). B. Adult paratype male (AUP-00698). C. General view of the adult paratype female (ZMMU R-16626). D. Close-up of the head of the same specimen showing green iris. E. Adult male (not collected) hiding in crevice F. Juvenile specimen (not collected). Photos by C. Suwannapoom (A–B), N.A. Poyarkov (C–D), and P. Pawangkhanant (E–F). |
It sounds a little weird, but there are often many reasons to feel sympathy for the people causing conservation crises.
Whether it’s farmers protecting their livelihoods, people below the poverty line hunting for a meal or families duped into buying medicines that don’t work to try to save their loved ones, often the root of the problem is genuine human need.
But this is not one of those stories.
This is about the slaughter of helmeted hornbills - a brilliant bird that is being blasted to bits so people can hack the helmet off its skull and carve it into some vulgar status symbol.
This unsavoury trend has reared its ugly head again in Southeast Asia, slicing through their population and leaving them on the highest extinction warning level possible.
There is no practical purpose or fabled benefit from this - just needless ostentatiousness in its vilest form.
The situation is all the more heartbreaking once you get a sense of the bird beneath the helmet. Their call sounds like the cackle of a maniac and they use those helmets in aerial head-butting battles as the birds jostle for the more favourable trees to nest in.
Once nested, the female and single chick won’t leave, relying solely on the male for regular deliveries of food. So, when the hunter creeps into the forest to slaughter the male, the whole family perishes soon after in a grim three for one.
Nobody’s ego is worth that.
We have to end this - and end it in the tiny amount of time we have left before the damage becomes irreversible. To do that, we have to stop the traffickers.
These criminals are often the same individuals driving the slaughter of tigers and profiting from the sale of their skin and bones. Their time behind bars is long overdue and, through your donations, we’re cultivating informant networks and supporting the undercover operations that are bringing them to justice.
Only in that way can we give these brilliant birds (and the tigers that share their home) the respite they need to recover - keeping their helmets off mantelpieces, and saving their lives to keep them jousting around in the wild.
Please help save these brilliant birds. They're on the very brink of collapse, and most of the world doesn't even know they exist, but if everyone reading this donates just £3 you could help stop the traffickers and save their lives. Thank you.
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| Cyrtodactylus kohrongensis Grismer, Onn, Oaks, Neang, Sokun, Murdoch, Stuart & Grismer, 2020 |
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| Miniopterus wilsoni Monadjem, Guyton, Naskrecki, Richards, Kropff & Dalton, 2020. |
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| Zoukaris festivus Anker & Corbari, 2020 |
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