New species reveal nation’s ‘biological riches’

Astonishing biodiversity: The Myanmar snub-nosed monkey is among the new species discovered by researchers. — AFP

At least 100 new species – from monkeys to mussels – were found in Myanmar in a decade, according to conservationists who said discoveries during the country’s fleeting period of openness revealed “astonishing biodiversity”.

Beginning in 2010 with the identification of the Myanmar snub-nosed monkey, a small black primate known as the “sneezing monkey”, researchers have made an “incredible sequence of discoveries”, said International wildlife group Fauna and Flora International.