Marvellous animals of the Mekong

This vibrantly-coloured frog was discovered in limestone forests of northern Vietnam. But their homes are threatened by quarrying for cement and road construction. – AFP/WWF/Truong Nguyen

Between 1997 and 2016, an amazing 2,524 new species have been discovered by science in the jungles, rivers and even urban areas of the Greater Mekong.

This is a region that spans Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and the southern province of Yunnan in China. The landscapes of this vast area are just as diverse as the countries that it enshrines, from dusty savannahs to dense rainforests, and from slow-moving rivers to icy torrents.