Posted 28 Sep 2009

Those setting out on a gap year in Thailand or Vietnam may like to peer into the Mekong River, along which scientists have discovered 163 new species, it has emerged.

According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), new species were discovered at the rate of three per week along the Mekong River in 2008, including 100 new plants, 18 different types of reptile, two mammals and one bird.

Additionally, a fanged frog was found to exist in eastern Thailand, along with the Cat Ba leopard Gecko in northern Vietnam, which has leopard-like spots running along its body.

Stuart Chapman, director of the WWF Greater Mekong Programme, said: "After millennia in hiding these species are now finally in the spotlight and there are clearly more waiting to be discovered."

This is not the first time new species have hit the headlines this month.

A crew of scientists from the BBC Natural History Unit on an expedition to the jungle crater of Mount Bosavi in Papua New Guinea discovered a whole range of new animal and insect species, including a giant rat.

Category: Asia