Researchers Discover Snail-Eating Turtle Species
In Thai Food Market
December 20, 2017
Researchers in Thailand have discovered a new
species of snail-eating turtle, not in its native habitat, but rather, in a
local food market in Thailand.
The turtle, Malayemys isan, was
noticed last year by Dr. Montri Sumontha of Thailand's Ranong Marine
Fisheries Station. Sumontha visited the market to look at the fish and
other fresh foods when he noticed a snail-eating turtle amongst others that
didn’t look like any species that he could recall. He saw the turtle again at
another market and after confirming that the chelonian was caught in a nearby
canal, Sumontha bought a few to study and to try and confirm his suspicions
that the turtle was indeed a species new to science.
“I compared the turtle with a
closely related species, M.
macrocephala, and many parts of both turtles were different, such
as marking, color, shape of shell, head and scales, and no known overlapping of
the distributions of each species of turtles made me confident that this was a
new species,” Dr. Sumontha told WWF.
Sumontha said that the turtle
must be protected if it is going to survive.
“I have collected data
and information on human threats to wildlife, such as growth of infrastructure,
dikes and dams, which has led to turtle populations declining in Thailand.
Protection of turtles needs to be emphasized in Thai law as soon as possible.”
Malayemys isan is
different from its closest relative, M.
subtrijuga, in that it has two nasal stripes (M. subtrijuga has
six to nine), and a thin infraorbital stripe that does not reach the turtle’s
lower seam. It lives in the Mekong River Basin of northeastern Thailand, and in
nearby Vientiane in Laos.
Isu:
1. Mengapa
menggunakan racun untuk memusnahkan haiwan perosak di sawah padi sedangkan
pemangsa alami (lebih mesra alam) kepada haiwan perosak ini ada tetapi sedih
dalam cerita ini, pemangsa, kura kura Malayemys
isan hampir pupus.
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