The tragedy of our times--one of them anyway--is the discovery of new species who may be threatened with extinction even before they've been known long enough to get a common name. Global warming, habitat destruction, and a host of other threats endanger rain forest denizens all over the world. We're taking inventory while the store shuts down. It's urgent work.
In the last decade researchers in the Mekong River system, which flows through parts of Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, and China's Yunnan Province, have discovered nearly 1,000 new-to-science species. There are some weird ones, like the pink, cyanide-spewing dragon millipede (that thing looks dangerous), the poisonous Gumprecht's Green pitviper (ditto), and that spooky spider, big as a dinner plate but harmless. Still, I wouldn't want to run into that spindly arachnoid in the dark cave where he was found.
But there are some beauties alongside those beasts. Roughly half of the discoveries are from the plant kingdom, including finds such as the fiery Aeschynanthus mendumiae and the purple-kissed blue Gentiana khammouanensis, both of which were discovered in Laos. For the straight scoop on the World Wildlife Federation's Greater Mekong Programme (the source for these photos), check this news story.