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Mindoro fruit bat makes it to top 10 new species of '08


BAGUIO CITY, Philippines - The Mindoro fruit bat, also known as the flying fox, has been named as one of the Top Ten New Species of 2008, a report by the International Institute for Species Exploration (IISE) said. In an article posted on its website, the group described the bat as "large and charismatic" which can be found only in Mindoro. "The new species is threatened by habitat loss and hunting. Its discovery highlights an increasing understanding of endemism on Mindoro, and the need for species exploration and conservation," the group added. The announcement was made on May 23, the 301st birthday of Carolus Linnaeus, the father of taxonomy or the naming of species). The list included a sleeper ray which was named Electrolux addisoni – whose name reflects “the vigorous sucking action displayed on the videotape of the feeding ray" from the east coast of South Africa that “may rival a well-known electrical device used to suck the detritus from carpets." Also in the list are the shocking pink millipede, a very venomous snake, a mushroom found in a campus, a jellyfish, the "Michelin Man™" plant and a rhinoceros beetle that looks like "Dim" in the movie, "A Bug's Life." Also included are a 75-million-year-old giant duck-billed dinosaur and a rare extinct frog. The complete list can be found in the IISE website with the University of Arizona. The Mindoro stripe-faced fruit bat (Styloctenium mindorensis) was discovered only in 2006 and can be found only in Mindoro. It is also known as a flying fox. It has orange fur and three white stripes on its face. It is the second known species of its genus as the other is known only in Sulawesi and Togian island in Indonesia and was discovered more than a century ago by Alfred Russel Wallace, a contemporary of Charles Darwin. The IISE hoped that the selection of the Mindoro stripe-faced fruit bat would help in its conservation. It was accidentally discovered in 2006 when one specimen was unintentionally caught in one of the nets of researchers studying the unique biodiversity of Mindoro. The fruit bat was formally introduced to the scientific world when it was formally described by University of Kansas biologist Jacob Esselstyn in the August 2007 issue of the Journal of Mammalogy. The S. mindorensis is the 74th chiropteran or bat species to be found in the Philippines and the country's 26th endemic bat. Mindoro is a biodiversity hotspot. There are reportedly 42 species of native terrestrial mammals are known from Mindoro, and eight of these are endemic to the island so far. Mindoro, however, has suffered extensive deforestation and several species endemic to the island are threatened with extinction The lone sample of the S. mindorensis is now at the University of Kansas Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center, Lawrence in Kansas and will be transferred to the National Museum of the Philippines. - GMANews.TV
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