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 | | Most people believe that in today’s overcrowded world, there are no parts of it left to explore. In a world mapped from satellites, it seems no true wilderness can really exist. However, when it comes to animals, the reality is quite different. Scientists believe that there are literally thousands of species on earth still to be discovered. Some estimates suggest that science has still around 100 million species to classify. Discovering a new species remains the ultimate prize for most zoologists and scientists. Recent findings support the view that there are many different unidentified species still out there. In November 2008, anthropologists visiting Indonesia spotted a pygmy tarsier - a |
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creature no one had seen since 1921. More recently, 6,000 Irrawaddy dolphins appeared in waters in Bangladesh. Before this sighting, scientists feared these animals were nearing extinction. Other recent and new discoveries include a Laotian rat and a Vietnamese saola, which is a cross between a deer and cow. Scientists all over the world are working tirelessly searching for new or disappearing species. As one scientist explained, a tried and tested way of finding new species or re-discovering near extinct ones is to walk into a remote village in a far-flung place and look at what the children have tied up on a leash! A quick examination of a pelt nailed up on the side of a hut can also throw up some interesting discoveries. So, even though a species may be new to science, it is not at all new or unknown to the locals, for whom these animals are an everyday part of life. However, the scientific rule is that no animal “exists” until a scientific institute formally finds, records and reports the evidence for the species.
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Glossary Wilderness (n)
an area of land where people do not live or grow crops.
Anthropologist (n)
someone who studies human customs and beliefs. Extinction (n)
a situation when an animal, plant or language no longer exists. |
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Last Updated ( Friday, 13 August 2010 16:25 )
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