Discovery To The Core

Scientists have discovered more than 1,000 species in Southeast Asia’s Greater Mekong region in the past decade, including a spider as big as a dinner plate, the World Wildlife Fund said on Monday. A rat thought to have become extinct 11 million years ago and a cyanide-laced, shocking pink millipede were among creatures found in what the group called a biological treasure trove.

The species were all found in the rain forests and wetlands along the Mekong River, which flows through Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and the southern Chinese province of Yunnan. Discoveries of this scale were confined to the history books.These included the world’s largest huntsman spider, with a leg span of 30cm, and the startlingly coloured dragon millipede, which produces the deadly compound cyanide.