The Leopard Eel , and
other amphibians from
Neverland.
John McGrath reports that the discovery of a new
species of salamander has added to the ranks of those
that have tapped into the fountain of youth.
T
he discovery of a large new species of vertebrate
is a rare occurrence in recent times, but not without
precedent. The Indonesian Coelacanth (Latimera
menadoensis), a 1.2-metre lobe-finned fish from an
ancient lineage related to lungfish, was discovered in
1997 and described in 1999. The two extant species of
coelacanths are also prime examples of ‘Lazarus
taxons’ having previously been assumed extinct for 66
million years.
Left: Siren reticulata paratype
specimen captured in Okaloosa
County, Florida.
Source: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/
article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.020746
Authors: Sean P. Graham, Richard Kline,
David A. Steen, Crystal Kelehear
Creative Commons Attribution-Share
Alike 4.0 International Licence
Similarly, the Vu Quang Ox or Saola (Pseudoryx
nghetinhensis) was ‘discovered’ from remains in 1992
and described in 1993. This rare and timid bovid,
standing about 84 centimetres high at the shoulder and
measuring around 150 centimetres in head and body
length, hails from Vietnam’s remote Vu Quang
National Park, which has proved to be a veritable
treasure trove for new species of late. The Saola was
also something of a cryptid, having been known to
local people in the region, with its horns adorning the
walls of hunters’ homes.
This should not necessarily be interpreted to mean that
there is still hope of proving the existence of the Yeti
or Loch Ness Monster. But in December 2018, the
formal description of another new and intriguing spe-
cies was published by a group of scientists in the US.
The Reticulated Siren (Siren reticulata) is currently
confirmed from just three localities in southern
Alabama and the Florida panhandle. It ranks amongst
the largest salamanders in the world, and is one of the
largest animals to be discovered in the US in the last
100 years.