Newer Bird Species Might Exist In Philippines
Posted in News | November 9, 2010 | Comment NowPhilippines may have been known to boast of a number of interesting bird species in the past, but as per the new studies, there has been some light shed on the fact that there may be some more interesting species of birds available in the region. This observation has come to the forefront owing to recent research conducted by a certain Dr. David Lohman, who is an assistant professor of biology with the City College of New York. As per his findings, the nation of Philippines may actually be much more of a ‘biodiversity hotspot’ than it has been given credit for. If his studies hold ground with authorities, then it might be high time that there are some serious changes made in the process of conservation practices.
A number of animal species that are otherwise found in the country of Philippines are known to be endemic to this particular nation. This nation is ideally made up of 7100 islands and is known to be home to a lot of species that are found only in Philippines. For instance, about 64% of the land mammal species and about 77% of its amphibian population cannot be found anywhere else in the world.
In order to test whether or not the bird population of Philippines could include certain unrecognized species, Prof. Lohman began research on around 7 smaller species of birds, which fell under the category of perching birds. He then went on to conduct some genetic tests and tried to reconstruct the evolutionary histories of the different sorts of birds. According to his findings, the samples derived from the populations inhabiting Philippines were said to be distinctly different from the ones found elsewhere in Southeast Asia.
The genetic lineage of these birds was definitely seen to be unique. There is need for more research to be conducted in order to determine whether or not these birds make for totally unknown species.
Earlier, the taxonomists would use plumage color in order to identify different species of the birds. But what they wouldn’t realize half of the times was that species that are closely related, but distinct in reality, might actually end up looking uncannily similar. There continues to be a healthy amount of debate surrounding whether or not the newly discovered findings would imply that these are wholly new species; but one thing remains clear – these are unique genetic lineages that weren’t known of earlier.
However, Lohman himself claims that a lot of study has to be conducted before any reports are printed about these so-called new species. He does, however, stress on the fact that conservation practices in Philippines need renewal at the earliest, lest we lose some newer species to extinction.
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