Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Smallest deer among new species

World Wildlife Fund scientists report that over 350 species have been discovered in the Himalayan region over the past ten years. While they include a gliding frog and two catfish which have evolved "sticky" bellies to cling to the bottoms of streams, the star is the miniature muntjac, a deer weighing just 11 kg and originally mistaken for a juvenile of a known species. Nepal's forest and soil conservation minister said a more thorough, systematic search of the region might find ten times as many species.

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