Animals confiscated by Indian police turn out to be whole new species
Kolkata, India - A new species of pangolin may have been discovered after Indian police confiscated several animals from wildlife trackers and gave them to scientists for analysis.
After law enforcement officers seized a number of pangolins and pangolin scales from traffickers in India's northeast, they sent them in for forensic analysis.
When analyzing the DNA of the specimens, researchers discovered something unusual – while some of the scales were of the Chinese pangolin, others were something they had never seen before.
Confused, they tracked down the creature that the scales came from in Arunachal Pradiesh, a northern region of India wedged between China, Bhutan, and Myanmar.
After analyzing the animal, they realized that they'd just found a new subspecies of pangolin – the Manis indoburmanica, or the Indo-Burmese pangolin.
What is this brand-new pangolin species?
In a research paper submitted to Mammalian Biology, it is revealed that this new subspecies split off from the Chinese pangolin about 3.4 million years ago.
"This newly identified species, which we propose to name the Indo-Burmese pangolin (Manis indoburmanica), exhibits a significant genetic distance from the Chinese pangolin," the study claims.
"The discovery emphasizes the necessity of further research to precisely describe its morphological features and define its distribution boundaries, enhancing our understanding of pangolin biodiversity and aiding in conservation efforts."
Mukesh Thakur, the Mammal and Osteology coordinator at the Zoological Survey of India in Kolkata, was one of the lead researchers.
He told reporters that the new subspecies is very similar in look to the Chinese variant, but can reach over 3.5 feet in length.
"Recognizing the Indo-Burmese pangolin as a distinct species amplifies its vulnerability," Thakur said.
"This discovery calls for collaborative conservation efforts across its range to ensure its survival."
Cover photo: Unsplash/Geranimo