An astonishing 742 species of flora and fauna were discovered between 2013 and 2023 in the Congo Basin of Central Africa, the second-largest rainforest in the world, as per a new study by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
The new finds include new orchids species and other flowering plants, new species of coffee, the first firefly species from the Central African Republic, air-breathing catfish, bats, blind snakes, bush vipers, chameleons, clawed frogs, cobras, crocodile, dragonflies, electric fish, endangered frogs, mice, a new monkey, owl, robin, shrews, spiders, a turtle and wasp, among others.
Although some of the new finds may have been possibly known to locals for centuries, they will be new to science, the report noted.
Amazing array
The species include plants (430 species), invertebrates (140), fish (96), amphibians (22), reptiles (42), birds (2) and mammals (10).
Country-wise, 238 of the species were found in Cameroon. Others were found in the Central African Republic (25), Democratic Republic of Congo (259), Equatorial Guinea (59), Gabon (262) and Republic of Congo (65).
The new species of plants found in the Congo this past decade include a plethora of new orchids, ferns from the Asplenium genus, species from Begoni, Coffea, Hibiscus, as well as flowering plant species from Didelotia, and Grangea genera.
The 140 invertebrate species include ants, beetles, bugs, flies, mites, moths, spiders, worms and a new firefly species.
The 96 fish species include barbs, bass, catfish, clingfish, electric fish, killifish, swamp eel and tetras. The 22 species of amphibians are all frogs.
Among reptiles, 25 types of snakes like blind snakes, cobras and pit vipers were discovered. Ten geckos, three chameleons, two skinks, one turtle and a crocodile have also been newly discovered in the Congo Basin.
“Of all the new reptile species, the most significant has to be the Central African Slender-Snouted Crocodile (Mecistops leptorhynchus), described as a new species by scientists in 2018. Within the Congo Basin region, the new crocodile can be found across Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, northern Angola, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo,” the report read.
Bird finds were relatively few, with a new forest robin and an owl being discovered in the past decade.
“In the last decade, one new mammal species a year on average has been found in the Congo Basin. This pack of new mammals include a new monkey species, four species of shrew, three mice and two bats,” the report said.
It highlighted that new mammal finds were rare on any continent. The new species of monkey, Cercopithecus lomamiensis or lesula, was discovered in the Lomami Basin of the Tshuapa–Lomami–Lualaba Conservation Landscape, until very recently a remarkably unknown forested region in central Democratic Republic of Congo.
“Known to locals for some time, but otherwise unknown to the international scientific community, the new species was only the second new species of African monkey to be discovered since 1984. Although discovered in 2012, the species was listed among the Top 10 New Species globally in 2013, and has been included in this report because of its enormous significance,” the document noted.
The Congo Basin is already home to over 400 other species of mammals, 1,000 bird species, 700 fish species and an incredible 10,000 species of plants.
The analysis concluded by saying that the Congo Basin is not only a biodiversity hotspot but also a critical resource for both wildlife and human communities. The discovery of new species underscores the urgent need for conservation efforts to protect this vital ecosystem, it added.