Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Saola (
Pseudoryx nghetinhensis
), the most recently discovered large mammal
MacKinnon never found a kouprey in the wild, nor has anyone since. Soon after, though,
members of his intrepid field team announced the discovery of another new species, the
large-antlered muntjac, a member of the ungulate group known as barking deer. Also known
as the giant muntjac, the thirty- to fifty-kilogram reddish-brown deer is considered en-
dangered and is known from only a few locales. The next few years of searching yielded
another muntjac, this one named the Annamite muntjac. The taxonomy of muntjacs remains
shaky, and further genetic analyses may reveal four or more species in the Annamites alone.
These were the first new large mammals identified by Western scientists in Indochina since
1936, when the kouprey was first described. This rich vein of new species was hardly what
the French naturalist Georges Cuvier had in mind when he proclaimed in 1812 that “there is
little hope of discovering new species of quadrupeds.”
In the past decade, Western biologists have come to recognize what great natural wealth
is packed into the Annamite Mountains, the rest of Vietnam, and neighboring Laos, and they
have been on a quest to explore every secluded valley and mountaintop in the region. The
windfall of endemics and newly discovered species made some scientists wonder how so
many early naturalists could have missed so many novelties. One explanation is that many of
these habitats had been too dangerous for outsiders to visit. Local people repelled visitors, of-
ten violently. Deadly malaria in the remote and rainy Annamites was also a serious problem.
Finally, the Annamites were so steep, and walking along their sharp limestone trails so chal-
lenging, that early naturalists were more attracted to the deltas and flat terrain full of birds
and plants.
The cryptic nature of the saola and the muntjacs—and, by extension, of other small, territ-
orial forest-dwelling Asian and African ungulates, such as duikers (tropical Africa), chevro-
