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Researchers working in the Biodiversity Research and Training (BRT) programme have discovered a new species of salamander featuring a short tail with thornlike scales.

The Huai Hang Nam salamander was found living in a seasonal rain forest near Tevada Mountain in Chaiyaphum's Phu Khieo Wildlife Reserve, the park's forestry official, Monkol Khamsuk, said Monday.

The salamander is among 37 species found for the first in the time in wildlife reserve during a study of its amphibians and reptiles sponsored by the BRT programme. Fifteen of the species were amphibians and 22 reptiles.

However, only the Huai Hang Nam salamander, whose scientific name is Tropidophorus hangnam, sp nov, is entirely new to the world.

Monkol said its discovery was accidental because the salamanders are hard to spot. They often stay in holes underneath stones, whereas other salamander species crawl around on the forest floor and riverbanks.

He urged that a study of Huai Hang Nam salamanders' environment and population in other parts of the country be undertaken to enable conservation of the species.

The Nation