FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
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New snail species revealed to public

New snail species revealed to public

CHULALONGKORN University and the Thailand Research Fund yesterday showed off two new species of psychedelic-yellow tree snails to the public.

One was graciously named Budsarakham, or yellow sapphire, by HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. The other is called Mae Sot Yellow Bird.
Budsarakham was discovered on Koh Kra in Nakhon Si Thammarat, while Mae Sot Yellow Bird was found in Tak’s Mae Sot district, Professor Somsak Panha, head of the Animal Systematics Research Unit at Chulalongkorn’s Biology Department, told a press conference yesterday.
Both snails were reported in ZooKeys, an international science journal.
Somsak, who has studied snails in Thailand for 30 years, said Thailand had about 1,000-1,500 snail species, of which 100 were new to the world. 
Budsarakham’s body comes in a plain ivory colour, while its left-hand spiral shell – 2.5-3.6 centimetres by 1.5-2cm – is glittering yellow. 
Its only habitat is the tropical rainforest of Kra Island in the Gulf of Thailand, where it feeds on algae and lichens covering the bark of trees. 
Its mucilage has free radical antioxidants, and is anti-inflammatory and rich in protein, so it could be suitable for cosmetics development.
Mae Sot Yellow Bird’s body is light brown and its 1.8-2.3cm by 1.2-1.5cm shell is yellow with two brown stripes running along the first and last rings. 
These two species could serve as living fertility indicators for Thailand forests, so people should help preserve the ecology in those areas, Somsak said.
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