A new species of snail has been discovered at the Kuala Belalong Field Studies Centre (KBFSC) at the Ulu Temburong National Park by experts and citizen scientists who participated in a field course led by Dr Menno Schilthuizen from Leiden University and Dr Ferry Slik from Universiti Brunei Darussalam. The annual field course is organized at the KBFSC in collaboration with the Institute for Biodiversity and Environmental Research (IBER) for participants interested in nature and science. Field course participants including local students and staff from UBD and the Forestry Department, Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism, are introduced to biodiversity survey techniques, and conduct hands-on research on native flora and fauna at KBFSC.
The new caenogastropod species from the family Caenogastropoda is named Craspedotropis gretathunbergae, in honour of environmentalist Greta Thunberg. Caenogastropod snails are likely to suffer from climate change because they are more sensitive to drought, temperature extremes and forest degradation.
The new species discovery highlights the value of the Kuala Belalong Field Studies Centre as a high conservation value area, where there are still innumerable species yet to be discovered.
Further details of Craspedotropis gretathunbergaecan be found here doi: 10.3897/BDJ.8.e47484
Text by: IBER