Thread by @jean8rum

It's International Day for Biodiversity! Reply with your favourite animal or plant. Like this tweet and I'll share one endemic species from the Philippines 💚 #IDB2020 #BiodiversityDay

My fave bird is the endangered Visayan tarictic hornbill 🥰 In the wild, this species can now only be found in Negros and Panay islands. Follow Talarak Foundation on IG for news on their captive breeding program for these. #IBD2020 #BiodiversityDay

Staying with island endemics theme, here's a Visayan spotted deer. They're endangered. Endemic to West Visayan region but presently only known from forest patches in Negros & Panay. @silliman_u CENTROP has a captive breeding program for this species. #IBD2020 #BiodiversityDay

The Philippine guitarfish, a #sharkray endemic to the Philippines. It was described in 2014 from specimens collected at fish markets by my #PatingKaBa co-authors in 1999.
#IDB2020 #BiodiversityDay
📸 from Shark References bit.ly/2Zu8F44

The Pogi perchlet discovered from a fish market in Iloilo City, Panay. It was described in 2015 and named in honor of another of my #PatingKaBa co-authors, @mudjiesantos. "Pogi" is a Filipino word for handsome 😍. #IDB2020 #BiodiversityDay

The Latigo fairy wrasse from the mesophotic depths of Philippine seas 😍 Described just 3 months ago by @FishGuyKai @CoralReefFish and colleagues.
#IDB2020 #BiodiversityDay

https://twitter.com/FishGuyKai/status/1232023941679435777?s=19

And these three mesophotic damselfishes from Mindoro and Batangas just described last year by @CoralReefFish and colleagues: Chromis gunting, C. bowesi, and C. hangganan #IDB2020 #BiodiversityDay

https://twitter.com/CoralReefFish/status/1113857317416517633?s=19

Not an endemic but because of their patchy distribution and small population size in the Philippines, I'm spotlighting Irrawaddy #dolphins too. Here's a pregnant mum spotted in Guimaras Strait last year on one of @makoy28's surveys! #IDB2020 #BiodiversityDay

Last 1 for tonight, in honor of Daniel Bennett, who passed away recently. He worked for conservation of monitor #lizards in the 🇵🇭. Here's the Bitatawa, endemic to Northern Sierra Madre forest in Luzon. #IDB2020 #BiodiversityDay

📸 National Geographic: bit.ly/3cXgQK3

#DYK the world's largest fruit bat, Golden-crowned flying fox, can only be found in the Philippines? One of their roost sites is in Boracay. #IDB2020 #BiodiversityDay

📸 by Pol Cariño for Friends of the Flying Foxes Boracay. Learn more here: bit.ly/2AXmazj

Critically endangered Visayan warty pigs in the wild can now only be found in fragmented forests of Negros & Panay. Last year, a zoo in Paris documented these pigs to use tools such as sticks to dig! Read more here: bit.ly/3e8BiIj
#IDB2020 #BiodiversityDay

#13 is the Philippine forest #turtle because it's also #WorldTurtleDay today! This freshwater species is known only from Palawan. More info about it here (where I also nicked this pic from): bit.ly/3d1PR04

#IDB2020 #BiodiversityDay

#DYK there are 352 species of #butterflies endemic to the Philippines? Here are 2 Striped ringlet butterflies in courtship dance position photographed in Balinsasayao Twin Lakes 🥰

Follow @jaa_99badon on his IG for more lepidopteran beauties 🦋

#IDB2020 #BiodiversityDay

This miniature tarantula species described from Pangasinan last year is named after the legendary warrior princess, Urduja. It was found outside a cave forest. #MythologyInTaxonomy
#IDB2020 #BiodiversityDay

📸 and paper here: bit.ly/3eagvUG

To round off this species count to 20 (for 20 likes so far), #DYK all 5 bleeding-heart pigeons in the Philippines are endemic? Each species is an island endemic too -- for example, Negros bleeding-heart pigeon can only be found in Negros & Panay! #IDB2020 #BiodiversityDay

And that concludes my #IDB2020 #BiodiversityDay #scicomm series! Thanks for following along 😊

@threadreaderapp compile pls