• Scientists have discovered a ninth variety of the endangered mammal, pangolin.
• Previously, the scientific community acknowledged four species each in Asia and Africa.
  • Four species live in Africa: Black-bellied pangolin , White-bellied pangolin, Giant Ground pangolin and Temminck’s Ground pangolin.
  • Four species found in Asia: Indian pangolin, Philippine pangolin, Sunda pangolin, and the Chinese pangolin.
• This new species, tentatively named “Manis mysteria”, is believed to have diverged from its Philippine and Malayan relatives approximately five million years ago.
• The newly identified pangolin species emerged from a detailed study of scales seized in China’s Yunnan province in 2015 and 2019.
• Despite the exciting discovery, the exact habitat of Manis mysteria remains a mystery.

ABOUT PANGOLINS

• Only mammals wholly covered in scales made of keratin.
• They are often referred to as “scaly anteaters” due to their characteristic scales and their diet, which primarily consists of ants and termites.
• When threatened, pangolins can curl into a tight ball, with their scales forming a protective barrier.
• Pangolins have no teeth.
• They are most active at night and are solitary creatures.
• Pangolin species found in India
  • Indian Pangolin-IUCN Red List status – Endangered, WPA 1972-Schedule 1
  • Chinese Pangolin-IUCN Red List status – Critically Endangered, WPA 1972-Schedule 1
• Threats
  • Pangolins have been under threat due to their scales, used in traditional medicine, and their meat, considered a delicacy in some regions.
  • From 2004 to 2014, it is estimated that over a million pangolins were poached, leading to an international trade ban on this species in 2016.
  • They are the most trafficked mammals in the world.
  • All pangolin species are listed in Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) Appendix I.