Lanka yet to discover its whole range of endemic species

Disna Mudalige

Eventhough Sri Lanka is endowed with a rich biodiversity, only a small fraction of Sri Lanka’s biodiversity is known to science, Colombo University senior lecturer and National Red List 2012 faunal coordinator Prof Devaka Weerakoon said. Speaking at the launch of the latest update of the National Red list issued after 2007, he said the lack of knowledge about what we actually have was one of the main lessons learnt during the red listing.

Prof Weerakoon said lower plants and invertebrates (animals lacking a backbone or spinal column) are largely neglected except for few selected groups.

He said most information available on flora and fauna in Sri Lanka is on higher plants or vertebrates (animals with a backbone or spinal column).

“There is no doubt that a large number of insect species are waiting to be discovered in Sri Lanka. It will be rather unfortunate if some of these organisms would perish even before we discover them,” he said.

Prof Weerakoon said the number of species listed in the data deficient category is extremely high among spiders and ants as very little information exists about members of these two groups.

He stressed the importance of further study of these two economically important groups. According to the Red List, out of the 760 inland indigenous vertebrate species assessed 329 (43 percent) were evaluated to be Nationally Threatened. Among the threatened vertebrate species, 225 (68 percent) are endemic to Sri Lanka.

Nineteen species of endemic amphibians have not been recorded in Sri Lanka during the past 100 years and these were considered as extinct.

Of the surviving inland vertebrates, 110 species are Critically Endangered.

Among the selected groups of inland invertebrate fauna evaluated, the highest number of threatened species was recorded among land snails (166), followed by bees, butterflies, spiders, dragonflies, ants and freshwater crabs.

Among the freshwater crabs, 90 percent of the total crab species recorded to date in Sri Lanka is currently facing an immediate and extremely high risk of extinction.