The Philippines, a small country with a total land area of 30 million hectares and a coastline of 18,000 kilometers is both surprisingly high in species richness and endemism. Ecoearth.info reports that being located close to the equator enables the Philippines to be home to a rich and diversified environment of species as it stays warm to house all those unique and remarkable varieties of life.
The Philippines is an archipelago made up of more than 7000 islands and has a remarkable number of ecosystems ranging from tropical rainforests to the most beautiful coral reefs.
According to Science on NBC News, The Philippines is one of the world’s top biodiversity hotspots. It is home to more than 150 species of amphibians and reptiles and though most of the species are endemic to the island, 38% of them cannot be classified taxonomically, suggesting that they may be completely new species. Source: NBC news
The Encyclopedia of Earth states that the Philippines has one of the highest discovery rates in the entire world where it boasts of 16 new species of mammals discovered in the past ten years. Source: eoearth.org
In 2004, a rare mouse-like species that cannot be found anywhere else on Earth was found in the south of Manila on Mount Banahaw. It was said not to be found in any other part of the world and that it belonged to a family of its own, unrelated to any other rodent species found in the Philippines. To read this article, click here.
Biodiversity Portal of Singapore reports that around 1100 vertebrate species can be found on the island. This includes over 100 mammal species and 170 bird species which are said not to exist anywhere else.
To learn and read more on all the new species discovered recently in the Philippines, please refer to this link: NationalGeographic.com
Not only is the Philippines rich in an array of animal species, it also houses 13,500 plant species, of which 3200 are exclusive only to the Philippines. Of these, many are rare species not be found elsewhere on Earth, including some kinds of orchid and Rafflesia.