Researchers identified 139 new species in Southeast Asia's Greater Mekong region, including 90 plants, 23 reptiles and 16 amphibians, nine fish and one mamal.
According to the Guardian, many of the new species are already in danger because of habitat loss, poaching and other illegal activity. The new report comes from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
"The Greater Mekong's unique ecosystems are truly the gift that keeps on giving, providing sanctuary for a treasure trove of species and critical benefits for millions of people across the region," Teak Seng, conservation director for WWF in Greater Mekong, said in the report.
The Greater Mekong region covers Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Thailand and Vietnam. The new report now brings the total of new species between 1997 and 2014 to 2,216.
"Three of the biggest insects have just been described last year. There are more for sure," Jerome Constant, leader of an expedition that discovered a long stick insect, told BBC News. "We now have more than 150 new species of stick insects to describe, only from Vietnam after a few expeditions, so imagine what there remains to discover."
The new stick insect, Phryganistria heusii yentuensis, measured in at 54cm, making it the second-longest insect in the world.
Also detailed in the report was a "dementor" wasp. Named after the soul-sucking ghost like characters from the "Harry Potter" series, the wasp paralyzes its prey before eating them alive.
The WWF researchers also described a bent-toed gecko and a long-fanged bat.
"While species are being discovered, intense pressures are taking a terrible toll on the region's species," Carlos Drews, WWF global species program director, told the Guardian. "One wonders how many species have disappeared before they were even discovered."
