International Mollusc of the Year was a beautiful land tortoise found in Saraburi.
A bright land tortoise from Saraburi, known as a “living shine stay” and the first of its kind to get discovered in 80 years, has won international acknowledgement, according to Chulalongkorn University.
A German university dedicated to wildlife named the crab Phuphania cross as” International Mollusc of the Year 2024,” according to Arthit Polyotha, a science lecturer at the university.
After exhausting and drawn-out efforts by Mr. Arthit’s team of researchers, the tortoise was discovered in August 2020 on a limestone hill in the Kaeng Khoi city of Saraburi.
Researchers began their hunt for the species when they discovered that Thai land snails from the Phuphania relatives were physically similar to the bright land crab from the Quantula family, which Chinese researchers had first discovered in Singapore in 1942, he said.
The first dazzling land tortoise in the world was a member of the Quantula home.
Research on Phuphania crossei continued for three decades after its discovery in Saraburi in 2020, and the findings were published in Matter 13 of Scientific Reports next year.
Phuphania crossei are regarded as unique in comparison to others in the Quantula household because they consistently produce light both during the day and night, unlike the latter, according to Mr. Arthit, when they move.
On their feet and mantles, crustaceans produce illumination from cells.
Because they are so tiny, adept at covering, and hardly move, he claimed it was challenging to find such land snails.
” We looked at piles of leaves, decaying logs, and moist areas where property snails like to cover,” said our team. Therefore, according to Mr. Arthit, we examined the worms we collected to determine whether they could glow in dark spaces or containers.
The Loewe Centre for Translational Biodiversity Genomics, Senckenberg Naturmuseum, and Unitas Malacologica organized the International Mollusc of the Year competition.