MSc Conservation and Restoration Ecology

24/08/2026

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A week of searching through the forests of Calanasan turned up at least 15 species of frogs, snakes, geckos, skinks, and other reptiles and amphibians, offering scientists another glimpse of just how much of Apayao’s wildlife remains to be documented.

10/08/2026

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02/08/2026

⚠️ New Species Alert ⚠️

PABORITO NYO BA ANG DILIS?

ALAM NYO PO BA NA MAY BAGONG SPECIES NG DILIS NA NADISKUBRE SA PINAS?

Basahin ang scientific paper na isinulat ni Hata, Lavoue, Doc Mudjie at Sallan sa scientific journal na ZOOLOGICAL STUDIES. Ma access ang paper for FREE dito: https://zoolstud.sinica.edu.tw/issue.php?id=2073

Photos and Figure from paper.

ABSTRACT

”Thrissina invicta sp. nov. is described based on 46 specimens collected from Philippine Islands. The new species is morphologically most similar to Thrissina katana Hata, Lavoué and Motomura 2022, Thrissina malabarica (Bloch 1795), and Thrissina mystica Hata, Lavoué and Motomura 2025, three species previously included in “Thryssa hamiltonii.” However, Thrissina invicta sp. nov. differs from these species by several morphological metrics including higher counts of gill rakers and lower counts of vertebrae, as well as both a longer head and a deeper body. The new species is most likely to be the sister taxon to T. katana due to their close morphological similarity based on preserved specimens in museums, but this is yet to be confirmed by genetic analysis. If they are sister taxa, their divergence may have resulted from allopatric speciation during the long isolation of shelf areas around the Philippine Islands from those around Sundaland (now the islands of Southeast Asia, Indonesia, Brunei and Malaysia) during Pleistocene era intervals of low sea levels associated with glacial maxima. The current overlapping distribution of Thrissina invicta sp. nov. and T. katana off Palawan Island is interpreted as a secondary contact zone, highlighting the influence of both Philippine Islands and Sundaland in the assembling of the marine ichthyofauna of this island.”

01/08/2026

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Regarded to be extinct in Pampanga, a crocodile (dapu in Kapampangan) was reported on Saturday (Aug. 1) to have been “safely rescued” in the northern part of the province.

READ MORE: https://inqnews.net/crocrescued

19/07/2026

For how many years has this issue been raised? We keep repeating the same concerns, yet little attention is given to what we can actually do to address them.

Perhaps it's time to shift the conversation from repeatedly pointing out the problem to working together on solutions.

And perhaps it's also worth asking whether our own actions might be contributing to the very problem we want to solve.

14/07/2026

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The municipality of Subic reportedly started its cleanup operations on the portion of an ancestral domain owned by an Aeta community in Zambales that was turned into a dumpsite.

Read: https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/regions/994853/subic-aeta-trash-zambales/story/?

14/07/2026

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An American marine biologist was gunned down inside his residence in Barangay Ajong, Sibulan, Negros Oriental on Sunday night.

Link to full story in the comment section.

09/07/2026

⚠️ New Species Alert ⚠️

A newly discovered species of helmet orchid found in the mossy forests of Mount Apo has been assessed as critically endangered after researchers documented only 10 mature individuals from a single known site, according to a newly published study.

READ: https://mb.com.ph/2026/07/09/new-mt-apo-helmet-orchid-species-assessed-as-critically-endangered-after-only-10-individuals-found

08/07/2026

⚠️ New Species Alert! ⚠️

LAGUNDI, REDEFINED 🌿🔬

The medicinal plant widely known as lagundi in the Philippines is not just one species.

A research team from the University of the Philippines Los Baños identified five distinct Philippine species under the Vitex trifolia complex: Vitex trifolia, V. rotundifolia, V. bicolor, V. elmeri, and V. arvensis.

The study also established that Vitex negundo—the name long associated with Philippine lagundi—is not naturally found in the country. Unlike local lagundi species with smooth-edged mature leaflets, true V. negundo develops toothed leaf margins.

Among the findings, V. elmeri was reinstated as a distinct Philippine endemic species, while V. arvensis was identified as a new endemic species. The latter is believed to be a natural hybrid and is the lagundi commonly cultivated in Philippine farms and home gardens.

Knowing the exact identity of lagundi matters for medicinal-plant research, accurate product labeling, conservation, and the development of genetically stable planting materials.

The study was led by Dr. Renerio P. Gentallan Jr. of the UPLB Institute of Crop Science, with support from DOST-PCAARRD.

04/07/2026

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