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Miami Herald

‘Shining' creature with ‘flat' back found at hotel in Laos. It's a new species

As a rainstorm passed over a hotel in a small town of Laos, a 'shining' creature with a 'flat' back emerged from its hiding place and crawled up a tree trunk. Something about it caught the attention of returning scientists — and for good reason. It turned out to be a new species. A team of researchers spent four years traveling the Southeast Asian country of Laos and surveying millipedes, according to a study published May 16 in the peer-reviewed journal ZooKeys. During a field trip in 2017, researchers returned to 'Phu Thevada Hotel in the evening following a rainfall, after a full day of collecting' specimens, the study said. To their surprise, 'the rainfall prompted millipedes and land snails to emerge.' Researchers collected dozens of millipedes from the ground and trees around the hotel. They took a closer look at the animals and realized they'd discovered a new species: Touranella srisonchaii, or Srisonchai's flat-back millipede. Srisonchai's flat-back millipedes can reach out about an inch in length, the study said. Their 'smooth and shining' bodies have 20 segments and 'moderately long' antennae. Photos show the black millipede and its 'pale yellowish' legs. Researchers said they named the new species after Ruttapon Srisonchai, a millipede researcher at Khon Kaen University, 'who has not only contributed to the study of millipede taxonomy in Thailand, but also collected the type series of this new species.' So far, Srisonchai's flat-back millipedes have only been found around Phu Thevada Hotel in Paksong, a city in southern Laos, a landlocked country bordering Cambodia, China, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. Phu Thevada Hotel shared a photo of the hotel building in a 2010 Facebook post. Much about the lifestyle and behavior of Srisonchai's flat-back millipedes remains unknown. The new species was identified by its genitalia and other subtle physical features, the study said. Researchers did not include a DNA analysis of the new species. The research team included Natdanai Likhitrakarn, Sergei Golovatch, Khamla Inkhavilay, Somsak Panha and Chirasak Sutcharit. The team also discovered two more new species of flat-back millipede, including one at an ancient Hindu temple.