Recently, a particular Malaysian team of researchers that are Siti-Munirah Mat Yunoh, Salamah Ahmad, and also Razelan Mohd Shah has successfully discovered a brand new species of Rafflesia specifically in Tioman Island.
The newly found species was named ‘Rafflesia tiomanensis’.
According to the Facebook post, ‘Rafflesia tiomanensis’ can be characterized by its small discrete warts on the perigone lobes, the absence of warts on the diaphragm upper surface, lack of processes on the disk, the absence of disk rims, and the irregular shape whose opening aperture is variably lobed.
They also added that all other species in Peninsular Malaysia have warts on the diaphragm upper surface, processes, and disk rims. This new species is thus entirely unique. The species description, color plates, and provisional conservation status are provided.
Sources: Facebook Cintai Tioman.
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