Bird, thought to be extinct, is rediscovered

On Earth, plant and animal species are continuously going extinct — more species are extinct than are alive on our planet right now.

When species are diminished due to factors such as environmental forces and evolutionary changes, they die out, only to be seen again in fossils or other remnants. The fossil record is usually the only way we can understand the organisms that lived before our times. Once in a while, though, scientists are surprised, and they find an animal that was long thought to be gone.

Enter the Jerdon’s babbler.

Despite the activities of humans that destroyed their habitat and subsequently entered their name on the extinct list, this 16-17 centimeter long, nondescript, thick-billed and long-tailed insectivore was seen on May 30, 2014 alive and well after being last seen 73 years ago.

The Jerdon’s babbler was initially described by British naturalist T. C. Jerdon in January 1862 after observing it in grassy plains close to Thayetmyo, Myanmar. The Jerdon’s babbler inhabits dense growth near water. Its habitat of choice is floodplain, tall grassland and reedbeds, sometimes seasonally inundated or near rivers and pools. It prefers dense, contiguous, undisturbed stands of grass several meters in height and is unobtrusive, found generally in pairs or small groups. Its foraging technique consists of perching on a reed stem, grasping a leaf sheath with its bill, and then rapidly tearing off the leaf to hopefully expose small arthropods and other invertebrates.

Enter humans.

Many plants and animals have become extinct as a result of the destruction of their natural environment by human actions. Ninety-nine percent of the plant and animal species currently under threat of extinction are in that position due to activities of humans. Humans destroy habitats through urban development and introduce invasive species that can have a negative effect to the fragile ecosystems that some species call home.

Natural conditions on our Earth continue to change due to human influence, and the numbers of extinctions are likely to increase as a result. About 1000 species have become extinct during the past 500 years, and it is estimated that there are about 14,000 endangered species just in the United States — about seven percent of our plants and animals.

Large areas of natural swamps and wet grassland that were once the home of the Jerdon’s babbler have been totally destroyed or damaged as a result of drainage, conversion for agriculture, grazing for domestic animals and development of communities. The remaining habitat is subject to damage by additional drainage for agriculture, excessive burning and cutting, and commercial forestry plantations.

A team of scientists from Myanmar’s Nature and Wildlife Conversation Division and the National University of Singapore re-discovered the Jerdon’s babbler as they were analyzing a location near an abandoned agricultural station that continues to support some of the grassland habitat. During two days, they observed Jerdon’s babblers at numerous locations in the immediate vicinity, and they were able to obtain blood samples and photograph evidence.

The scientists remarked that the degradation of the vast grasslands led many to consider this subspecies of Jerdon’s babbler extinct. The discovery not only proves that the species still exists in Myanmar but that its habitat is still intact as well.

The DNA samples extracted from blood collected from the birds will be analyzed to determine if the Jerdon’s babblers recently discovered in Myanmar should receive full species status. If so, the species would be considered exclusive to the Myanmar region and be carefully conserved due to its reduced and fragile habitat.