It's International Day for Biodiversity! Reply with your favourite animal or plant. Like this tweet and I'll share one endemic species from the Philippines #IDB2020 #BiodiversityDay

My fave bird is the endangered Visayan tarictic hornbill In the wild, this species can now only be found in Negros and Panay islands. Follow Talarak Foundation on IG for news on their captive breeding program for these. #IBD2020 #BiodiversityDay

Staying with island endemics theme, here's a Visayan spotted deer. They're endangered. Endemic to West Visayan region but presently only known from forest patches in Negros & Panay. @silliman_u CENTROP has a captive breeding program for this species. #IBD2020 #BiodiversityDay

The Philippine guitarfish, a #sharkray endemic to the Philippines. It was described in 2014 from specimens collected at fish markets by my #PatingKaBa co-authors in 1999.
#IDB2020 #BiodiversityDay
from Shark References https://bit.ly/2Zu8F44 

The Pogi perchlet discovered from a fish market in Iloilo City, Panay. It was described in 2015 and named in honor of another of my #PatingKaBa co-authors, @mudjiesantos. "Pogi" is a Filipino word for handsome . #IDB2020 #BiodiversityDay

The Latigo fairy wrasse from the mesophotic depths of Philippine seas Described just 3 months ago by @FishGuyKai @CoralReefFish and colleagues.
#IDB2020 #BiodiversityDay https://twitter.com/FishGuyKai/status/1232023941679435777?s=19

And these three mesophotic damselfishes from Mindoro and Batangas just described last year by @CoralReefFish and colleagues: Chromis gunting, C. bowesi, and C. hangganan #IDB2020 #BiodiversityDay https://twitter.com/CoralReefFish/status/1113857317416517633?s=19

Not an endemic but because of their patchy distribution and small population size in the Philippines, I'm spotlighting Irrawaddy #dolphins too. Here's a pregnant mum spotted in Guimaras Strait last year on one of @makoy28's surveys! #IDB2020 #BiodiversityDay

Last 1 for tonight, in honor of Daniel Bennett, who passed away recently. He worked for conservation of monitor #lizards in the . Here's the Bitatawa, endemic to Northern Sierra Madre forest in Luzon. #IDB2020 #BiodiversityDay

National Geographic: https://bit.ly/3cXgQK3 

#DYK the world's largest fruit bat, Golden-crowned flying fox, can only be found in the Philippines? One of their roost sites is in Boracay. #IDB2020 #BiodiversityDay

by Pol Cariño for Friends of the Flying Foxes Boracay. Learn more here: https://bit.ly/2AXmazj 

Critically endangered Visayan warty pigs in the wild can now only be found in fragmented forests of Negros & Panay. Last year, a zoo in Paris documented these pigs to use tools such as sticks to dig! Read more here: https://bit.ly/3e8BiIj 
#IDB2020 #BiodiversityDay

#13 is the Philippine forest #turtle because it's also #WorldTurtleDay today! This freshwater species is known only from Palawan. More info about it here (where I also nicked this pic from): https://bit.ly/3d1PR04 

#IDB2020 #BiodiversityDay

#DYK there are 352 species of #butterflies endemic to the Philippines? Here are 2 Striped ringlet butterflies in courtship dance position photographed in Balinsasayao Twin Lakes

Follow @jaa_99badon on his IG for more lepidopteran beauties

#IDB2020 #BiodiversityDay

This miniature tarantula species described from Pangasinan last year is named after the legendary warrior princess, Urduja. It was found outside a cave forest. #MythologyInTaxonomy
#IDB2020 #BiodiversityDay

and paper here: https://bit.ly/3eagvUG 

To round off this species count to 20 (for 20 likes so far), #DYK all 5 bleeding-heart pigeons in the Philippines are endemic? Each species is an island endemic too -- for example, Negros bleeding-heart pigeon can only be found in Negros & Panay! #IDB2020 #BiodiversityDay

And that concludes my #IDB2020 #BiodiversityDay #scicomm series! Thanks for following along