Myanmar is located between 9°32'N and 28°31'N, and 92°10'E and 101°11'E, having total area of 676,577 km². Myanmar is one of the Southeast Asian countries and it is bordered by China to the north and northeast, Laos and Thailand to the east, India, Bangladesh and Bay of Bengal on the west, and the Andaman Sea to the south. Myanmar is a tropical monsoon country and its topography is generally mountainous in its eastern, northern, western regions, with central plain region and southern coastal region (Kress et al. 2003; FD 2020). There are 15 administrative provinces in Myanmar, including Nay Pyi Taw Union Territory, seven Regions (Ayeyarwaddy, Bago, Magway, Mandalay, Sagaing, Tanintharyi and Yangon) and seven States (Chin, Kachin, Kayah, Kayin, Mon, Rakhine and Shan). The vegetation of the country consists of tropical lowland evergreen rain forest in the south, tropical hilly evergreen forest in the east, north and west, and central dry and moist mixed deciduous forests. The forest cover area of Myanmar is 42.19% of its total land area according to the Global Forest Resource Assessment Report (FAO 2020). Reserved Forest (RF), Protected Public Forest (PPF) and Protected Areas are legally designated across the country, currently amounting up to 17.76%, 8.15% and 6.43% of the country’s total area, respectively. Myanmar Forest Department is mainly responsible for the management of these legally designated forest land as well as inland wetland, coastal and marine protected areas of the country.

There are three main data sources for compilation of the updated checklist dataset; (a) herbarium collections which consist of the herbarium collections kept at herbaria (PE and RAF) and the digital herbarium collections accessed on the online herbaria, (b) the taxonomic literature which mainly consists of the literature on new species description, new record discovery and species checklists of Myanmar flora, and (c) the online databases which consist of GBIF and WCVP database (dataset extracted via rWCVP R package).

Besides the examination of herbarium specimens and field observations, the plant species information was extracted from taxonomic literature on new species description, new records discovery, taxonomic revisions, and species checklists of Myanmar flora. The search keywords (“flora” or “new species” or “new records” or “checklists” and “Myanmar”, or “Burma”, or “Southeast Asia”) were used to find the relevant taxonomic literature on flora of Myanmar in the major academic databases such as Web of Science, Google Scholar, ResearchGate and so on.

In addition to the online herbaria, the species datasets were downloaded from online databases such as GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility). As for GBIF, there are two different datasets for plants of Myanmar, particularly (1) the dataset of higher plants in Myanmar (Aung and Xu 2023) and, (2) the species occurrence dataset of plants in Myanmar (GBIF.org 2025). The species dataset for Myanmar was extracted from the World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP) by using rWCVP R package (Brown et al. 2023). All the downloaded and extracted datasets were verified and transformed into the specific formats to incorporate into the updated checklist of vascular plant species of Myanmar.

Basically, there are two primary criteria for taxon inclusion or exclusion for the updated checklist compilation, namely (1) accepted taxonomic status: a given taxon must be taxonomically accepted, and (2) reliable occurrence status: a given taxon must have sound evidence of occurrence in Myanmar. As for family level taxonomic circumscriptions, we followed the APG IV for Angiosperms (Byng et al. 2016), updated classification system for Gymnosperms (Christenhusz et al. 2011; Yang et al. 2022) and PPG I for pteridophytes (PPGI 2016).

As for generic delimitations and species delimitations, we usually consulted the updated classification systems for specific plant groups such as family Orchidaceae (Chase et al. 2015, 2020, 2021; Ng et al. 2018), family Cyperaceae (Larridon et al. 2021) and so on. Particularly, the World Flora Online taxonomic backbone was followed for the taxonomic names and their respective taxonomic status (WFO 2024). All species datasets derived from three main sources were compiled into the updated checklist of vascular plants of Myanmar, following the modern taxonomic classification systems for angiosperms, gymnosperms and pteridophytes.

The data quality and availability usually vary from species to species, for example, some species have many herbarium specimen records while some species have very few herbarium specimen records or even lacking in some cases. Therefore, a given species must be not only taxonomically accepted but also have evidence of occurrence records in Myanmar, sourced from either one or all three main sources.

If there were some issues for inclusion or exclusion decisions, such as taxonomic conflicts between two or more classifications and the vague occurrence of untraceable species, the taxonomic status of a given species was usually decided mainly based on the two reliable databases such as POWO and WFO because these databases are regularly fed with updated systematics and taxonomic literature. Although there are a few discrepancies between them, such discrepancies might not largely affect the inclusion or exclusion decisions for most species. The occurrence status of a given species was usually determined by reviewing the species occurrence information.

International Plant Names Index (IPNI) database was usually consulted for taxonomic name standardization, particularly in case of a resolution to the unclear taxonomic names (IPNI 2024). In addition, all the taxonomic names of the updated checklist dataset were standardized by using WorldFlora R package in R software as well as using an online tool, namely Taxonomic Name Resolution Service V5.3.1 (TNRS), setting both tools at WFO taxonomic backbone to be consistent in terms of taxonomic names (Kindt 2020; R Core Team 2024; TNRS 2025). The taxonomic name standardization makes the updated checklist dataset ready for the potential research uses in biodiversity conservation as well as ecological studies on plant biodiversity of Myanmar.

The updated checklist dataset was verified with the reliable online databases such as World Flora Online (WFO), Plants of the World Online (POWO) and International Plant Names Index (IPNI) (IPNI 2024; POWO 2024; WFO 2024). By using rWCVP R package and LCVP R package, the taxonomic name matching of the updated checklist dataset was conducted against WCVP database and LCVP database, resulting in 98% of the taxa names well matched to WCVP database and 96% of the taxa names well matched to LCVP database (Freiberg et al. 2020; Brown et al. 2023).

In addition, the species list for Myanmar was extracted from BIEN database (the Botanical Information and Ecology Network) by using BIEN R package and then the updated checklist dataset was cross checked with the BIEN dataset (including 8,236 taxa), resulting in the fact that 88% of the taxa names were shared between the two different datasets (Enquist et al. 2016; Maitner et al. 2018).

Moreover, the globally assessed vascular plant dataset for Myanmar was downloaded from IUCN Red List database, amounting to 2,436 species known to occur in Myanmar (IUCN 2025). The Red List dataset was cross checked with the updated checklist dataset, resulting in the fact that 96% of the taxa names of the Red List dataset have been included in the updated checklist dataset.

Therefore, the updated checklist dataset was taxonomically verified according to the modern classification systems and the taxa of the updated checklist dataset shared largely with those of the various global online databases such as WCVP, LCVP, BIEN and so on.

All the tasks of data preparation, processing, compilation, and graphical visualizations were conducted in R version 4.4.2 with relevant packages such as "dplyr, data.table, writexl, tidyverse, ggplot2" and their associated packages (Wickham 2016; Wickham et al. 2019; Wickham et al. 2023; Ooms 2024; R Core Team 2024; Barrett et al. 2025). All maps were created in QGIS version 3.40.4 (QGIS.org 2025).

The present study results in an updated checklist consisting of 14,020 species in 2,701 genera and 292 families of vascular plants known from Myanmar (Table 1). Among them, there are 13,314 native species and 706 introduced species in Myanmar. As for occurrence type, the genera composition can be categorized into three main groups, namely (a) genera with both native and introduced species (9%), (b) genera with only native species (83%), and (c) genera with only introduced species (8%). In addition, family composition can also be categorized into three main groups, namely (a) families with both native and introduced species (34%), (b) families with only native species (64%), and (c) families with only introduced species (2%).

In comparison, the number of species was increasingly recorded in the periodically revised checklist editions including the present updated checklist (Fig. 3). Local distribution information was provided for almost all species, usually at Region and State level distribution ranges (Fig. 4A). Specific locality information was also provided for some species if known. The summary tables of families and genera are provided in the Suppl. materials 2, 3.

Figure 3. 

Trend of increasing number of species in the periodically revised checklist editions.

Figure 4. 

Plant Species Richness of Myanmar; A. the number of species in each Region and State of Myanmar, and B. the number of endemic species in each Region and State of Myanmar.

As for endemism, there are approximately 864 endemic species of vascular plants (6% of total species) in Myanmar. The distribution data of Myanmar endemic species is relatively coarse and currently possible at Region or State level, reflecting that the extensive collection efforts on these endemic species are obviously required for the effective conservation (Fig. 4B). Perhaps the narrowly distributed species will be at a high risk of extinction unless proper conservation actions are taken urgently.

As for species-rich families, the top 10 largest families of Myanmar flora, namely Orchidaceae, Fabaceae, Poaceae, Asteraceae, Rubiaceae, Acanthaceae, Lamiaceae, Ericaceae, Cyperaceae, Rosaceae, hold ca. 39.83% of total species (Fig. 5A). Among them, family Orchidaceae is exceptionally rich in the number of species, having more than 1,200 species. In addition, family Fabaceae, family Poaceae, family Asteraceae and family Rubiaceae hold more than 500 species in each.

As for species-rich genera, the top 10 largest genera of Myanmar flora, namely Dendrobium, Rhododendron, Bulbophyllum, Ficus, Strobilanthes, Begonia, Impatiens, Cyperus, Syzygium, Coelogyne hold ca. 8.56% of the total species (Fig. 5B). Among them, genus Dendrobium, genus Rhododendron and genus Bulbophyllum consist of more than 150 species in each.

Figure 5. 

Species Richness of Myanmar flora. A. Top 10 species-rich families of vascular plants in Myanmar, and B. Top 10 species-rich genera of vascular plants in Myanmar.

The present study investigated the species richness of Myanmar flora mainly based on three main sources such as herbarium specimens, taxonomic literature and online databases. These three main sources contributed to the updated checklist dataset. It is noted that herbarium specimens are the backbone sources on which taxonomic literature and online databases were established.

In total, there were more than 50,000 herbarium specimens examined, including specimens of our own collections kept at both herbarium (PE) and herbarium (RAF), and specimens from the relevant online herbaria including Flora of Myanmar Database and Myanmar Vascular Plants Database. In the updated checklist, 6,194 species are directly sourced from herbarium specimens cited, whereas 4,673 species are sourced from literature and 3,153 species from online databases (GBIF & WCVP). It is noted that some species can be found in all three sources, while some species can be found in only one source. For species included in all three sources, the herbarium specimens are regarded as the preferred cited source rather than other two sources.

Based on specimens kept at various herbaria (including online herbaria), voucher specimen citations (ca. 18,236 specimens) are provided for 6,194 species. In cases where herbarium specimens are lacking, the species occurrences are mainly based on the most reliable references. It is evident that the botanical collection efforts are largely uneven across the different ecosystems of the country, reflecting that vast areas of ecosystems, particularly forest ecosystems, remain under-explored.

As for taxonomic literature, there were 168 taxonomic references on vascular plant species of Myanmar, from which the species information was extracted and verified in consultation with updated taxonomic classification systems and online databases. It is noted that the recently discovered new species and new records belong to 73 families of Myanmar flora (Fig. 6). The list of references for species data is provided in the Suppl. material 5.

Figure 6. 

Status of Taxonomic studies on vascular plant families to which recently published new species and new records belong.

The familial circumscriptions as well as generic delimitations were largely updated due to many advances in plant taxonomy and systematics in recent years. Particularly, ca. 3,853 species, 314 genera and 56 families from the previous checklist (Kress et al. 2003) were subject to taxonomic changes due to the modern taxonomic classification systems. In this regard, the taxonomic updates on these families and genera of the previous checklist (Kress et al. 2003) are summarized and the first one is shown in Table 2 and the latter one shown in the Suppl. materials 4.

In recent years, the discovery of new species and new records has led to an increase in the number of species of Myanmar flora. At the same time, the updated taxonomic classification systems largely impact on the taxonomic status of the species of the previous checklist (Kress et al. 2003), resulting in taxonomic changes in familial, generic and species delimitations. In this regard, the present study updated the checklist of Kress et al. 2003 into a taxonomically updated checklist of Myanmar flora. As a result, the number of species of the updated checklist increased by 2,220 species compared to the previous checklist (Kress et al. 2003), mainly due to the discovery of new species and new records.

In brief, the species sources that contributed to the updated checklist can be classified into three categories, namely (1) Direct from previous checklist (45%): species which had no taxonomic changes and were directly transferred from the previous checklist (Kress et al. 2003); (2) New additions (36%): species which were newly added to the updated checklist, mainly sourced from herbarium specimens, taxonomic literature and online databases; and (3) Revised from the previous checklist (19%): species which were subject to taxonomic changes and revised taxonomically from the previous checklist (Kress et al. 2003).

Common names were included in the updated checklist to broaden its usability across diverse audiences including scientists, students, decision-makers, resource managers, conservationists, and local communities. Not all species of Myanmar flora have common names or vernacular names, but most commercial timber species and crop species have common names. In particular, 16% of total species of Myanmar flora (ca. 2,183 species) have common names.

Regional distribution range of Myanmar vascular plants is usually broad on account of their extension into neighboring countries such as China, Laos, Thailand, India and Bangladesh. There are many species shared with the floristic diversity of the neighboring countries. For comparison, the plant species datasets for the neighboring countries were extracted from WCVP database by using rWCVP R package and cross checked with the updated checklist dataset for Myanmar flora so that the number of plant species that overlapped with the flora of the neighboring countries can be obtained, as shown in Fig. 7.

Figure 7. 

The regional distribution of vascular plant species of Myanmar, showing the number of plant species overlapped with the flora of the neighboring countries.

In sum, the updated checklist will serve as the taxonomically verified and specimen-based plant biodiversity data for the conservation planning and implementation in Myanmar although the updated checklist will need further revisions in the future.

The updated checklist consists of three major groups of vascular plant species of Myanmar; Angiosperms, Gymnosperms and Pteridophytes (see Suppl. material 1: appendix S1. Updated checklist of vascular plants of Myanmar).

The updated checklist consists of the following data:

1. Accepted names of families.
2. Accepted names of genera.
3. Accepted names of species, its author(s) and publication.
4. Distribution in Myanmar, usually Region and State (Provincial) level. In Myanmar, there are 15 administrative provinces including Nay Pyi Taw Union Territory, seven Regions (Ayeyarwaddy, Bago, Magway, Mandalay, Sagaing, Tanintharyi and Yangon) and seven States (Chin, Kachin, Kayah, Kayin, Mon, Rakhine and Shan). Specific localities are provided if known. The names of specific localities are mainly sourced from the cited herbarium specimens. All possible locality names are transcribed into clear modern versions, but some locality names are retained as verbatim names if not possible to transcribe or considered to keep as it is. In some cases, the locality information is too broad to get precise locations, particularly in some old collections. It is noted that the names and extent of a given locality (especially District levels) were periodically updated and changed over the past decades. For example, Bassein means Pathein, Moulmein means Mawlamyine, Rangoon means Yangon, Pegu means Bago and so on.
5. Specimen Citations: Collector (s), Collection number (s) and Herbarium codes (Index Herbariorum edited by Thiers BM, available at http://sweetgum.nybg.org/ih/). All specimens cited with an exclamation mark (!) have been examined. Some specimens without an exclamation mark (!) are studied and known from literature of new species description, new species records and species checklist.
6. Common Names (if any). Not all species had common names, but all possible common names were assigned to the respective species. It is noted that some common names belong to more than one species, vice versa.
7. Major Groups: Angiosperms, Gymnosperms, Pteridophytes.
8. Endemic Status: TRUE means endemic species of Myanmar while FALSE means not the endemic species of Myanmar.

As one of the research milestones in floristic studies of Myanmar, the present study resulted in an updated checklist of the Myanmar flora, which includes 14,020 species in 2,701 genera and 292 families of vascular plants known from Myanmar, an increase of 19% more species than previously recorded. However, increased botanical investigations are still needed to better understand the plant biodiversity of the country.

Compared with neighboring countries with intensive floristic studies, the flora of Myanmar still lags for comprehensive documentation. For example, flora of China comprises ca. 38,520 species of vascular plants (including infraspecific taxa). With the ongoing botanical explorations by Chinese botanists, many new species are still increasingly discovered from China. Particularly, Yunnan Province of China holds ca. 16,772 species of vascular plants (including infraspecific taxa), sharing the border line area with Myanmar (Xie et al. 2021). In addition, it is estimated that there are more than 11,000 species of vascular plants in Thailand, one of the neighboring countries of Myanmar. Interestingly, the modern taxonomic treatments have been completed for about 60% of the estimated number of vascular plant species in Thailand, marking steady progress in its floristic studies (Middleton et al. 2019).

Globally, 350,386 taxonomically accepted species of vascular plants are distributed across the different ecosystems of the world (Antonelli et al. 2023). With advances in scientific exploration in various ecosystems and modern taxonomic revisions, discoveries of species new to science, occur at the rate of about 2,500 plant species per year (Antonelli et al. 2023).

Encompassing four major global biodiversity hotspots, Southeast Asia is a region of high richness of plant biodiversity, with increasing discoveries of many new species in recent years. It is estimated that approximately 50,000 flowering plant species are to be found in Southeast Asia (Middleton et al. 2019). In this regard, much more botanical exploration is needed to better understand the richness of plant biodiversity because most areas of the region still remain underexplored and some endemic plant species are narrowly distributed, i.e., only known from its type localities (Middleton et al. 2019).

The same situation is true in Myanmar. It is evident that the botanical collections are still needed to cover the whole floristic diversity of Myanmar because botanical explorations had sharply decreased in Myanmar since 1950, resulting in a large gap of knowledge on Myanmar flora (Kress et al. 2003). A recent study highlighted that the floristic collection density varies across different Regions and States of the country, showing the highest collection densities in Mandalay Region, Chin State and Yangon Region (Aung et al. 2023). It is noted that this possible collection bias should be considered in future botanical surveys in Myanmar.

Having vast areas of ecosystems of the country underexplored, many species are waiting to be discovered in Myanmar. Moreover, the baseline data on the number of plant species and its distribution range is required for effective plant conservation in Myanmar. In addition, modern taxonomic treatments for each family or genus are a pre-requisite for the better integration of updated taxonomic data into biodiversity conservation planning and implementation in Myanmar.

As for plant biodiversity research, there are many achievements obtained from the cooperation between Myanmar Forest Department and various international institutions, such as the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Makino Botanical Garden, The National Museum of Nature and Science (Tokyo), Korean National Institute of Biological Resources, New York Botanical Garden, the Smithsonian Institution, Marburg University and Singapore Botanic Gardens in the recent years, resulting in discoveries of many new species as well as new records from Myanmar (Kurzweil and Lwin 2014; Khine et al. 2016; Aung et al. 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021; Aung and Jin 2018, 2021; Ding et al. 2018; Jin and Mint 2018; Jin et al. 2018; Yang et al. 2018; Hughes et al. 2019; Middleton et al. 2019; Ormerod et al. 2021; Fujiwara et al. 2022; Tanaka et al. 2022a; Tong et al. 2022; Wood et al. 2022; Floden et al. 2023; Jung et al. 2024).

In addition, some local researchers are also working on the taxonomic studies on flora of Myanmar in cooperation with their counterparts from international institutions, resulting in discoveries of new species as well as new records from Myanmar (Hein and Naive 2021; Hein et al. 2021; Naive and Hein 2021; Hein et al. 2022; Naive et al. 2022a, 2022b, 2024; Paing et al. 2024).

As for plant biodiversity conservation, all species of fauna and flora are included under the national biodiversity conservation program, usually in situ conservation approach such as establishment of Protected Areas across the country. In Myanmar, there are 61 protected areas (6.43% of the country’s total area) already established across different ecosystems of the country, including tropical and subtropical mountain forest ecosystems, wetland ecosystems (seven Ramsar sites), coastal and marine ecosystems and so on (FD 2020). In addition, 10-year program of Re-establishing Natural Habitats (2019–2029) has been implemented in 19 targeted protected areas across Myanmar in order to restore the natural habitats of various species of fauna and flora (FD 2019).

In terms of ex situ conservation approach, it is noted that the seeds of ca. 400 orchid species from Myanmar have been deposited at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, Norway, for the purpose of ex situ conservation measures on Myanmar orchid flora since 2018 (Svalbard Global Seed Vault 2018). Most orchid species, particularly Paphiopedilum species, are very rare in the wild and endangered under various threats so that all orchid species are enlisted on CITES appendices. In this regard, Paphiopedilum parishii (Rchb.) Pfitzer is proposed here as a flagship species for biodiversity conservation in Myanmar because this species is native to Myanmar and its conservation status is currently assigned as Endangered (EN) in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (Rankou and Averyanov 2015) (Fig. 8).

Figure 8. 

Paphiopedilum parishii (Rchb.) Pfitzer which is proposed as a flagship species for biodiversity conservation in Myanmar. Photo by Ye Lwin Aung.

As for legal protection, 52 tree species of commercial or conservation importance, all species of family Orchidaceae and 14 herbaceous plant species of conservation concerns, are legally protected by national legislation under the authority of Myanmar Forest Department (FD 2020).

There are many challenges in the implementation of plant biodiversity research and conservation in Myanmar, for example, habitat loss or fragmentation due to land use change and deforestation, climate change impacts, demographic dynamics (e.g., population growth trends), political instability and so on. It is evident that local communities depend on natural resources for their livelihoods, e.g., food and income generated by collection of forest products (e.g., bamboos or mushrooms) from natural forest land (Chew et al. 2023; Mon et al. 2023; Toda et al. 2023). Under such circumstances, the sustainability of biodiversity resources will largely support the sustainability of local communities’ livelihoods. In this regard, community-based as well as nature-based solutions will secure the sustainable development of the country in the long run.

The role of citizen science has become popular and significant in community-based biodiversity research and conservation in the world. The same is also true in Myanmar, e.g., the recent discovery of a new plant species from Myanmar, Begonia kayinensis M.B.Maw & Y.H.Tan discovered from Kayin State of Myanmar with the citizen science-stimulated attempts (Maw et al. 2023).

In the State of the World’s Plants and Fungi 2023, the factors affecting the species description rate were highlighted as follows; (1) conflict and instability, (2) type of terrain and access, (3) economic barriers, (4) number of trained taxonomists, and (5) access to reference collections and data (Antonelli et al. 2023). Like most tropical biodiversity-rich developing countries, Myanmar also needs to deal with these factors for its biodiversity research and conservation actions. For example, there are some new species of Myanmar flora recently described from old collections of herbarium specimens, namely, Pinalia taunggyiensis Ormerod & Kurzweil described in 2020 based on the herbarium specimen (F. G. Dickason 8282) collected on 26 April 1939, and Pinalia shiuyingiana Ormerod & E.W.Wood described in 2010 based on the herbarium specimen (F. Kingdon Ward 20970) collected on 9 June 1953, both specimens kept at herbarium (AMES) (Ormerod and Wood 2010; Ormerod and Kurzweil 2020). These examples reflect that there is a significant gap between the year of collection and the year of formal description, with many decades elapsing before the taxonomic identification and description of these new species from Myanmar are completed.

Among the key challenges for plant biodiversity research and conservation in Myanmar, political instability is the most prominent challenge to deal with as soon as possible because it even affects other challenges and issues such as deforestation, climate change, economic growth, population growth, and so on. Its impacts are unpredictably large on biodiversity research and conservation in Myanmar. The efforts to reach a sound political resolution are of considerable significance not only for the well-being of the nation and its people but also for the effective conservation of biodiversity.

There are two key limitations in the present study, namely (1) limited availability of herbarium specimens, and (2) limited taxonomic studies on Myanmar flora. Only 44% of total species have specimen citations, while the remaining ones are sourced from literature and online databases. Obviously, intensive botanical collections are needed to fill such gaps of specimen requirements. Fortunately, the online herbaria provided access to herbarium specimen records. Among these digital specimens, some are assigned with species level identification while some are assigned with genus or family level identification, requiring specimen examinations by plant taxonomists. Currently, the species without specimen citations are assigned with literature citations or respective online database citations. In the future, the botanical collections are expected to fill the large gaps of specimen requirements.

Another key issue is the limited taxonomic studies on Myanmar flora, evidenced by limited studies on ferns and lycophytes as well as bryophytes of Myanmar. Perhaps there were very few plant taxonomists in Myanmar and the international collaborations were also very few in past decades. Currently, all available taxonomic literature were consulted to include all relevant taxonomic work in the updated checklist.

Therefore, the following recommendations are proposed for development of plant biodiversity research and conservation in Myanmar; (1) scaling up the development of research infrastructure and capacity building of research personnel working in various fields of life science, (2) strengthening the collaboration and cooperation with international biodiversity research and conservation organizations, (3) seeking funding opportunities from various funding organizations such as central government, conservation and research foundations, international research organizations and so on, (4) raising the public awareness on biodiversity conservation by means of organizing the citizen science-stimulated conservation activities, the conservation education programs at schools and universities as well as public parks, and (5) encouraging the local researchers or taxonomists to assign the new species names with their formal scientific names as well as their vernacular names or local names (if any or created on the author’s own) in order to make the local communities familiar with the new species and to raise its respective conservation awareness among the societies.

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

No ethical statement was reported.

No use of AI was reported.

This research was supported by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS-ANSO-SDRP-2024-02; International partnership program, Grant. No. 063GJHZ2024075GC), and National Natural Science Foundation of China (31870195, 32270214).

Conceptualization: XJ, MHA, YLA, YT. Data curation: YLA, YT, XJ. Formal analysis: MHA, YLA. Funding acquisition: XJ. Investigation: YT, XJ, MHA. Methodology: XJ, YLA, MHA. Project administration: XJ. Resources: XJ. Software: YLA, MHA. Supervision: XJ. Validation: XJ, YT. Visualization: YLA. Writing - original draft: YLA. Writing - review and editing: XJ, YT.

Ye Lwin Aung https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6765-598X

Yunhong Tan https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6238-2743

All of the data that support the findings of this study are available in the main text or Supplementary Information.