Scientists discovered 163 new species in Southeast Asia's Greater Mekong region last year,but all are at risk of extinction due to climate change,the WWF said in a report released Friday. The newly discovered creatures include a birdeating frog with fangs  ,a bird that would rather walk than fly and a gecko   whose alien appearance inspired the report's title of "Close Encounters",the conservation group said. The report was released ahead of major UN talks on climate change in Bangkok next week,which are being held before a makeorbreak summit in Copenhagen this December. "Some species will be able to adapt to climate change,and many will not,potentially resulting in massive extinction," Stuart Chapman,director of the WWF Greater Mekong program,said in the report."Rare and endangered species like those newly discovered are especially vulnerable   because climate change will further shrink their already restricted habitats," he said. "The new discoveries in 2010 include 100 plants,28 fish,18 reptiles,14 amphibians,2 mammals and a bird,"the WWF report said.The area spans Cambodia,Laos,Myanmar,Thailand,Vietnam and China's Yunnan Province. "Among the new species is the birdeating fanged frog,which remains hidden in a protected area of Thailand despite the fact that scientists are studying there for 40 years," the report said. The tigerstriped pit viper was discovered accidentally on an island off the coast of Vietnam when a scientist was looking  for a lizard and his son pointed out that his hand was on a rock right next to  the snake's fangs."We caught the snake and the gecko and they both proved to be new species," researcher Lee Grismer of La Sierra University in California was quoted as saying in the report.The leopard gecko,found on another Vietnamese island,has the coloring of a leopard and bizarre orange,catlike eyes and thin legs. The Greater Mekong region has proved a rich area  for scientists.The WWF said in December 2010 that it had found 1,068 new species there between 1997 and 2009. What does the passage mainly tell us?
The Greater Mekong region is a rich area for scientists. Many rare species remain to be discovered in the Mekong region. Scientists have discovered many new species in the Mekong region. Climate change threatens Mekong new species.