Facebook has entered the prestigious halls of academia after an image posted on the site by an amateur researcher in Brazil was spotted by scientists led to the discovery of a new carnivorous plant species. In the report published in the journal Phytotaxa, it’s been named the ‘drosera magnifica’ or magnificent sundew.
The plant can grow up till 1.5m in length, making it the second-biggest carnivorous plant in the Americas, as well as the biggest sundew there too. It’s sticky, Medusa-like leaves can span 24cm, helping it to catch insects as big as dragonflies. Amateur scholar Reginaldo Vasconcelos first photographed the magnificent sundew in 2013 and uploaded it on his Facebook page.
Unfortunately, even though the species has just been found, it could already find itself categorized as critically endangered. As per the Telegraph, the basis for such a classification lies in the fact that it’s only found on the Minas Gerais mountain in southeastern Brazil, whose forest cover is being encroached upon by cattle ranches, coffee farms and eucalyptus plantations.
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Scientists were surprised by the late discovery of the attention-grabbing magnificent sundew since the mountaintop where it’s found is easily accessible. According to Andreas Fleischmann, co-author of the research conducted by the Botanical State Collection in Munich, it marks the first time a new species of plant has been found through a social media website such as Facebook.
The researchers go on to say that pictures taken by enthusiasts and shared on the internet usually serve to provide only location data, but occasionally lead to discoveries such as the green lacewing insect. Such photographs are hosted by a number of discussion groups, containing both professionals and amateurs, and frequently result in the unearthing of new regional records.