Our planet is a home for an incredible number of plant species: some of them exist on Earth millions of years, others have long died out, and others have only to open. The new study was inspired by photographs in old reports and social networks - the botanist expedition went to the remote Meliau ridge in Sabach on Borneo to explore a curious plant, writes Cosmos.

During the expedition, the team managed to describe a completely new type of giant juggle -like plant, called Nepenthes Pongoides. The team also found that the view is already under the threat of disappearance.

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A new type of plant looks like a huge jug of 45 centimeters high, accommodating at least two liters of liquid. Scientists also believe that the plant was evolved to catch and digest insects to obtain nutrients, which are few in the soil.

Unlike most other types of Nepenthes, most of the new plant is covered with long, rough, reddish hairs. This resemblance to orangutans from the genus Pongo inspired the name of the plant species - pongoides.

During the study of Botanika under the leadership of Alviana Damit from the Department of Forestry of Sabah in Malaysia and Alaster Robinson from the Royal Botanical Garden of Victoria in Australia, they were surprised by the time of their finds. It seems no less unusual that the plant has still remained undirected, despite its size and unique evolutionary features.

The team made two field trips to the Meliau ridge, counting individual plants and collecting non -destructive samples for herbaric collections and genetic tests. The results also indicate that the species is already under the threat of disappearance.

According to Robinson, the main threat to the existence of a species is poaching. It is known that other types of Nepenthes, especially large specimens, attract great interest from the side of illegal trade in gardening. As a result, two types of Nepenthes are already considered extinct in nature because of collectors whose willingness to pay big money makes poachers go to tropical forests to collect decorative plants for sale.

The aggravating problem of preserving Nepenthes Pongoides is a limited population size. During the study, scientists discovered and identified only 39 adults.

Plants are also limited by only one habitat, the area of \u200b\u200bwhich is less than 10 square kilometers - this makes Nepenthes pongoides vulnerable to random events, such as a fire that destroys the whole view.

The authors of the study note that there are still many questions about this unique carnivorous plant, such as the production range that it attracts, and the evolutionary purpose of its reddish hairs. Meanwhile, Damit and colleagues recommend collecting and propagating the seeds of this disappearing plant, if it is allowed by the government of Malaysia.

Previously, Focus wrote that carnivorous plants switched to feces to survive.