Reading comprehension left the group? Online Filipinos were baffled by the thousands of sad reactions a news report received which was about the distinctness of two domesticated water buffaloes in the country. Philstar.com on Wednesday, September 18 reported that scientists have determined that there are two types of carabaos in the Philippines — the swamp buffalo (Bubalus bubalis carabensis) and the riverine buffalo (Bubalus bubalis bubalis).
The country has traditionally classified them as two subspecies of the domesticated buffalo (Bubalus bubalis). But Filipino scientists confirmed that the swamp buffalo has a unique DNA sequence of genes compared to riverine buffaloes. Each was also found to have a different number of chromosomes, with the swamp buffalo — also more commonly known as the Philippine native carabao — having 48 chromosomes, while the riverine buffalo has 50.
This prompted scientists to propose renaming the swamp buffalo from Bubalu bubalis carabenesis to Bubalus kerabau, since it is distinct from domesticated buffaloes. It aligns with Austrian zoologist Leopold Joseph Fitzinger ‘s classification of the swamp buffalo in 1860. Researchers said that consistently examining species in the country will help determine effective breeding strategies to avoid biodiversity loss.
Species are essential in the conservation of ecosystems. A species is a group of organisms that share common characteristics and genetic structure that can interbreed among themselves. .