Discovery Species

Dendrolagus matschiei

2008-07-08T10:53:00.001+07:00

Goodfellow's tree kangaroo (Dendrolagus matschiei (goodfellowi)). (Photograph by Hope Rutledge)

Source;
https://www.eoearth.org/image/Kanga.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=Dendrolagus%20matschiei&w=all

New Orchid Discovered in Papua New Guinea

2008-07-07T18:06:00.001+07:00

The World Wildlife Fund Scientists have discovered not one, but several new species of orchid species in the forests of Papua New Guinea.

Here is one of their discoveries, Cadetia kutubu, named after the nearby Lake Kutubu.

Source:

http://www.guy-sports.com/humor/pictures/picture_orchid.htm

New Orchid species discovered in rain forest

2008-07-07T17:32:00.000+07:00

With their spectacular colours, delicate petals and extraordinary shapes, orchids have long been the most prized of flowers. In times gone by people even died in pursuit of these rare, exotic blooms.

Now conservationists have made a discovery that would make any orchid hunter weep with joy - up to 28 new species of the flower. Eight of them are already confirmed as brand new plants that have never been seen before.

Among them is a stunning orchid with a delicate star-shaped flower and another that has bright white petals dabbed with vivid fuschia. The team have also recently found another 20 orchids in the same area and are now busy trying to verify whether these too are newly-discovered species.

Conservationists say the discovery of so many new orchids in the unexplored rainforests of Papua New Guinea is incredibly exciting - especially as around 70 species have recently been wiped out in neighbouring Indonesia.

They are now appealing for renewed efforts to protect the Kikori region where the orchids were found to ensure these flowers and other unique species are not destroyed.

The flowers mark the culmination of a long-term study by the WWF charity going back as far as 1998 of tropical rainforest in the country. Papua New Guinea occupies the eastern half of the tropical island of New Guinea - the other half belonging to Indonesia - which lies to the north of Australia.

Some 85 per cent of the country is covered in tropical rainforest home to a combination of Asian and Australian species including birds of paradise and the extraordinary tree kangaroo. Papua New Guinea is also known to have more recorded species of orchid than any other country in the world.

Wayne Harris, a botanist from Queensland Herbarium and one of the leading experts on orchids said: 'The island of New Guinea is an incredible goldmine of orchids.

'There are over 3,000 known species found here with countless varieties yet to be discovered.'

Olo Gebia a WWF forest ecologist said the finding of the new species was very good news. 'The discovery of such as large number of new species is incredibly exciting,' he said.

He said around 70 species that used to exist in the neighbouring forests of Indonesia have died out because of illegal logging. 'The sad reality is that many of these plants including those which may contain cures to some of the world's most deadly diseases may become extinct before they have even been discovered - this gives even greater urgency to ensuring the long-term conservation of the remarkable Kikori region.'

The WWF is working to help conserve the Kikori region which is home to 20,000 people who rely on the bounties of its forests and streams for their livelihood and food.

Two new Wildlife Management Areas, protecting significant areas of rainforest, are due to be announced in a week's time to help extend the amount of protected land in the country.

Orchids, because of the shape of their petals and tubers, have been connected with sex for 2,000 years and have been used as an aphrodisiac.

In the past their beauty and rarity has prompted hunters to scour the globe for them even risking their lives in the process.

More than one collector has fallen to his death trying to dislodge those growing trees and some have even ventured into landmine-scattered areas of Vietnam to collect rare orchids.

In his 1939 book, Orchid Hunters, Norman Macdonald wrote: 'When a man falls in love with orchids, he'll do anything to possess the one he wants.

'It's like chasing a green-eyed woman or taking cocaine...It's a sort of madness.'

Source:

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23370896-details/New+Orchid+species+discovered+in+rain+forest/article.do

Photo New orchid species from Papua New Guinea

2008-07-07T17:29:00.002+07:00

Open mouth

Scientists working with the conservation group WWF have discovered stunning orchid species in the forests of Papua New Guinea. They say eight are definitely new species, and a further 20-odd may prove to be new to science as well.

The discoveries include the succulent bloom of Cadetia kutubu, named after Lake Kutubu in its home region.

Lone star

Papua New Guinea is incredibly rich in orchids. Of some 25,000 species known worldwide, 3,000 come from PNG.

This delicate star-like specimen, a new and as yet un-named species of Taeniophyllum, adds one more to the list.

Red dawn

This new find is a member of the Dendrobium family (D. cuthbertsonii), most of which are epiphytic, living on trees rather than on the ground.

Breeders have created many articial varieties of Dendrobium, including kimilsungia, named after the former North Korean leader.

Delicate flower

The colours are gorgeous, the structure awesome; did the best Venetian glass-blowers ever conjure anything as delicate as Dendrobium spectabile?

The name says it all.

Peacock plant

The orchid family boasts many of the most outrageously showy blooms in the plant kingdom; and Bulbophyllum masdevalliaceum has all the family traits.

More than 1,800 Bulbophyllum species have been described worldwide, but PNG is their "evolutionary homeland", containing one third of known species.

Fishy face

As well as orchids such as this un-named Cadetia species, new mammals, fish, and insects turn up regularly in the region.

But many species have probably been wiped out by deforestation and human encroachment before they could be described.

WWF and its partners are working with the PNG authorities to protect important conservation areas.

Source:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/06/sci_nat_orchid_spectacular/html/8.stm

Eight New Orchid Species Found in Papua New Guinea

2008-07-07T17:18:00.000+07:00

Excerpt from original article published October 18, 2006—-

Scientists from the conservation nonprofit WWF discovered at least eight new species of orchid while surveying previously unexplored forests in the Kikori region on the southern coast of New Guinea’s principal island.

Over the course of three expeditions, the scientists collected some 300 orchid species, 8 of which have been confirmed as new to science, with 20 more still awaiting verification as new varieties.

“There are over 3,000 known species found here with countless varieties undoubtedly yet to be discovered.”

Read the full article and find more photos at National Geographic.com.

—Photograph © WWF/Wayne Harris

Source:
http://zaxy.wordpress.com/2007/07/21/eight-new-orchid-species-found-in-papua-new-guinea/

New Orchids Found in Papua New Guinea Rainforest

2008-07-07T17:17:00.001+07:00

GLAND, Switzerland, October 16, 2006 (ENS) - At least eight new species of orchid have been discovered in tropical rainforests of Papua New Guinea, the international conservation group WWF announced today. The group is awaiting verifcation on as many as 20 other potentionally new orchids, which were found in previously unexplored parts of the Kikori region surrounding Lake Kutubu, an area internationally recognized as a biodiversity hotspot.

"The island of New Guinea is an incredible goldmine of orchids," says Wayne Harris, a botanist from Queensland Herbarium and one of the world's leading authorities on orchids. "There are over 3,000 known species found here with countless varieties undoubtedly yet to be discovered."

One of eight new orchid species recently discovered in WWF researchers. (Photo by Wayne Harris courtesy WWF)

The findings mark the culmination of a long-term WWF study of the species within the Kikori region. The expeditions, which took place between 1998 and 2006, have added significantly to the known floral diversity found on the island of New Guinea.

The region is one of the last areas in Papua New Guinea that includes a marked variety of different forest habitats. Along with orchid and other plant-life, the forests are home to a wealth of bird species, including birds of paradise and giant cassowaries, as well as rare fish, mammals and lizards.

Papua New Guinea already has more recorded orchid species than any other country in the world. The discoveries come amid evidence that the world continues to lose animal and plant species - including orchids.

Some 70 species of orchid that used to exist in the forests of neighboring Indonesia have become extinct because of illegal logging, said WWF forest ecologist Olo Gebia.

Papua New Guinea is renowned for its enormous variety of orchids. (Photo by Brent Stirton courtesy Getty Images / WWF-UK)

"The discovery of such a large number of new orchid species is incredibly exciting," Gebia said. "The sad reality is that many of these plants, including those which may contain cures to some of the world's most deadly diseases, may become extinct before they have even been discovered - this gives even greater urgency to ensuring the long-term conservation of the remarkable Kikori region."

The announcement comes just a week ahead of the official launch of two new Wildlife Management Areas, protecting significant areas of rainforest where these orchids have been found. The establishment of these Wildlife Management Areas is an important milestone in the program to strengthen the system of protected areas in PNG.

WWF, together with the Kutubu Joint Venture Partnership, is working towards the long-term conservation of the Kikori region and the remarkable diversity of plants and animals that it supports.

In addition to remarkable diversity in plant and animal species, the small island is also a center of cultural diversity. More than 20,000 people, from twelve different ethnic groups, live in the area and rely on the natural resources of its forests and streams for their subsistence livelihood.

The discovery of the new orchid comes in the wake of several other announcements of new species. Last week conservationist described a new bird found in northern Colombia. Last month researchers announced 52 new marine species had been found off the coast of the Indonesian island of Papua - a new bird was also found in northeastern India, the first new bird species found in that country in more than half a century.

Source:

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/oct2006/2006-10-16-01.asp

Photos of newly discovered species in Brazil's Amazon rainforest

2008-07-07T17:10:00.001+07:00

Photos of newly discovered species in Brazil's Amazon rainforest
mongabay.com
September 27, 2006

Brazil has announced the creation of a Amapá State Forest, a 5.7 million acre Amazon protected area larger than the state of New Jersey. According to Conservation International (CI), a conservation group involved with the creation of the state forest, "the designation protects a crucial section of the Amapá Biodiversity Corridor of northern Brazil, which includes some of the most pristine remaining Amazon forest" and is home to some twenty three newly discovered species.

The Amapá Biodiversity Corridor -- which includes a variety of ecosystems including tropical forests, mangrove swamps, savannah, and wetlands -- is home to more than 1,700 species of animals and plants, including 430 species of birds, 104 species of amphibians, 124 reptile species and 127 mammal species, including 62 bat species, according to biological surveys conducted by Conservation International (CI) and the Amapá State Institute for Research. At the core of the Amapá Biodiversity Corridor is Tumucumaque National Park, the world's largest tropical forest park.

Lizard in the Mountains of Tumucumaque National Park, Amapa, Brazil. Image Credit: Enrico Bernard/CI.

A potential new species of frog of the genus Dendrobates from the Amapa Biodiversity Corridor. Image Credit: Enrico Bernard/CI.

"Brazil has raised the bar in terms of conservation commitment and has set a new global standard" said José Maria Cardoso da Silva, CI’s vice president for science and Amazonia projects. "The government of Amapá deserves our gratitude for what it is doing to conserve and promote the sustainable use of a very significant portion of one of the world's priority conservation areas, allowing us to make economic activity in the region more compatible with conservation."

“Creating new protected areas and integrating them into a large-scale biodiversity corridor, along with the effective use of the deforested lands, is a key strategy to promote the social and economic development of Amapá”, added Alberto Goés, Secretary of Economic Development of the State of Amapá.

The newly designated state forest will include a sustainable use zone where locals will be allowed to harvest timber and other forest products.

“This plan divides the area into different blocks, respecting strictly protected areas, those areas designated for timber exploration, areas for connectivity and restoration areas,” explained Enrico Bernard, CI’s Amazonia program manager.

Brazil has the largest protected areas system in the world with more than 110 million hectares, or twice the size of France, under some form of protection. The country has some 252 federal reserves (including 66 national parks) and 662 state reserves (with 180 state parks) in addition to indigenous reserves, sustainable use areas, and municipal entities. Since 2002, the government has set aside more than 20 million hectares of the Amazon basin from development, including three new reserves this summer. Despite these moves, more than twice that area -- at least 55 million hectares -- has been cleared since 1978, mostly as a result of forest conversion for cattle pasture and settlement. In 2004 alone, some 2.6 million hectares were leveled. Last year, the deforestation rate was only 1.9 million hectares.

Nevertheless, the establishment of the newly protected areas is an important step in conserving the vast Amazon rainforest. A 2006 study. conducted by researchers at the Woods Hole Research Center and the Instituto de Pesquisa Ambiental da Amazonia, found that parks reduced deforestation significantly relative to unprotected areas.

CI says that the addition of Amapá State Forest to the Amapá Biodiversity Corridor is "a major component of plans to conserve a huge swath of Amazon forest in the Guyana Shield, which also includes protected areas in Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana and in the states of Pará, Amazonas and Roraima in Brazil." It adds, "the region is considered the largest and most untouched remaining tropical forest on Earth, and one of the highest priorities of international conservation."

Additional Photos

Most of the species new to science are fish, amphibians and reptiles.

(Micrastur gilvicollis) in the Mountains of Tumucumaque National Park, Amapa, Brazil. Image Credit: Enrico Bernard/CI.

Woodpecker, Mountains of Tumucumaque National Park, Amapa, Brazil. Image Credit: Enrico Bernard/CI.

(Corydoras sp), a potential new species from the Amapa Biodiversity Corridor. Image Credit: Cecile de Souza Gama.

A possible new species from the genus Jupiaba, taken in the Amapa biodiversity corridor. Image Credit: Cecile de Souza Gama.

Forest in the Mountains of Tumucumaque National Park, Amapa Biodiverstiy Corridor, Brazil. Image Credit: Enrico Bernard/CI.

Source:
http://news.mongabay.com/2006/0927-amazon.html

Three new salamanders discovered

2008-07-06T17:22:00.000+07:00

04 January 2008

Three new species of salamander have been discovered in a largely unexplored forest in Costa Rica.

This increases the number of salamander species in Costa Rica from 40 to 43, making the country a centre of diversity for these amphibians.

Unexplored reserve

One of the new species of salamander. It is nocturnal © A Monro

The Natural History Museum led three expeditions to La Amistad National Park on the Costa Rica-Panama border. It is the biggest forest reserve in Central America and yet remains one of the least explored places in the region. The scientists recorded 5,300 plants, insects and amphibians from their trips.

'Finding so many new species in one area is exciting,' says Dr Alex Monro, biodiversity expert at the Natural History Museum and leader of the exploration project. 'Particularly as this is probably the only place in the world you can find these animals.'

'It shows we still have a lot to learn about the variety of wildlife in this region. We have four more expeditions planned this year - who knows what we could find when we go back?'

New salamanders

One of the new species of dwarf salamander © A Monro

Two of the new salamanders are from the Bolitoglossa genus and are nocturnal, coming out at night to feed. The first Bolitoglossa species is 8cm long and black, with a bold red stripe down its back and small yellow markings on its sides.

The second Bolitoglossa species is 6cm long and deep brown in colour with a pale cream underside.

The third salamander is from the Nototriton (dwarf salamander) genus and is a mere 3cm in length, with red-brown colouring and black markings on its sides.

No names

The specimens are not named yet. They will be described and named by scientists at the University of Costa Rica, where they will form part of the national collections.

UNESCO site

Cloud forest of La Amistad in Costa Rica. It is the biggest forest reserve in Central America © A Monro

La Amistad is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and it represents the most remote part of the Talamanca Mountains, mainly due to its treacherous terrain and lack of roads.

It has been estimated that two thirds of all Costa Rica's native species live there, including more than 250 species of reptiles and amphibians, 600 species of birds, 215 species of mammals and 14,000 species of plant.

Expedition partnership

The expeditions are part of a project funded by the UK government's Darwin Initiative to provide baseline information to underpin the conservation of La Amistad National Park.

The Natural History Museum is working in partnership with Costa Rica's national biodiversity institute, INBio, the University of Costa Rica, the University of Panama and Panama's National Parks' Authority.

Source:

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/about-us/news/2008/january/news_13214.html

24 New Species Found by Rapid Assessment Program

2008-07-06T17:10:00.000+07:00

Article from: AdelaideNow
June 05, 2007 05:00pm
“SCIENTISTS say they have found two dozen new species in an expedition into a remote part of South America.

The Associated Press reported that an expedition by 13 scientists into the remote plateaus of eastern Suriname had turned up 24 new species, including a frog with fluorescent purple markings.

The expedition led by Conservation International discovered the species in 2005 in rainforests and swamps about 130 kilometers southeast of Paramaribo, the capital of the South American country bordering Brazil, Guyana and French Guiana.

Among the newly discovered species were the Atelopus frog, which has distinctive purple markings; six types of fish; 12 dung beetles, and one ant species… “

Above: Amazonian Snail-Eater Snake
—–

*Note: Aquarium enthusiasts will be interested in the discovery of several suckermouth catfish- at least 3 new species- one of which has a particularly large mouth, and another that is fond of RED algae… not to mention the appearance of the Armored catfish, which was believed to be extinct.

The original article (above) from AdelaideNow includes several pictures.
The Conservation International website has the full pdf file of the R.A.P. report.
The ABC News website has more pics- also high res.
Telegraph.co.uk has more pics- including some not on the previous sites.
Mongabay.com has a great article with more information.

New Hummingbird Species Discovered

2008-07-06T17:01:00.001+07:00

A new species of hummingbird, the Gorgeted Puffleg, Eriocnemis Isabellaea, has been discovered in the Serrania del Pinche mountains of southwest Colombia.

According to ornithologists, the Gorgeted Puffleg has been discovered living in the cloud forests of southwestern Colombia. Despite its recent discovery, this stunning rare hummingbird that has violet blue plumage and iridescent green on its throat, is already endangered by the environmentally damaging illegal drugs industry.

"We were essentially following a hunch," said Alexander Cortés-Diago of the Hummingbird Conservancy in Colombia and co-discoverer of Gorgeted Puffleg. "We had heard that a new species of plant had been discovered in the region in 1994. This discovery and the isolation of the Serrania led us to believe there could also be new species of vertebrates."

According to its discoverers, the new species measures between 3.5 inches and four inches in length. The bird gets its unusual name from its enlarged, bicoloured iridescent throat patch (its "gorget") and from the appearance of having "little cotton balls above their legs," said Luis Mazariegos-Hurtado, who has spent 30 years documenting hummingbirds and founded the Colombian Hummingbird Conservancy.

The new species, which was recently given the scientific name, Eriocnemis isabellae, was confirmed by two of the world's leading specialists on the puffleg, Karl L. Schuchmann, curator of ornithology at Zoological Research Museum A. Koenig in Germany, and F. Gary Stiles of the Natural Sciences Institute at the National University of Colombia.

"The description of the species has been published in Ornitologica Neotropical, a well respected peer-reviewed journal," said Greg Butcher, director of bird conservation for the Washington-based National Audubon Society. "The description of the bird in that journal leaves no doubt that it is a very distinctive species, and will be accepted as such by the ornithological community."

The two field ornithologists who discovered the hummingbird saw it three times in 2005 while they conducted field surveys of the mountain cloud forest in the Serrania del Pinche mountains in southwest Colombia. In 2006, they returned to confirm the sighting despite the presence of leftist rebels and drug traffickers in the region. They photographed the birds in 2006, and sent the images to the Zoological Research Museum A. Koenig in Germany for confirmation.

"We immediately suspected the bird as a new species," said Andre Weller of the Brehm Fund for International Bird Conservation/Zoological Research Museum A. Koenig. "Further study has shown that this is certainly the most spectacular discovery of a new hummingbird taxon during the last decade or more."

The mountainous Serrania del Pinche region may hold other new species but their future isn't secure because of slash-and-burn farming by coca farmers in the region. This destructive method of farming, combined with the bird's small range give ornithologists cause for concern that this bird may slip into extinction. Coca is the raw material in cocaine.

"Destruction of habitat is the main threat caused by the migration of coca fields from the Caqueta and Putumayo areas to the Pacific," said Luis Mazariegos-Hurtado of the Hummingbird Conservancy in Colombia. He added that slash-and-burn agriculture is expanding in the area, and this farming technique can cause "dangerous fires that can easily burn a whole mountain."

Researchers are especially worried because the hummingbird has only been sighted on one mountain ridge. Ornithologists are asking the Colombian government to protect this area.

"To go undiscovered for so long, the bird's range must be extremely small and fragile -- hence conservation action is undoubtedly a priority for the Serrania del Pinche," said Ian Davidson of the conservation group Birdlife International.

The Gorgeted Puffleg brings to 15 the number of species in this genus, which are mostly found in Colombia. There are more than 300 species of hummingbirds in the world, nearly half of which live in Colombia. Further, Colombia is a gold mine for bird species, with more than 1,800 total native species.

"This is a discovery with mixed emotions: the indescribable happiness of finding a new hummingbird and the harsh reality that this may be one of the most endangered species outside of an unprotected area." said Luis Alfonso Ortega, co-discoverer of the hummingbird.

This undated photo release by BirdLife International on Sunday, May 13, 2007, shows the new species of hummingbird, called the Gorgeted Puffleg, Eriocnemis Isabellaea, discovered in the Serrania del Pinche mountains, southwest Colombia. The highly distinct new species is characterized by an enlarged, iridescent throat patch in males and white tufts above the legs

Source:

http://scienceblogs.com/grrlscientist/2007/05/new_hummingbird_species_discov.php

Scientists find fourteen new species in Brazil

2008-07-06T16:58:00.000+07:00

by Rich Bowden - Apr 29 2008, 22:14

Photo: This horned toad believed to be new to science of the genus Proceratophrys, was one of 14 new species found by scientists in Brazil. Credit: Conservation International.

A research team has discovered up to fourteen new species during an expedition to the remote Cerrado region of Brazil.

A legless lizard, a tiny woodpecker along with twelve other species suspected to be new to science were found in the wooded grassland of the Cerrado which once covered a region the size of Europe.

However the region, which still covers around 20 percent of Brazil, is now in the process of being turned into cropland and ranchland by farmers with the resulting loss of valuable native vegetation and unique species.

“It’s very exciting to find new species and data on the richness, abundance, and distribution of wildlife in one of the most extensive, complex, and unknown regions of the Cerrado,” said Conservation International (CI) biologist Cristiano Nogueira, the expedition leader in a CI statement.

“Protected areas such as the Ecological Station are home to some of the last remaining healthy ecosystems in a region increasingly threatened by urban growth and mechanized agriculture.”

The scientists say final results of the study which will include the description of the new species, will assist them in structuring future conservation programmes.

“The geographic distribution of some of the species registered is restricted to the area of the ecological station; thus their survival depends on the good management of the protected area and its immediate surroundings,” said Luís Fabio Silveira, of the Department of Zoology of the University of São Paulo. “From the survey we can obtain data concerning the anatomy, reproductive biology, life cycle, and distribution of the species, all of which help us in future conservation programs.”

“We need to know our protected areas better, especially the ecological stations whose principal objective is to generate scientific knowledge of Brazilian biodiversity, so little studied and already so severely threatened,” Nogueira said. “Unfortunately, extensive areas of the Cerrado, like the Ecological Station, are becoming increasingly rare, thus making the data collected even more important. Above all, it is necessary to know to conserve.”

The expedition included 26 researchers from the University of São Paulo and its Museum of Zoology; the federal universities of São Carlos and Tocantins; and CI-Brazil, said the statement.

It was funded by the O Boticário Foundation for Conservation of Nature, with the support of the NGO Pequi–Pesquisa e Conservação do CerradoCerrado.

Source:

http://www.thetechherald.com/article.php/200818/849/Scientists-find-fourteen-new-species-in-Brazil

New Species Orchid : Dendrobium new species

2008-07-06T16:55:00.001+07:00

D. new species

Source:
http://www.doweryorchids.com/dendrobium.htm

In pictures: New species found in the sea

2008-07-06T16:52:00.002+07:00

Loads of new species of exotic fish and corals have been discovered off Papua, New Guinea. The area is known as the Bird's Head Seascape reef

This epaulette shark was one of the exciting new discoveries. Experts say the creatures appear to 'walk' on its fins on the bottom of the sea

This picture shows a Pterocaesio - one of 50 new species found by an expedition by a group called Conservation International

This reef-building coral helps provide shelter and food for many of the creatures. There are thought to be about 600 types of coral living at Bird's Head - about 50% more than on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia

This interesting-looking little fish is a Paracheilinus walton - a new species of flasher wrasse. They get their name from their brightly coloured bodies which appear to 'flash' in the water

And this is called a Cirrhilabrus cenderawasih, another type of flasher wrasse

This bright purple fish is called a Pseudochromis - a previously unknown dottyback. These fish tend to like eating plankton, small crustaceans and worms

And this stripy creatures is called a Meiacanthus. Experts are now calling for the Bird's Head Seascape reef to be protected. This could stop it being damaged by tourists and fishing

New pig species found in Amazon

2008-07-06T16:50:00.001+07:00

Arpita Mukherjee | Nov 7 2007

Marc van Roosmalen, a Dutch scientist claims to have found a new species of wild pig in the Amazon forest. Roosmalen has published his findings in the October 29 issue of the German journal Bonner Zoologische Beitrage. The pig is four feet long and weighs 90 pounds. The DNA analysis of the animal showed that the animal diverged from the most closely related species, Pecari tajacau or collared peccary about 1 million to 1.2 million years ago.

However, scientists say that more research is necessary to confirm that the species is new. Roosmalen is campaigning for conservation of wild life in the Amazon. He said that the new peccary, which he dubbed Pecari maximus, inhabits a logged frontier of the Amazon around Nova Aripuana where the number of sawmills has grown from two in 2002 to fourteen in the current year.

The wild pig species usually travels in small groups comprising of two adults and one or two off springs. While other species move in large herds, these pigs that travel in small groups are vulnerable to hunters.

Van Roosmalen�s success in discovering new species in the Amazon has earned him international acclaim.

Source:

http://www.greendiary.com/entry/new-pig-species-found-in-amazon/

New Limbless Lizard Species Discovered

2008-07-06T16:48:00.000+07:00

By ASHOK SHARMA , Associated Press Writer, General Science / Biology

(AP) -- An Indian zoologist said Monday he has found a new species of limbless lizard in a forested area in the country's east. "Preliminary scientific study reveals that the lizard belongs to the genus Sepsophis," said Sushil Kumar Dutta, who led a team of researchers from "Vasundhra," a non-governmental organization, and the North Orissa University.

This undated hand out photo provided by Indian zoologist Sushil Kumar Dutta, shows a new species of limbless lizard belonging to the genus sepsophis, in the forested region of Khandadhar near Raurkela in Orissa state, about 1,000 kilometers (625 miles) southeast of New Delhi, India. The newly found 18-centimeter (7-inch) long lizard looks like a small snake with lower eyelids and scales on both sides of the body, Dutta said. "It prefers to live in a cool retreat, soft soil and below stones.(AP Photo/HO)

Source:
http://www.physorg.com/news99591308.html

A botanical survey of the Cordilleras de

2008-07-06T16:44:00.001+07:00

Three Reserves in Oxapampa province
Point cursor on image for full caption

The Cordilleras de Yanachaga and San Matias-San Carlos are relatively small mountain ranges on the eastern side of the Andes in the Department of Pasco, central Peru. The town of Villa Rica borders these Cordilleras in the south, the town of Pozuzu in the north; while the road from Oxapampa to Pozuzu along the Rio Huancabamba forms the border on the western edge, and the extensive lowland forests in the Amazonian plains, the eastern boundary. The two Cordilleras are separated by the basins of the Rio Palcazu and the Rio Iscosazin, where the Yanesha Communal Reserve is situated. The altitudinal range in the area is considerable—from about 500 m in the lowlands to the highest peak in the Cordillera de Yanachaga, at 3800 m. Rainfall is plentiful, exceeding 6000 mm in some places, and the entire zone is covered with wet lowland or montane forest, with small patches of high altitude paramo in the summit areas. Temperatures vary with altitude, and the climate ranges from wet tropical in the lowlands to cold and wet in the paramos. Rainfall is spread evenly throughout the year; there is no pronounced dry season, and the vegetation is evergreen, irrespective of the altitude.

Geologically, the oldest formations in the area are on the western border of the Cordillera de Yanachaga and consist of intrusive Permian layers in the northwestern part, Permian deposits along the western edge, and a fairly large area with upper Triassic/lower Jurassic rocks in the north; while most of the remaining parts of the Cordilleras consist of various Cretaceous rocks with a small area of upper Jurassic and one with Quaternary alluvial deposits near the eastern bondary of the Yanachaga National Park. Ore-bearing minerals have not been found in the Park, and consequently there are no mining activities. The Cordilleras de Yanachaga and San Matias-San Carlos are part of what have been called the “sub-Andean cordilleras,” a discontinuous chain of mountain ranges that run parallel to the main Andean chain but attain more modest elevations and are separated from the main Andean chain by low-altitude valleys. The Galera and Cutucu ranges and the Cordillera del Condor in Ecuador and the Cordillera Azul in Peru form part of the sub-Andean cordilleras. The main Andean range is composed mostly of metamorphic and volcanic rocks, while the sub-Andean cordilleras consist mostly of Mesozoic and early Tertiary sediments, such as sandstone and limestone, deposited at the western margin of South America prior to the rise of the Andes.

In 1980 the government of Peru started a development program in the Selva Central, the region between the Cordillera de Yanachaga and the Cordillera de San Matias-San Carlos; this program included the design and development of projects aimed at environmental protection. In 1982 USAID signed an agreement with the government of Peru and became involved in this program with the goals of establishing a National Park in the Cordillera de Yanachaga and a Forest Reserve in the Cordillera de San Matias-San Carlos. During the second half of the 1980s the Peruvian government created three protected areas in this region: the Yanachaga-Chemillen National Park (1222 km²) was established in 1986; the San Matias-San Carlos Protected Forest (1458 km²) in 1987; and the Yanesha Communal Reserve (347 km²) in 1988. These three protected areas are contiguous and cover almost 3000 km2. Currently, a plan to create a Biosphere Reserve consisting of the three protected areas, possibly augmented with the headwaters of the Rio Pachitea, is being discussed, but no decision has been taken yet. The project is aimed at making a botanical inventory of the three protected areas based on extensive collecting efforts and study of earlier collections.

Lower montane forest near el Paujil, alt. ca. 800 m.	Scrub vegetation on nutrient poor soils between Oxapampa and Villa Rica, alt. ca. 2400 m.
New species of Lissocarpa from El Paujil area, alt. ca. 800 m.

Source:

http://www.mobot.org/mobot/research/peru/three-reserves-in-oxapampa.shtml

And along came another spider

2008-07-06T16:39:00.001+07:00

Chee Chee Leung
March 19, 2007

The tiger huntsman is believed to be a new species.
Photo: Alan Henderson

AS IF huntsman spiders were not creepy enough, there may be more of the hairy kind around. Melbourne Museum has discovered what is believed to be a new huntsman species.

The distinctive spider, dubbed the tiger huntsman for its orange and black markings, was found by museum staff on a collecting trip to north Queensland.

Live exhibits co-ordinator and self-confessed spider nut Alan Henderson said he knew he was on to something special when he spotted the spider in a rainforest outside Cairns.

"I've always been excited about spiders, but to see something that I've never ever seen before and never even seen a photograph of is pretty exciting," Mr Henderson said. "Up until that moment I didn't think anything that colourful existed in Australia."

After the team returned to Melbourne, photographs of the female huntsman — which has a 35-millimetre body and a legspan of about 90 millimetres — were sent to spider experts around the country, but none recognised it.

But confirmation it is a new species of huntsman will not be possible until it dies and scientists can examine it under a microscope.

The huntsman lives for about two years, and this one is believed to be about a year old. It feasts on live crickets and cockroaches.

It was added this month to the museum's Bugs Alive! exhibit, where it can show off what Mr Henderson describes as excellent climbing and jumping skills.

"Once she jumped and then in mid-air turned and landed on the opposing surface," he said. "I held up the 10-card for that."

Source:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/and-along-came-another-spider/2007/03/18/1174152881573.html

Photo The best Bird of paradise

2008-07-04T11:10:00.002+07:00

The Bird of Paradise is one of the rarest birds in the world found in Papua New Guinea. It is very elusive and make it's habitat up in the highlands far away from villagers. (Best viewed large)
Alec Ee

Source:
http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=2271187&size=lg

King of Saxony bird of paradise

2008-07-04T11:04:00.005+07:00

Source:
http://www.surfbirds.com/cgi-bin/gallery/search2.cgi?species=&photographer=&location=&county=papua%20new%20guinea

http://www.tropicalbirding.com/tripReports/TR_PNG_2007/TR_PNG_2007.htm

http://homepage.mac.com/maruhuku/yasei2/Bird-of-Paradise/King-of-Saxony-BOP.jpg

Video : Bird of Paradise Bronx Zoo -- February 2006

2008-07-04T10:43:00.006+07:00

Source :

http://www.leechvideo.com/video/view1251283.html

Deep sea studies find 'New continent' and species in Atlantic

2008-07-03T14:14:00.000+07:00

August 2007. A scientist from the University of Aberdeen is leading a team of international researchers whose work will continue our understanding of life in the deepest oceans, and contribute to the global Census of Marine Life.

Exploring life in the North Atlantic Ocean at depths between 800 - 3,500 metres, the scientists are returning from a five-week scientific expedition with a wealth of new information and insights, stunning images and marine life specimens, including one species thought to be new to science. The international team explored the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) between Iceland and the Azores on board the £40 million royal research ship, the Royal Research Ship, James Cook.
Professor Monty Priede, Director of the University’s highly-acclaimed Oceanlab, along with colleague Dr Nicola King, and students Jessica Craig, Claudia Alt and James Hawkins, are part of the science team on board the ship.

Professor Priede said: ‘It is like surveying a new continent half way between America and Europe. We can recognise the creatures, but familiar ones are absent and unusual ones are common. We are finding species that are rare or unknown elsewhere in the world.’

Mid-Atlantic Ridge
The team of scientists mapped over 1,500 square miles, exploring the deep sea creatures living in the depths of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. They used the latest technology to learn more about what is living in this remote and relatively unexplored deep-sea environment using remotely operated vehicles equipped with digital cameras.
With a suite of eight deep sea cameras they were able to capture images of life on the peaks and valleys of very rugged terrain. Colourful sponges and corals encrust rocky cliffs, whereas areas of soft sediment are populated by starfish, brittle-stars, sea cucumbers and burrowing worms. Fishes, crabs and shrimps forage over the ridge exploiting whatever they can find. Trawls, traps and corers have brought back thousands of specimens for study back in the laboratory.

Professor Priede said: ‘We are trying to imagine what the north Atlantic would be like without the ridge that literally cuts it in half, as we think it has a major effect on ocean currents, productivity and biodiversity of the North Atlantic Ocean.

‘The RRS James Cook ship is an absolutely fantastic facility and is allowing marine researchers to explore new environments, find new animals and study global changes in the world’s oceans.’

MAR – ECO Project
The aim of the voyage is to contribute to the wider MAR-ECO project studying biodiversity along mid-ocean ridges (www.mar-eco.no) and to the global Census research programme. Census of Marine Life is a 10-year global scientific initiative to assess and explain the diversity, distribution and abundance of life in the oceans. The team already think they may have discovered a new species of Ostracod (or seed shrimp) that was found swarming in large numbers on the western side of the ridge. Specimens are on their way to experts in Southampton where world-renowned expert, Professor Martin Angel, will ultimately determine whether this is a new species, describe it and allocate a name.

Dr Steven Wilson, Director of Science & Innovation for the Natural Environment Research Council, said: ‘The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is still relatively unexplored so this voyage will have played a vital role in expanding our knowledge of the biodiversity of the region.’
Water currents and tides over the ridge were studied intensively and daily measurements were made of productivity in surface waters. The team left behind automatic equipment on the sea floor at six observing stations that will continue measurements and photography over the next two years. Further voyages are planned in 2008 and 2009 that will include retrieval of the gear.

Natural Environment Research Council
The expedition is run under ECOMAR, a £2million consortium project funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council, led by the University of Aberdeen with participation from: National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, University of St Andrews, Scottish Association for Marine Science, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, University of Durham and University of Newcastle. It provides a contribution to the wider MAR-ECO project co-ordinated by Odd Aksel Bergstad of Norway and the Census of Marine Life, a global project involving over 2,000 scientists.

RRS James Cook
The RRS James Cook is managed by NERC’s National Marine Facilities Division, based at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton. The ship is operated by professional mariners who provide a working platform and practical assistance to the scientists.

The ship is the most advanced multi-purpose research ship in the world and will return this weekend with samples of rare animals and a vast archive of pictures and videos, which will continue our understanding of life in the oceans. The ship washas been designed as a world-class multidisciplinary science platform that allows for investigations using sophisticated and precisely targeted instruments, such as deep sea remotely operated vehicles.

Source:
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/altantic-ridge.html

Two New Species of Poison Dart Frogs Discovered in Colombia

2008-07-03T14:12:00.001+07:00

December 2007. Two new species of frog have been discovered in the Central Cordillera of Colombia by Alonso Quevedo from ProAves and Oscar Gallego from Tolima University. The frogs were discovered in July, 2006, when the research team was looking for endangered bird species in the Central Mountain Range. The new frogs have been named Ranitomeya tolimense and Ranitomeya doriswansoni in recent months.

Ranitomeya tolimense is mostly yellow, and Ranitomeya doriswansoni is black and red, and has a short fifth toe.

Alonso Quevedo, President of ProAves, said ‘There is a great concern about the conservation of these frogs and of many other species of flora and fauna in this region, since there are not any protected areas here, and there is a high pressure on the ecosystems due to the expansion of coffee crops.’

The description of Ranitomeya tolimense was jointly carried out with experts Manuel Hernando Bernal and Víctor Fabio Luna-Mora, who, together with Óscar Gallego, are members of the Research Group on Zoology at the Herpetology and Eco-physiology Laboratory in Tolima University. The article was published on November 14, 2007 by Zootaxa Magazine.

The description of Ranitomeya doriswansoni was jointly carried out in 2006 with José Vicente Rueda-Almonacid, Marco Rada, Santiago J. Sánchez-Pacheco and Álvaro Andrés Velásquez-Álvarez, from Conservation International. It was also published by Zootaxa Magazine.

Source:
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/colombia-frogs872.html

Eight previously unknown species discovered in Israel.

2008-07-03T14:10:00.000+07:00

Discovery of eight previously unknown, ancient animal species within "a new and unique underground ecosystem" in Israel was revealed today by Hebrew University of Jerusalem researchers.

The cave, which has been dubbed the Ayalon Cave, is "unique in the world," said Prof. Amos Frumkin of the Hebrew University. This is due mainly to its isolation from the outside world, since the cave's surface is situated under a layer of chalk that is impenetrable to water. The cave, with its branches, extends over some 2½ kilometers, making it Israel's second largest limestone cave. It is to remain closed to the public to permit further scientific research. The invertebrate animals found in the cave – four seawater and freshwater crustaceans and four terrestial species – are related to but different from other, similar life forms known to scientists. The species have been sent to biological experts in both Israel and abroad for further analysis and dating. It is estimated that these species are millions of years old. Also found in the cave were bacteria that serve as the basic food source in the ecosystem.

Among the interesting features of the discoveries thus far in the cave is that two of the crustaceans are seawater species and two others are of a types found in fresh or brackish water. This can provide insights into events occurring millions of years ago regarding the history of ancient bodies of water in the region.

Source:
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/extra-newisrael.html

New species of freshwater stingray discovered in Thailand

2008-07-03T14:09:00.000+07:00

Bangkok, Thailand – A new species of freshwater stingray has been discovered in a river in western Thailand, but its chances for long-term survival are slim, warns WWF.

The new species of stingray, measuring 60 centimeters (23.6 inches) in width, was first observed two years ago but has only now been confirmed in detail as a new species by researchers from WWF Thailand and the US-based Smithsonian Institute.

WWF Thailand’s Senior Freshwater Biologist, Dr Chavalit Vidthayanon, along with Smithsonian Research Associate Dr Tyson Roberts, have described in detail the new freshwater stingray, known as Himantura kittipongi, found in the Maeklong Basin of western Thailand.

Thai rivers have been plagued by serious pollution, overfishing and dam building, which have taken a deadly toll on Thailand's once diverse and abundant river life. The ray is believed to exist in only small numbers.

The new species was named Himantura kittipongi after prominent Thai fish expert Kittipong Jaruthanin who first observed the ray in 2004.

For more information:
Radda Larpnun, Communications Manager
WWF Thailand
Email: radda@wwfthai.org

New species of sucker-footed bat found in Madagascar

2008-07-03T14:07:00.000+07:00

August 2007. An expedition led by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) to a remote corner of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has uncovered unique forests which, so far, have been found to contain six animal species new to science: a bat, a rodent, two shrews, and two frogs. The forested region, including the Misotshi-Kabogo Forest (formerly Mt. Kabobo), and nearby Marunga Massif is located just west of Lake Tanganyika and has been off limits to scientists since 1960 as a result of continued instability in the area.

‘If we can find six new species in such a short period it makes you wonder what else is out there,’ said WCS researcher Dr. Andrew Plumptre, director of the society’s Albertine Rift Program.
The forest survey was conducted between January and March of 2007, and included participants from WCS, the Field Museum in Chicago, the National Centre of Research and Science in Lwiro, and the World Wildlife Fund: the global conservation organization (WWF).

Large mammals
In spite of the conflict and related degradation in the area, the survey team found that some 1,000 square kilometres have remained intact, from the shores of Lake Tanganyika up to elevations of 2,725 metres above sea level. In addition to the new animal species, the survey found that the region of gallery forests and woodlands is extremely rich in biodiversity, containing a number of large mammals such as chimpanzees, bongos, buffalo, elephants, leopards, several types of monkey including a subspecies of colobus only found here, although most of these large-bodied species were found at low densities, probably due to poaching. The survey also found a high diversity of birds, reptile, and amphibian species.

New plant species
The expedition may also yield a number of new plant species; survey botanists were unable to identify some 10 percent of the collected samples, which will be sent to specialists in the near future. ‘Given the findings with the vertebrates, it is likely that some of the plants will represent new species as well,’ said Ben Kirunda of WCS’s botanical team.

‘The forest has been isolated from much of the Congo Forest block for at least 10,000 years and as a result contains some new interesting species,’ said WCS researcher Deo Kujirakwinja, one of survey’s participants. ‘There is a real need to protect this forest and carry out more research in the area.’

Civil war
The Democratic Republic of Congo has experienced unrest—especially in the biodiversity-rich eastern part of the country—since the 1960s, when Laurent Kabila, father of the current president, set up a base of operations in the Misotshi-Kabogo forests in his attempt to overthrow the regime of Joseph Mobutu, former president of the country (then called Zaire). Kabila succeeded in becoming president himself in 1996, the same year which plunged the region into a state of civil war. As a result, the region has been off limits to conservationists until recently.

Human impacts to the region are currently low, with gold mining on a minor level being the most substantial threat. Further, survey members who met with the leaders of local villages have found that most are supportive of turning the region into a protected area.
‘The survey has found that the Misotshi-Kabogo region is biologically important enough to conserve in the form of a protected area,’ said Dr. James Deutsch, director of WCS’ Africa Program. ‘Since few people live there, it would be relatively easy to create a park while supporting the livelihoods of people who live in the landscape.’

Source:
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/do/ecco.py/view_item?listid=1&listcatid=271&listitemid=812

Three new species of Mouse Lemur recognised

2008-07-03T14:03:00.000+07:00

Three new kinds of mouse lemur have been recognised on Madagascar in the inaccessible forest fragments of north-west Madagascar. They were discovered by scientists from the Institute for Zoology at the University of Veterinary Medicine (TiHo) in Hanover, working with Madagascan colleagues.

At first sight the three new lemurs hardly differ outwardly from already known species, however genetic differences show them to be separate species (this is highly ironic as other news this week showed that three species of Mouse lemur that were previously thought to be distinct are actually all genetically identical, read the story here).

The habitats of these are small and separated from each other by broad rivers. This geographical separation makes it possible that these lemurs have evolved separately over thousands of years.

Mouse lemurs, with a body size of between 10-12 centimetres, are the smallest primates in the world, weighing as little as 30 grams. Being so small and nocturnal adds to the difficulty of conducting research in such a remote region.

The three lemurs were actually discovered in 2003, but it has taken until now to get them recognised as new species.

The results of the research are published in the Journal Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.

New species of Lizard discovered in Borneo, and possible new snake and frogs too.

2008-07-03T14:00:00.001+07:00

December 2006. Chris Austin, assistant curator of herpetology at LSU's Museum of Natural Science, (LSUMNS) and adjunct professor in biological sciences, recently discovered a new species of lizard while conducting field research in Borneo.

‘We actually found 4 specimens at once,’ said Austin. ‘One of the best methods for finding lizards in the rainforest is to look under logs. We found 2 individuals of the new species under one log and 2 more under another.’ With more than 15 years of fieldwork experience behind him, Austin knew immediately that he had found a new species. After collecting the lizards, he and Das began the difficult work of proving what they already knew.

‘Determining that a species is new to science is a long and laborious process,’ said Austin. ‘Natural history museums and their invaluable collections are critical in that they allow scientists to examine known biodiversity in order to determine a species is new.’ He and Das examined specimens from a slew of museums around the world.

‘We can't conserve what we don't know we have. It is imperative that we know what species exist in order to preserve them for future generations,’ said Austin.

He used the cutting-edge molecular genetics lab at the LSUMNS to decipher the genetic code of the lizards. ‘We sequenced the DNA of this new species and several other closely related species in order to help our diagnosis,’ he said. ‘Using DNA to help describe new species is becoming one of the most important tools for scientists to use in documenting and describing biodiversity.’ The global decline of biodiversity has become a major public issue recently, and the use of modern molecular methods is proving to be fundamental in gaining a better understanding of the situation.

The new species is distinguishable from its closest cousin, a type of skink found in the southern Philippines, in several distinct ways:
• different colour patterns;
• its structure, or morphology;
• differences in scale count, which is one of the basic ways scientists distinguish between species;
• significant genetic variations.

These traits combined to confirm the original hypothesis that the lizard was, in fact, an entirely new species.
Austin spent the entire summer of 2006 in New Guinea, his geographical area of expertise, conducting fieldwork with graduate students. He is currently working on research funded by the National Science Foundation to understand why New Guinea, called a megadiverse region, has such a high level of biodiversity.

‘While we were there, we collected what we think is a new species of snake, a new species of lizard and probably two or three new species of frogs,’ he said. ‘But the process of certifying a new species takes so long that it will be awhile before we're certain.’

Austin, along with colleague Indraneil Das from the Institute of Biodiversity and Environmental Conservation at the Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, will publish their findings and photos of the new species in the prestigious Journal of Herpetology. The article, which will contain the currently embargoed scientific name of the species, is slated for publication in March 2007.

For more information on Austin and his research, please visit http://www.museum.lsu.edu/Austin/Lab.html.

New species of golden frog discovered in remote region of Colombia

2008-07-03T13:59:00.001+07:00

August 2007. A new poisonous frog was recently discovered in a remote mountainous region in Colombia by a team of young scientists supported by the Conservation Leadership Programme (CLP). The new frog, which is almost two cms long, was given the name the ‘Golden frog of Supatá.’

Originally, the young scientists thought the frog was similar to several other common species in the area. However, after scientific analysis of the frog’s characteristics, and review of their findings by experts at Conservation International, it was determined that the golden frog of Supatá is unique and only found within a 20 hectare area in Colombia’s Cundinamarca region. Colombia is one of the world’s richest countries in amphibian diversity, with more than 583 species.

Unfortunately, since this frog is a recent discovery, and endemic to only the Cunidnamarca region, little is known about it. So far, scientists say that the golden frog of Supatá belongs to a group of ‘dart fogs’ that are known to be highly venomous. In the coming months, the young scientists hope to have more information about the frog.

‘The importance of this project is not just the discovery of the new frog,’ said Oswaldo Cortes, team leader and one of the winners of the 2007 Conservation Leadership Programme awards. ‘But, most importantly, what this new discovery shows is how little we still know about our planet, and the many species that haven’t yet been discovered. This is why it is so important to work with local communities and educate them about the need for conservation.’

Conservation Leadership Programme (CLP)
The CLP, formerly known as the BP Conservation Programme, supports the vital work of a new rising generation of conservation professionals who are helping to drive practical projects addressing a wide range of global environmental issues from protecting sharks in Brazil to conservation of threatened amphibians in Colombia and endangered turtles in Cambodia to the assessment and conservation of threatened bird species in China. The deadline for 2008 CLP award applications is Nov. 23, 2007. To apply for the program, and for further detailed information on this year’s awardees and their conservation research projects, please visit www.ConservationLeadershipProgramme.org.

Winged beauty jumps onto China's wildlife list

2008-07-03T13:56:00.001+07:00

2008-06-19
BEIJING, June 19 -- It has a white crescent-shaped patch behind the ear and some grayish-brown spots on the white throat. Apart from that, it's dark brown all over.

It prefers to walk, flying only when frightened. It often feeds on worms and insects in the gaps between rocks.

Meet the new species of bird discovered by Chinese ornithologists on a small patch of limestone rainforest on the Sino-Vietnamese border.

No ornithologist had sighted the myna-sized bird before probably because of its plain looks and skulking habit.

Zhou Fang, of the College of Animal Sciences and Technology, and Jiang Aiwu, one of his graduate students, first saw it during a survey at the end of 2004. It took almost four years of studies and fieldwork to confirm it's a new species.

Zhou's college is affiliated to Guangxi University in Nanning, capital of the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

"After seeing the birds a few times during our survey, Professor Zhou told me it's probably a new species," says Jiang.

"I have been studying birds in the region since the 1970s," the 59-year-old ornithologist says. "But I had never seen it before."

Zhou and Jiang caught two of birds on January 21, 2006, to conduct a thorough study.

As the bird is seen only in and around the Nonggang Natural Reserve of Guangxi, only 18 km southeast of the Vietnamese border, it has been named the Nonggang Babbler (Stachyris nonggangensis).

The global scientific community has confirmed their finding, and the Auk, the world's leading journal on ornithology, published their study in its 125th issue recently.

This is the second time Chinese scientists have found a new species of bird in the country. The first was in the 1930s. Zhou and his student have become the first Chinese authors in the US-based journal too.

"During the past two years, we had to face four tests set for us by Auk's expert teams," Zhou says.

It's easier to find a new species of plant or bug, he says. "But finding a new bird is once-in-a-lifetime achievement for even a leading ornithologist."

Though the bird has been seen only in and around the nature reserve, it could exist in the limestone region of Vietnam's northern highlands too, Zhou says. "Till it is seen there, it can be considered a species endemic to China."

About 100 pairs of the birds have been observed in Nonggang. "Their habitat in the reserve is protected," Zhou says. "But as they could also exist in the Karst rainforest outside the reserve, logging and burning wood to make charcoal pose a threat to their wider habitat."

It is very difficult to restore the biodiversity of a rainforest once its ecological is disturbed. "Given the bird's small number and its threatened habitat, it's important to include it in the State list of protected species," Zhou says.

(Source: China Daily)

New Snake and Gecko Amongst New Species Discovered in Cambodia & Vietnam

2008-07-03T13:54:00.000+07:00

To avoid forgotten land mines, La Sierra University reptile expert Lee Grismer and his son, Jesse, waded far up a Cambodian river last August hunting new species. Their wet, two-mile hike took place during a weeks-long trek through remote Southeast Asian rainforests. They traversed Vietnamese jungles and Cambodia’s Cardamom Mountains, the former stronghold of murderous Cambodian dictator Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge army. Former Khmer Rouge soldiers, wearing their iconic red headscarves, served as the Grismer’s guides.

The team’s perilous venture paid off. The herpetologist and his 25-year-old son discovered between six and eight new species, including a small, brown pit viper adorned with jagged, black stripes and a golden brown gecko with white stripes and dark green eyes.

Island & Cave Discoveries
The father-son species detective team found the pit viper on top of a small Vietnamese island. The Grismers, together with a Vietnamese colleague, discovered the gecko in caves in the Mekong Delta of southern Vietnam. They came upon another new gecko species following their two-mile, night-time river wade in Cambodia.

Lee Grismer
Grismer teaches herpetology, vertebrate natural history, anatomy and physiology at La Sierra University in California. He is a member of several societies and in 2002 published a 409-page tome titled ‘Amphibians and Reptiles of Baja California, Including Its Pacific Islands and the Islands in the Sea of Cortes.’ The book includes detailed photography and information about species and their environments. It derives from 22 years of field research in remote areas.

Grismer has discovered upwards of 40 new animals over the last eight years, mainly in Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Baja California, Mexico. He has amassed more than 8,000 tissue samples in a lab freezer awaiting analysis.

Last summer’s trip to Asian jungles resulted in the acquisition of about 300 specimens of 40 to 50 different species including frogs, legless amphibians called apodans, turtles, lizards and snakes.

Zootaxa, an international journal for animal taxonomists, published an article Feb. 29 announcing the pit viper, whose scientific name is Cryptelytrops honsonensis. Magnolia Press in Auckland, New Zealand publishes Zootaxa. The journal will also soon post an article announcing the gecko discovery.

Source:
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/do/ecco.py/view_item?listid=1&listcatid=284&listitemid=2587

Dwarf cloud rat rediscovered in the Philippines after 112 years

2008-07-03T13:53:00.000+07:00

Filipino-Field Museum discovery will fuel more research

May 2008. A team of Filipino and American scientists have rediscovered a highly distinctive mammal "a greater dwarf cloud rat" that was last seen 112 years ago. It has never before been discovered in its natural habitat and was thought by some to be extinct.

The greater dwarf cloud rat (Carpomys melanurus) has dense, soft reddish-brown fur, a black mask around large dark eyes, small rounded ears, a broad and blunt snout, and a long tail covered with dark hair. An adult weighs about 185 grams.

First sighting since 1896

Lawrence Heaney, Curator of Mammals at the Field Museum and Project Leader, said "This beautiful little animal was seen by biologists only once previously, by a British researcher in 1896 who was given several specimens by local people, so he knew almost nothing about the ecology of the species. Since then, the species has been a mystery, in part because there is virtually no forest left on Mt. Data, where it was first found."

On 24 April 2008, the research team completed its field work, the first comprehensive survey of the small mammals of Mt. Pulag National Park, according to Samuel Penafiel, the Regional Executive Director for the Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources for the Cordillera Administrative Region. Among the results was the capture of the dwarf cloud rat, which is a smaller relative of the giant clouds rats, spectacular animals found only on Luzon Island, but widespread and comparatively well known.

Dwarf cloud rat found 2,350 metres above sea level

The dwarf cloud rat was captured by Danilo Balete, Project Co-Leader and Research Associate of the Philippine National Museum, in a patch of mature mossy forest (also called cloud forest) high on Mt. Pulag, at about 2,350 metres above sea level. It was in the canopy of a large tree, on a large horizontal branch covered by a thick layer of moss, orchids, and ferns, about 5 meters above ground, Balete said. "We had suspected from its broad, hand-like hind feet that it lived up in big trees, but this is the first evidence to confirm that."

Since this is the first time the dwarf cloud rat has been seen in its natural habitat, the data collected from this specimen "will significantly augment our understanding of how these rodents evolved, what makes them tick, and how we can keep them around," said William Stanley, Collections Manager of Mammals at The Field Museum. "Also, finding this animal again gives us hope for the conservation of one of the most diverse and threatened mammal faunas of the world."

The research team thinks that this species probably lives only high in the big canopy trees in mature mossy forest, at elevations from about 2,200 to 2,700 meters, high in the mountains of the Central Cordillera. "Now that we know where to look for them, it will be possible to learn more," Heaney said.

Mossy forest

Much of the mossy forest in Mt. Pulag National Park where the biologists found the dwarf cloud rat was logged during the 1960s, and few large trees remain. The mossy forest has been gradually regenerating, but many local people now have vegetable farms there, and some of the mossy forest has disappeared as a result, according to Park Superintendent Emerita Albas. "Other parts of the park have extensive areas of mossy forest," she said. "But where there are roads into the park, the vegetable farms are expanding. The people deserve to have a place to live and to have their farms, but the mossy forest needs to be protected."

The mossy forest is like a giant sponge when it rains, soaking up the water and releasing it gradually. This produces clean water for irrigation, household use, hydroelectric dams, and industry in the lowlands. The mossy forest gets up to 5 or 6 meters of rain per year, or more.

Four species of cloud rats documented

Most of the species that the team documented on Mt. Pulag live only in the Central Cordillera, and most live only in mossy forests. Other unusual species documented by this research team during this survey are the bushy-tailed cloud rat, a spectacular animal of 1.5 kg with long, flowing black fur that they found to be common in mossy forest at 2,600 to 2,800 meters elevation, as well as three species of small rodents that feed primarily on earthworms. One of these small rodents was originally discovered by the same Field Museum research team and formally described as a new species only in 2006. Mt. Pulag is the only place currently known that has four species of cloud rats known to be present.

The team found that the pest rodents that cause damage around buildings and in the vegetable gardens on Mt. Pulag are not native species. Instead they are species, such as the Norway rat, that were accidentally brought to the Philippines centuries ago. The native species avoid humans, live in the forest, and cause very little if any economic damage. Some, like the dwarf cloud rat, probably are not able to withstand much disturbance of their natural habitat.

Cloud rats are one of the most spectacular cases of adaptive radiation by mammals anywhere in the world, with at least 15 species ranging in size from 2.6 kg to 15 grams, all living only in the Philippines. Cloud rats are a prime example of why biologists refer to the Philippines as "the Galapagos times ten," Heaney said. "The Philippines may have the greatest concentration of unique biological diversity, relative to its size, of any country in the world."

Source:

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/cloud-rat253.html

A new subspecies of bird discovered at Koshi Tappu in Nepal

2008-07-03T13:50:00.000+07:00

February 2008. Nepalese scientists have discovered a new subspecies of bird at Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve (KTWR) in eastern Nepal.

The bird was first recorded by Ornithologist and Chairman of Nepal Rare Birds Committee (NRBC) Mr Suchit Basnet and Mr Badri Chaudhary on 1 April 2005 at Koshi Tappu. The bird was identified as Rufous-vented Prinia bringing Nepal's total bird list to 862 species. The bird is known as Prinia burnesii to scientific community. The new taxon from Nepal is referred to as Nepal Rufous-vented Prinia Prinia burnesii nipalensis.

Mr Basnet has already found several new bird records for Nepal and he records this ‘A fascinating experience with great excitement at the time of discovery. This must have been the most exciting bird record reviewed by the Nepal Rare Birds Committee since its establishment in 2001.’

New Subspecies Classification
A team of experts affiliated with Bird Conservation Nepal (BCN) and led by Ornithologist Dr Hem Sagar Baral has further assessed the taxonomic status of the bird and recently declared the bird as a hitherto undescribed new subspecies of Rufous-vented Prinia. The findings have been published in Bird Conservation Nepal's quarterly bulletin Danphe (Vol 16 No 4 December 2007).

Other members in the team were Mr Suchit Basnet (Chairman of Nepal Rare Bird Committee), Mr Hathan Chaudhary, Mr Badri Chaudhary, Mr Tika Giri and Mr Som GC—all well-known and acknowledged ornithologists in the country. According to the lead author of the scientific paper, Dr Baral, ‘this subspecies is currently found only in Nepal’. He further added, ‘Discovery of a new taxon from Koshi Tappu, one of the most bird watched areas in Nepal, indicates the possibilities of finding more new species in the country.’

Nepal Wren Babbler
Ornithologists call this as a ground breaking research work and most significant on the taxonomy of Nepal's birds after the discovery of Nepal Wren Babbler Pnoepyga immaculata a new bird described to science nearly 17 years ago.

Rufus-Vented Prinia
Of the other two subspecies of Rufous-vented Prinia, Prinia burnesii burnesii is found in Pakistan in the west along the tributaries of Indus River and adjacent Punjab in India; and Prinia burnesii cinerascens is found in Assam in the east along the Bramhaputra river systems and adjoining states of India and Bangladesh. The newly described bird shows somewhat intermediate characters between the two subspecies and appears to form a link between them. It occurs in the Ganges river systems, the third major river system in the India subcontinent.

Description
The adult of this new subspecies has overall olive-grey to light brown plumage. The head and nape are greyer compared to the browner back, wings and tail. In most individuals, there is faint whitish supercilium which reaches behind the eye. The head is densely streaked compared to the back. The back streakings are bolder compared to the head. Juveniles are similar to adults but slightly less marked on the head and body. Light rufous undertail coverts were visible in one young bird caught.

Habitat
All birds seen and heard were located on grassland patches on small islands of the Koshi River. The grass species in the area included Saccharum spontaneum, S. arundinacea, Typha elephantine, and Phragmites karka. Sparsely dotted young sissoo Dalbergia sissoo trees and xeric bushes Casurina spps. were also present. They were absent in heavily disturbed grasslands adjacent to villages indicating their preference for less disturbed grasslands.

It is a resident breeding species and highly threatened in the country because of habitat loss and degradation. Future surveys might reveal its presence in grasslands in different parts of the country.

Conservationists in Nepal have already listed the species as critically endangered for the country and recommended it as a candidate species for IUCN Red Data list.

For further information, please contact:
Mr Suchit Basnet
Chair, Nepal Rare Birds Committee
Phone: 5528602 / 9841228933
Email:papillosa@wlink.com.np

First Photos of Rare Mouse-Deer - Is it a New Species?

2008-07-03T13:48:00.000+07:00

One of Sri Lanka’s least known mammals, the mouse-deer found in the highlands of Sri Lanka has been photographed. It is believed that this is the first time it has been photographed in the wild.

Three Species of Mouse Deer
For many years it was believed that Sri Lanka had one species of Mouse-deer, which was shared with Southern India. British taxonomist Colin Groves published a paper in June 2005 in The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology that distinguished three species of Mouse-deer from Sri Lanka and India. The Indian Mouse-deer (Moschiola indica) was split as a new species and is now considered endemic to the Eastern Ghats of India. The mouse-deer found in Sri Lanka was split into two new species. The White-spotted Mouse-deer found (Moshiola meeminna) in the dry zone of Sri Lanka and the Yellow-striped Mouse-deer (Moschiola kathygre) found in the wet zone of Sri Lanka. Both species are endemic to Sri Lanka. This raises the number of endemic mammals found in Sri Lanka to eighteen species.

Possible Fourth Species
Colin Groves also stated that ‘a single skull from Sri Lanka’s Hill Zone may prove to represent a fourth species’. The ‘Mountain Mouse-deer’ is evidently a very scarce animal. Many of the field staff of Horton Plains National Park had not seen one although they regularly encounter other nocturnal mammals including leopard.

Mountain Mouse-Deer
A Mountain Mouse-deer was seen under quite dramatic circumstances in February 2008 by wildlife photographer and specialist Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne, and naturalist Nadeera Weerasinghe. While providing a training session on butterflies and dragonflies for the staff of the Horton Plains National Park, an animal came running and jumped into the pond and swam towards them. It was identified as a Mountain Mouse-deer, being pursued by a Brown Mongoose, about a third of its size.

The mouse-deer swam back to the far shore and faced off with the Mongoose. The Mongoose did not enter the water but at times approached within five to six feet of the mouse-deer which responded by flaring its throat and showing the white on its throat.

After fifteen minutes the mongoose seemed to tire of the chase and left. The Mouse-deer left but returned soon with the mongoose in pursuit and once again dived into the pond. Forty five minutes later the duo left and Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne and Nadeera Weerasinghe informed the park warden. Around 5 pm the mouse-deer was seen again by the park warden and his staff. Later around 6pm it was taken in for safe custody, and offered no resistance. It had a small gash near the ear and was in an exhausted state.

Scientific Analysis
Given the significance of the live specimen, Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne informed several scientists of the mouse-deer being temporarily held captive. Two scientists took a blood sample for analysis.

Dr Tharaka Prasad the Deputy Director (Veterinary) of the Department of Wildlife Conservation and Dr. Prithiviraj Fernando who has worked on conservation genetics of elephants and other mammals (www.ccrsl.org), examined the mouse-deer, which was released back into the wild later that day.

The mouse-deer was found to be a pregnant female and measured 56 cm in length. This places it at the upper end of all specimens of mouse-deer which have been measured.

New Species?
The newly split wet zone species is bigger than the species in the dry zone. It is too early to establish whether the Mountain Mouse-deer is a separate species or a sub-species of the wet zone Yellow-striped Mouse-deer. It may even transpire that it has no distinct differences from the form found in the wet lowlands. More work may need to be done to resolve the taxonomic questions by examining DNA from other specimens from the wet and dry zones. Ideally more measurements should also be taken in the field through a small mammal trapping survey in the field.

Courtesy of Jetwing Eco Holidays/Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne.

Extraordinary Giant Palm Discovered in Madagascar

2008-07-03T13:47:00.000+07:00

January 2008. A gigantic palm that flowers itself to death and exists as part of an entirely unique genus has been discovered in Madagascar; its name will be published in the Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society on 17 January 2008. The mystery palm has a huge trunk which towers over 18m high and fan leaves which are 5m in diameter, among the largest known in flowering plants. This is the most massive palm ever to be found in Madagascar.

The plant has an unusual and spectacular lifecycle; growing to dizzying heights before the stem tip converts into a giant terminal inflorescence and bursts into branches of hundreds of tiny flowers. Each flower is capable of being pollinated and developing into fruit and soon drips with nectar and is surrounded by swarming insects and birds. The nutrient reserves of the palm become completely depleted as soon as it fruits and the entire tree collapses and dies in a spectacular demise.

Remote Region of North-West Madagascar
Xavier Metz, a Frenchman who manages a cashew plantation nearby, and his family were walking in a remote area of north-western Madagascar when they stumbled across the giant palm and the huge pyramidal bunch of flowers sprouting out of the tip. They had never seen anything like it before and their photographs soon reached John Dransfield, co-author of the Palms of Madagascar and an Honorary Research Fellow of Kew Gardens in London, who was astonished when he saw material and images of the tree.

Dransfield said ‘I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw the images posted on the web. The palm appeared superficially like the Talipot palm of Sri Lanka, but that had never been recorded for Madagascar. Clearly this was going to be an extremely exciting discovery and I just couldn’t wait to examine specimens in detail.’

New Genus
When material of the palm collected by John’s Malagasy student Mijoro Rakotoarinivo finally reached the Herbarium at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, the details of the flowers and inflorescence branches immediately suggested it was a new, undescribed species and genus with an affinity to the palm tribe Chuniophoeniceae. Leaf fragments were sent to the Jodrell laboratory at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew for DNA analysis, where John’s conclusion was confirmed, that the palm was not just a new species but an entirely new genus within this tribe. There are only three other known genera in this tribe, scattered across Arabia, Thailand and China. The palm is from an evolutionary line not previously known to exist in Madagascar.

‘The tribe has an extraordinary distribution and it is very difficult with current knowledge to explain how it could ever have reached Madagascar’ says Dr Dransfield.

Can be seen from space!
He travelled out to meet Xavier and Nathalie Metz - who had discovered the palm. It was concealed at the foot of a limestone outcrop in the rolling hills and flatlands of the Analalava district. This area has eight dry months a year and a mean annual temperature of 27ºC. The palm grows in deep fertile soil at the foot of the limestone hill in ground that is seasonally flooded. He was astonished that this enormous palm had never been discovered before and concluded that the life-cycle must be unusually long for this extremely rare flowering and death sequence to have never been detected. The palm is so massive that it can even be seen in Google Earth.

‘Ever since we started work on the palms of Madagascar in the 1980s, we have made discovery after discovery, new species and new genera, but to me this is probably the most exciting of them all,’ says Dr Dransfield. ‘Most particularly it represents an evolutionary line not previously known from the island and one with a highly paradoxical distribution. Coupled with the great scientific interest of the palm is the fact that it is such an amazingly spectacular species and with such an unusual life cycle. In a way discovering this palm is every bit as significant from a biological point of view as when the extraordinary Aye-aye lemur was first discovered.

Less than 100 Found
With less than a hundred individuals, this new palm presents significant challenges to conservationists, especially as the habitat seems so limited and flowering and fruiting of such a rare occurrence. We have very few opportunities to manage regeneration at the site or to disseminate it to botanic gardens in Madagascar and elsewhere. In a way the palm highlights the conservation challenges for all palms in Madagascar, many of which are seriously threatened with extinction mostly through habitat loss.’

Very high Endemism
Madagascar is home to more than 10,000 plant species and 90% of Madagascar’s plants occur nowhere else in the world. The country has a highly diverse palm flora with over 170 known species, all but six of which are endemic. Scientists predict that there are less than 100 individuals of this palm in Madagascar. Only 18 percent of Madagascar’s native vegetation remains intact and a third of Madagascar’s primary vegetation has disappeared since the 1970s.

Dr Dransfield had long talks with Xavier and Nathalie and local people from a nearby village to discuss how they thought the palm could be conserved. They worked together to set up a village committee to take control of the conservation of the palm and a patrol to protect the area it was found in. They are currently working with Kew and the Millennium Seed Bank to develop a method of selling seed to raise income for the villagers and to distribute the palm as widely as possible to botanic gardens and growers around the globe.

Source:
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/madagascar-palm893.html

New species of bird discovered in Colombia

2008-07-03T13:45:00.000+07:00

A new species of bird has been discovered in Columbia on the remote Serranía de los Yariguies range. Named the ‘Yariguies Brush-Finch’, it was found by Anglo-Colombian scientists Thomas Donegan and Blanca Huertas from ‘Fundación ProAves’. The full description can be seen in the scientific journal ‘Bulletin of the British Ornithologists Club’ (Vol. 126: June 2006).

The bird is named ‘Yariguies’ after the indigenous people who previously inhabited the mountains where the bird was discovered. The bird is a large and colourful finch with black, yellow and red plumage. The area where the bird was found is very isolated and inaccessible; sp the researchers arrived by helicopter on an isolated peak more than 10,000 ft. above sea level.

The expedition was funded by the BP Conservation Awards scheme, an on-going commitment to the environment by BP. In 2006 27 winning teams from 21 different countries were awarded with support totalling $475,000. The awards support the important work of a new generation of conservation professionals.

The BP Conservation Programme is a partnership between BP, BirdLife International, Fauna & Flora International, Conservation International and the Wildlife Conservation Society. For more information about year's winning projects, visit http://conservation.bp.com.

New Bird Species Discovered - Zosterops somadikartai

2008-07-03T13:39:00.000+07:00

An undated artist's rendering of Zosterops somadikartai, or Togian white-eye.

This small greenish bird that has been playing hide-and-seek with ornithologists on a remote Indonesian island since 1996, but was declared a newly discovered species on March 14, 2008 and promptly recommended for endangered lists.

Image: Agus Prijono.

Sharp-eyed scientists have discovered a new species of bird on a remote Indonesian archipelago in the Southern Pacific Ocean. A formal description of this new species, the Togian white-eye, Zosterops somadikartai, was just published in the March issue of the ornithological journal, The Wilson Journal of Ornithology. Not only was this bird recognized as a new species, but its population and home range were so small that this species was recommended to be added to international endangered species lists.

This energetic green-and-yellow bird was first spotted by Mochamad Indrawan, of the University of Indonesia, and his colleague Sunarto, who is currently working on a doctorate at Virginia Tech, in 1996. (Sunarto, like many Indonesians, uses only one name). The pair later returned to learn more about its behaviors and habits in the wild and to record the bird's song.

"We observed the species in the field from 1997 to 2003," said Indrawan. They also collected the type specimen upon which this species' formal scientific description is based.

Togian white-eye, Zosterops somadikartai, type specimen.

Image: Mochamad Indrawan.

After collecting the type specimen, Indrawan collaborated with his mentor, Soekarja Somadikarta, Indonesia's leading taxonomist, and Pamela Rasmussen, an internationally known ornithologist at Michigan State University who specializes in Asian birds, to verify this little bird's status as a distinct species.

Rasmussen's taxonomic studies required detailed and painstaking comparisions between the newly collected type specimen and its closest relative, the very similar-looking black-crowned white-eye, Zosterops atrifrons. Specimens of this new bird's "sister species" that were collected during the previous one hundred years are held by several natural history museums around the world, such as Britain's Natural History Museum, the American Museum of Natural History in New York City and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC.

Male Togian white-eye, Zosterops somadikartai.

Malenge, Togian Islands, Indonesia, 15 December 2007.

Image: © Raphael Jordan [larger view].

The formal description reveals this small bird has more subdued plumage than its closest relatives; the white-eyes. It has a dark area on its face that sets off its soft greenish plumage, pale yellow throat and cream-colored belly and vent. However, unlike its cousins, for whom the white-eyes are named, this new species lacks their white feathery "spectacles".

"The new species is different from its closest family of Zosterops, or white circle-eye. Its eyes are circled by a band of red feathers, not white, and its beak is a more intense red," Somadikarta pointed out.

The newly described Togian white-eye is found only near the coasts of three small remote islands off Indonesia's Central Sulawesi province: Malenge Island, Batudaka Island and Togian Island, according to the scientists.

"We think it's endangered," Somadikarta added, noting that its habitat is less than 3,100 square miles. "We are still studying the number of the species' population, which is estimated at less at than 1,000."

Rasmussen said it likely falls into the International Union for Conservation of Nature's category of endangered.

While studying the birds' habits in the field, Indrawan recorded the Togian white-eye's song and Rasmussen later digitized it into a sonogram for analysis. According to Rasmussen, the bird's lilting song is distinct from that of its relatives; having higher pitched sounds and fewer variations in pitch.

"This finding of the bird is only the beginning given the vast opportunities with Indonesian landscapes and seascapes of endemic flora and fauna," enthused Indrawan.

"What this discovery highlights is that in some parts of the world there are still virtually unexplored islands where few ornithologists have worked," observed Rasmussen. "The world still holds avian surprises for us."

Such findings also reveal the importance of encouraging the training of international scientists and then collaborating with them, especially for increasing our understanding of tropical and island ecologies.

"This finding shows that equal opportunities are beneficial for the development of science and in particular that international cooperation can boost capacities in addressing poorly known biology in the tropics," Indrawan concluded.

Indonesia is home to roughly 1,600 of the known 10,000 bird species in the world, including many of the parrots I research.

Sources:

Indrawan, M., Rasmussen, P.C., Sunarto. (2008). A New White-Eye Zosterops from the Togian Islands, Sulawesi, Indonesia. The Wilson Journal of Ornithology, 120(1), 1-9.

New species found in Indonesia

2008-07-03T13:36:00.001+07:00

A 1.4 kg giant rat that is probably a species new to science, in the Foja Mountains, western New Guinea, Indonesia. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)

A probable new species of pygmy possum in the genus Cercartetus(Pygmy Possum) is found in the Foja Mountains, Western New Guinea, Indonesia. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)

2008-07-03T13:23:00.001+07:00

A probable new species of pygmy possum in the genus Cercartetus(Pygmy Possum). Foja Mts, western New Guinea, Indonesia. (Credit: Bruce M Beehler

ScienceDaily (Dec. 18, 2007) — A tiny possum and a giant rat were recorded by scientists as probable new species on a recent expedition to Indonesia's remote and virtually unknown "Lost World" in the pristine wilderness of western New Guinea's Foja Mountains. The Foja Wilderness is part of the great Mamberamo Basin, the largest unroaded tropical forest in the Asia Pacific region.

During the June expedition, the team* documented two mammals, a Cercartetus pygmy possum, one of the world's smallest marsupials, and a Mallomys giant rat, both currently under study and apparently new to science. They also recorded the mating displays of several rare and little-known birds for the first time.

"The giant rat is about five times the size of a typical city rat," said Kristofer Helgen, a scientist with the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. "With no fear of humans, it apparently came into the camp several times during the trip."

The film crew obtained the first film documentation of several spectacular birds found in Foja, capturing on tape the full courtship displays of the golden-fronted bowerbird (Amblyornis flavifrons) and of the black sicklebill bird of paradise (Epimachus fastuosus).

They also recorded the "lost" Bird of Paradise -- Parotia berlepschi (known as Berlepsch's six-wired bird of paradise), and the newly described wattled smoky honeyeater (Melipotes carolae), both known only from the Foja Mountains.

The Indonesian Government has declared the region a National Wildlife Sanctuary, and CI continues to work with the government and local communities to build on this conservation success and ensure even greater protection of the area. As the global community searches for solutions to climate change, large untouched forested areas such as these will become more and more valuable as essential carbon sinks.

The cutting and burning of tropical forests worldwide emits at least 20 percent of total global greenhouse gases. Protecting these forests minimizes the impact of climate change while providing direct benefits to local populations, such as fresh water, clean air, food, seed dispersal, pollination and sources of medicines.

*Conservation International (CI) and Indonesia Institute of Science (LIPI) scientists were accompanied by the first film crew to obtain footage of the region and its wildlife on an expedition to the Fojas in June 2007. A National Geographic photographer/scientist and a CBS News camera crew joined the team as they returned to the mountains. CI and LIPI scientists discovered dozens of new plants and animals on their first expedition to the region in late 2005. An account of the 2007 expedition was aired on the CBS News program, "60 Minutes" on Dec. 16.

"It's comforting to know that there is a place on earth so isolated that it remains the absolute realm of wild nature," said CI Vice President Bruce Beehler, who led the expedition. "We were pleased to see that this little piece of Eden remains as pristine and enchanting as it was when we first visited."

CI and LIPI plan another expedition back to the Foja Mountains in late 2008 or 2009. This proposed expedition will seek to survey the summit forests of the highest peak, and the little-studied lower montane elevations. They expect to find additional new species of frogs, mammals, butterflies, and plants.

New Species Of Giant Elephant-shrew Discovered

2008-07-03T13:19:00.001+07:00

The gray-faced elephant-shrew, or sengi, weighs about 1.5 pounds - between 25 and 50 percent larger than any previously discovered species of elephant-shrew. (Credit: Copyright Francesco Rovero)

ScienceDaily (Feb. 1, 2008) — When Francesco Rovero first saw the image captured by one of his automatic cameras in a remote Tanzanian forest, he knew he’d never seen anything quite like it.

It was the size of a small dog, covered in orange and gray fur, and had a long snout like an elephant. Its markings and general appearance suggested it was a member of the elephant-shrew family, called a sengi in Swahili. Today, the Journal of Zoology reports that Rovero discovered a new species of giant elephant-shrew.

Rovero of Italy's Trento Museum of Natural Sciences was documenting elusive forest animals deep in the Ndunlulu Forest of Tanzania's Udzungwa Mountains. The Udzungwas are part of a series of ancient and isolated mountains stretching from southern Kenya to south-central Tanzania. Rovero's cameras captured lions and antelope, as he expected, but this was something different.

Rovero sent the photos to Galen Rathbun of the California Academy of Sciences for identification, who confirmed that the colorful animal appeared to be a new species.

With funding from the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF), the National Geographic Society, and Trento Museum of Natural Sciences, they embarked on a two-week expedition with a team of colleagues to confirm the discovery. The expedition team captured four specimens of the animal.

"This new discovery highlights how exceptionally important the Udzungwa Mountain rain forests are, and how little we know about them," Rovero said.

The new species, named the gray-faced sengi (Rhynchocyon udzungwensis), weighs about 1.5 pounds, 25 percent larger than any other member of the elephant-shrew family. It is known to exist in only two groups in a 115-square-mile area of this largely unexplored forest.

Scientists report that its relatives include elephants, manatees, and the aardvark. In recent years, a number of other new species have been discovered here, including the Udzungwa partridge, a monkey known as the kipunji, and several amphibians and reptiles.

"This is one of the most exciting discoveries of my career," said Rathbun of the California Academy of Sciences. "It is the first new species of giant elephant-shrew to be discovered in more than 126 years. From the moment I first lifted one of the animals into our photography tent, I knew it must be a new species."

Source:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080201085759.htm

'Walking Shark' Among 50 New Marine Species Found Off Indonesia's Papua Province

2008-07-03T13:16:00.000+07:00

A new epaulette shark (Hemiscyillum freycineti) is one of 50 new species discovered during the recent CI-led surveys of the Bird's Head Seascape. (Image copyright (c) Gerry Allen)

ScienceDaily (Sep. 18, 2006) — Two recent expeditions led by Conservation International (CI) to the heart of Asia's "Coral Triangle" discovered dozens of new species of marine life including epaulette sharks, "flasher" wrasse and reef-building coral, confirming the region as the Earth's richest seascape.

The unmatched marine biodiversity of the Bird's Head Seascape, named for the shape of the distinctive peninsula on the northwestern end of Indonesia's Papua province, includes more than 1,200 species of fish and almost 600 species of reef-building (scleractinian) coral, or 75 percent of the world's known total.

Researchers described an underwater world of visual wonders, such as the small epaulette shark that "walks" on its fins and colorful schools of reef fish populating abundant and healthy corals of all shapes and sizes.

Threats from over-fishing with dynamite and cyanide, as well as deforestation and mining that degrade coastal waters, require immediate steps to protect the unique marine life that sustains local communities. The seascape's central location in the Coral Triangle of the Pacific, which exports and maintains biodiversity in the entire Indo-Pacific marine realm, makes it one of the planet's most urgent marine conservation priorities.

"These Papuan reefs are literally 'species factories' that require special attention to protect them from unsustainable fisheries and other threats so they can continue to benefit their local owners and the global community," said Mark Erdmann, senior adviser of CI's Indonesian Marine Program, who led the surveys. "Six of our survey sites, which are areas the size of two football fields, had over 250 species of reef-building coral each - that's more than four times the number of coral species of the entire Caribbean Sea."

Though human population density in the region is low, the coastal people of the Bird's Head peninsula are heavily dependent on the sea for their livelihoods - which now are under threat from a plan to transfer fishing pressures from Indonesia's over-fished western seas to the east toward Papua province.

"The coastal villages we surveyed were mostly engaged in subsistence fishing, farming and gathering, and they require healthy marine ecosystems to survive," said Paulus Boli, a State University of Papua researcher led the socioeconomic component of the expeditions. "We are very concerned about the potential impact of planned commercial fisheries expansion in the region, and we urge a precautionary approach that emphasizes sustainability over intensive exploitation."

The two Rapid Assessment Program (RAP) surveys earlier this year, along with a third expedition in 2001, studied waters surrounding Papua province from Teluk Cenderawasih in the north to the Raja Ampat archipelago off the western coast and southeast to the FakFak-Kaimana coastline. A few hundred kilometers inland are Papua's Foja Mountains, where a team led by CI and the Indonesian Institute of Science (LIPI) last year discovered a virtual "Lost World" of new species of birds, butterflies, frogs and other wildlife.

Off the coast, researchers found more than 50 species of fish, coral and mantis shrimp previously unknown to science in the Bird's Head Seascape that covers 18 million hectares, including 2,500 islands and submerged reefs. The seascape also includes the largest Pacific leatherback turtle nesting area in the world, and migratory populations of sperm and Bryde's whales, orcas and several dolphin species.

"We're thankful to the Ministry of Forestry and CI for the significant data from these surveys, and we are excited to be planning further surveys in 2007 to fill in remaining data gaps that will help us plan the most effective management possible for this exceedingly crucial area," said Dr. Suharsono, head of LIPI's Oceanography Center.

Only 11 percent of the seascape is currently protected, most of it in the Teluk Cenderawasih National Park that is supported by the World Wide Fund for Nature-Indonesia (WWF-Indonesia). Results of the CI-led surveys highlight the need for a well-managed network of multiple-use Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) to conserve the seascape's biodiversity and ensure the long-term sustainability of commercial and subsistence fishing.

Partners in the two 2006 surveys funded by the Walton Family Foundation included the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry's Department of Forest Protection and Nature Conservation and its local offices in Papua; Teluk Cenderawasih National Park Authority, the State University of Papua, and WWF-Indonesia.

Source:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060918141606.htm

Twelve-wired Bird-of-paradise (Seleucidis melanoleucus)

2008-07-03T12:38:00.000+07:00

Source:
www.flickr.com

blue bird of paradise

2008-07-03T12:35:00.000+07:00

source:
http://www.flickr.com

Red Bird-of-paradise

2008-07-03T12:23:00.000+07:00

Source:
www.flickr.com

Cendrawasih Bird of Paradise

2008-07-03T12:08:00.000+07:00

Source:
www.flickr.com

New bird species found in Indonesia

2008-07-03T09:08:00.001+07:00

March 16, 2008

Two field scientists from the University of Indonesia have found a new bird species, Zosterops Somadikartai or Togian white-eye, in the Togian Islands, Gulf of Tomini, Central Sulawesi province.

Photograph courtesy Mochamad Indrawan.

Two field scientists from the University of Indonesia have found a new bird species, Zosterops Somadikartai or Togian white-eye, in the Togian Islands, Gulf of Tomini, Central Sulawesi province, local press reported Saturday.

The newly discovered bird is small with green plumage and a red beak. It is very active and moves in small flocks.

However, unlike its closest relatives -- and despite its name --the bird's eyes are circled by a band of red feathers, not white. Its beak is a more intense red than that of its relatives.

The species is being introduced for the first time this month in The Wilson Journal of Ornithology, 12 years after Indrawan and Sunarto first spotted the bird, reported English daily The JakartaPost.

The two scientists collaborated with well-known taxonomist Pamela Rasmussen of Michigan State University, who specializes in Asian birds, to conduct final research into the new species.

Based on the criteria of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, the newly discovered bird is believed to be endangered because it is found only in a few small islands in Central Sulawesi.

The species is named after Prof. Somadikarta, Indonesia's leading taxonomist, who was recently appointed the honorary president of the International Ornithological Congress XXV in Brazil in 2010.

"I'm happy they put my name on it because it is an endangered species," Somadikarta said.

This finding has also established the Togian Islands as an endemic bird area. According to conservation organization BirdLife International, a region can be established as an endemic bird areaif more than two bird species that do not exist in other regions are found there.

Indrawan and his team previously found a new owl species, Ninoxburhani or Togian hawk-owl, in forests in the Togian Islands. The owl was named after a local farmer, Burhan, in appreciation of the local people's kindness.

Source:
Xinhua
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90781/90879/6374230.html

“Two shark species discovered”

2008-07-03T09:04:00.000+07:00

Tuesday, 18 March 2008 By Marcia Van Zeller

Images of the floral banded wobbegong (top) and Dwarf spotted wobbegong. Courtesy of DoF.
Source: “Two shark species discovered”

Will the oceans’ secrets ever be fully revealed? New species continue to surface, including two wobbegong sharks found off the south west coast of Western Australia.

The two newly discovered species of wobbegong sharks have made their public debut in the scientific journal, Zootaxa.

The wobbegongs, collected by WA Department of Fisheries scientists during a catch monitoring exercise off the south west coast, are known as the floral banded (Orectolobus floridus) and the dwarf spotted (Orectolobus parvimaculatus).

Shark researcher Justin Chidlow sent the specimens to Hobart for examination by Dr Peter Last, curator of CSIRO’s National Fish Collection for examination. Both sharks were found to be species not previously identified by taxonomists.

At first the floral banded wobbegong appeared similar to the well-known cobbler wobbegong (Sutorectus tentaculatus) but after a closer look the scientists found some obvious differences that indicated it was a separate species.

The dwarf spotted wobbegong proved trickier to assess. It looked similar to the known species spotted wobbegong (Orectolobus maculatus) – only much smaller.

“The 70 cm long specimen was initially thought to be a juvenile spotted wobbegong, but on further examination it proved to be a mature male,” said Dr Last.

“To put things into perspective, in order to reproduce it would have needed to mate with a female spotted wobbegong two metres long – and would probably have been devoured in the process.”

Concluding that the small specimen was a previously unknown dwarf form of the spotted wobbegong, the scientists were able to identify it as a new species in its own right.

“Bird unseen for 80 years found”

2008-07-03T09:01:00.000+07:00

Images of the floral banded wobbegong (top) and Dwarf spotted wobbegong. Courtesy of DoF.
Source: “Two shark species discovered”

A bird species not seen for 80 years has been rediscovered near Papua New Guinea. The Beck’s petrel (Pseudobulweria becki), long thought to be extinct, was photographed last summer by an Israeli ornithologist in the Bismarck Archipelago, a group of islands northeast of New Guinea.

Source:
“Bird unseen for 80 years found”
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/03/07/europe/EU-BRITAIN-SCI-Britain-Lost-Bird.php

2008-07-03T08:58:00.000+07:00

And how about a dramatic 5th anniversary discovery’s photograph?

A new species of jellyfish, Big Red, Tiburonia granrojo, was discovered in 2003 by researchers from MBARI and from the Japanese Marine Science and Technology Center. This amazing jelly gets up to 1 meter in diameter and is found throughout the Pacific Ocean.

Source:
“New Jellyfish Species Found”
http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/new-sp-pix/

New Mouse-Deer

2008-07-03T08:56:00.001+07:00

Posted by: Loren Coleman on March 20th, 2008

In the West, we know the above pictured species as a chevrotain or musk-deer. In the East, they are sometimes called mouse-deer.

One of Sri Lanka’s least known mammals, the mouse-deer found in the highlands of Sri Lanka has been photographed in the wild. This may well be the only occasion in which it has been photographed to a ‘publishable standard’ under truly wild conditions.
For many years it was believed that Sri Lanka had one species of Mouse-deer, which was shared with Southern India.

Colin Groves a British Taxonomist in June 2005 published a paper in a special supplement (No 12) of The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology whereby he distinguished three species of Mouse-deer from Sri Lanka and India. The Indian Mouse-deer (Moschiola indica) was split as a new species and is now considered endemic to the Eastern Ghats of India. The mouse-deer found in Sri Lanka was split into two new species. The White-spotted Mouse-deer found (Moshiola meeminna) in the dry zone of Sri Lanka and the Yellow-striped Mouse-deer (Moschiola kathygre) found in the wet zone of Sri Lanka. Both species are endemic to Sri Lanka. Presently this raises the number of endemic mammals found in Sri Lanka to eighteen species.

Colin Groves in his paper on mouse-deer from India and Sri Lanka also stated that ‘a single skull from Sri Lanka’s Hill Zone may prove to represent a fourth species’. The ‘Mountain Mouse-deer’ is evidently a very scarce animal. Many of the field staff of Horton Plains National Park had not seen one although they regularly encounter other nocturnal mammals including leopard.

A Mountain Mouse-deer was seen under quite dramatic circumstances on Monday 25th February 2008 by wildlife populariser Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne and Nadeera Weerasinghe the naturalist of St Andrew’s Hotel. They had agreed with the park warden Mr Y.G.P. Karunarathne to spend a few hours on an informal training session on butterflies and dragonflies for the staff manning the Pattipola Gate to the Horton Plains National Park. They were engaged in identifying some of the dragonflies at the pond besides the ticket office when an animal came running and jumped into the pond and swam towards them. It was the hardly ever seen Mountain Mouse-deer! It was being pursued by a Brown Mongoose, about a third of its size in height. The mouse-deer swam back to the far shore and faced off with the Mongoose. The Mongoose did not enter the water but at times approached within five to six feet of the mouse-deer which responded by flaring its throat and showing the white on its throat. After fifteen minutes the mongoose seemed be tired of the chase and left.

The Mouse-deer left but returned soon with the mongoose in pursuit and once again dived into the pond. The mouse-deer seemed at ease in the water and even seemed to be adapted for an occasional bout of underwater swimming. Forty five minutes later the hunter and the hunted to be left and Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne and Nadeera Weerasinghe informed the park warden Mr Y.G.P. Karunarathne. Around 5 pm the mouse-deer was seen again by the park warden and his staff. Around 6pm, offering no resistance, it was taken in for safe custody. It had a small gash near the ear and was in an exhausted state.

Given the significance of the live specimen, Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne after consultation with the park warden informed several scientists of the mouse-deer being temporarily held captive. On Wednesday 27th February 2008, two scientists traveled up with Nadeera Weerasinghe to take measurements and to take a blood sample for analysis. Dr Tharaka Prasad the Deputy Director (Veterinary) of the Department of Wildlife Conservation and Dr. Prithiviraj Fernando who has worked on conservation genetics of elephants and other mammals (www.ccrsl.org), examined the mouse-deer which was released back into the wild later that day. The mouse-deer was found to be a pregnant female and measured 56 cm in length. This places is the upper end of all specimens of mouse-deer which have been measured. It is likely that as more time is spent on bio-diversity exploration and sophisticated techniques are employed more cryptic species of mammals may be discovered. Local researchers and wildlife enthusiasts are also benefiting from further insights into species which are familiar but about whom little have been published.

A case in point are Sri Lankan primates about whose ecology more awareness has been raised thanks to the interest of overseas nationals. Observational studies, even if conducted on public land by visitors, can lead to many insights.

It can also stimulate local researchers into undertaking and publishing their own studies. It also opens possibilities for collaboration so that ‘know how’ and funds can be shared for studies on mammals. Especially with taxonomic work, collaboration with foreign researchers plays an important part in meeting the requirement to examine type specimens lodged in overseas collections.

Source: Daily Mirror, New endemic mammal found in Lanka/Mountain Mouse-Deer in Horton Plains

Colin Groves was an original member of the board of directors of the now-defunct International Society of Cryptozoology.

Photo Gallery: "Lost World" of New Species Found in Indonesia

2008-07-03T08:49:00.000+07:00

The golden-mantled tree kangaroo is just one of dozens of species discovered in late 2005 by a team of Indonesian, Australian, and U.S. scientists on the island of New Guinea.

The animal is the rarest arboreal, jungle-dwelling kangaroo in the world, the researchers say. This was the first time the mammal was found in Indonesia, making it only the second site in the world where the species is known to exist.

The kangaroo was discovered on an expedition in the Foja Mountains of Indonesia.

The National Geographic Society, Conservation International, and the Biology Research Center of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences supported the expedition.

The smoky honeyeater is the first new bird species to be discovered on the island of New Guinea since 1939.

Scientists discovered the bird on a recent expedition to the Foja Mountains of Indonesia, on the island of New Guinea.

In late 2005 scientists on the island of New Guinea took this first ever photo of the golden-fronted bowerbird, a bird known to exist since the 1890s but whose precise home was unknown until the 1980s.

This is the first photograph ever taken of what scientists are calling New Guinea's "lost" bird of paradise.

The bird—known as Berlepsch’s six-wired bird of paradise—had been collected only once in the wild since its discovery more than a century ago. Its precise home range was unknown until now.

This small frog is 1 of more than 20 new frog species discovered by scientists on an expedition in New Guinea in late 2005.

The tiny frog measures a mere 0.6 inch (14 millimeters) long and was detected only when it produced a soft call from among leaves on the steepest part of the forest floo

Source:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/02/photogalleries/newguinea/photo5.html

Photo Gallery: 7 Most Endangered Animals of '07 Announced

2008-07-03T08:38:00.000+07:00

September 12, 2007—The western lowland gorilla is one of many new additions to the World Conservation Union (IUCN)'s 2007 Red List of Threatened Species, which was made public today.

Since 2006, the annual assessment of the planet's imperiled wildlife has grown by more than a thousand species and now totals 41,415.

Many great apes end up on the list, as their habitat is continually under threat from human activities. (Read about the charcoal trade and Congo's mountain gorillas.)

Western lowland gorilla populations in central Africa have collapsed due to the commercial bushmeat trade and the Ebola virus. And in Indonesia, orangutans are critically endangered because of forest logging and clearing land for palm oil plantations.

The baiji, or Chinese river dolphin— deemed "functionally extinct" by a team of scientists in December—was downgraded from "endangered" to "critically endangered (possibly extinct)" on the IUCN's 2007 Red List, released today.

Populations of the light blue-gray animal, which lives in China's polluted Yangtze River, have plummeted over the last 30 years.

A possible sighting in August 2007 is currently being investigated by Chinese scientists, but even if one or two dolphins are found, the baiji is almost certainly doomed.

“Freshwater dolphins are very vulnerable, because rivers tend to be heavily used by humans and there is nowhere else for the dolphins to go,” Caroline Pollock, a Red List program officer, told National Geographic News.

The Egyptian vulture, a new addition to IUCN's 2007 Red List, has declined along with many other vulture species.

Five species of vulture, including the Egyptian, have been reclassified to a higher threat level since 2006. Asian vultures have declined rapidly over the last eight years due to the use of a livestock drug called diclofenac.

African vultures are struggling due to habitat loss, a lack of food, and collisions with power lines.

The scavengers are also being killed by insecticide-laden carcasses, which have been deliberately baited to poison livestock predators such as hyenas.

Mexico's Santa Catalina Island rattlesnake has been classified as critically endangered on the 2007 IUCN Red List.

The snake, found on just one island, sports highly desirable patterned skin that has made it a collector's item for hunters.

New reptile surveys are revealing the fragile nature of many reptile populations.

For instance, a major survey of North American reptiles has bumped up the region's Red List reptile species to a total of 738.

The main culprit behind their decline is habitat loss due to expanding cities, Caroline Pollock, a Red List program officer, told National Geographic News.

“Unlike birds and mammals, we haven't assessed all the reptiles on the planet,” Pollock added.

The Banggai cardinal fish's popularity as a pet for the home aquarium has landed it on the 2007 IUCN Red List.

In the wild, the striped fish is only found in the Banggai Archipelago off Indonesia.

Human pressures such as the aquarium trade are the main reason for the fish's decline, with habitat loss and climate change also posing major threats.

Fish stocks are in free-fall all over the world, both from overfishing and the aquarium trade. Scientists estimate current extinction rates are at least a hundred to a thousand times higher than natural rates.

“We need to protect the world's biodiversity in order to ensure a sustainable future for all of us,” Caroline Pollock, a Red List program officer, told National Geographic News.

Reptiles such as the gharial are becoming more prominent on the IUCN's Red List each year.

Despite its fearsome appearance and lengths of up to 19 feet (6 meters), the Indian gharial is not a man-eater and prefers to eat fish.

Its long, thin snout, which makes it easily distinguishable from a crocodile, also allows it to quickly capture fish.

Habitat loss and poaching is driving the animal toward extinction.

For the first time, corals were added to the 2007 Red List.

A recent scientific survey on the Galápagos Archipelago has added ten corals to the list, including the Floreana coral (above).

In the 1980s, frequent El Niño weather patterns—which made ocean temperatures fluctuate—likely led to the poor state of the Galápagos corals.

Some scientists worry that global warming may make El Niño events more regular and prevent corals from recovering.

Until recently, scientists had not properly assessed the health of the world's tropical corals. Scientists estimate that human activities—such as pollution, global warming, and sedimentation—could kill 30 percent of reefs in the next three decades.

Coral reefs in the Indian and Pacific Ocean, for example, are vanishing faster than rain forests.

Source:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/09/photogalleries/animal-pictures/index.html

Odd, flat-faced fish may be new species

2008-07-03T08:34:00.000+07:00

Creature in Indonesia crawls on its pectoral fins

By LISA STIFFLER
P-I REPORTER

A newly discovered pink-and-tan psychedelically striped frogfish with a flat face, frowning mouth and arm-like fins could be part of a formerly unknown family of vertebrates. The fish is about 4 inches long. (M. Snyder/starknakedfish.com)

A newly discovered pink-and-tan psychedelically striped fish with a flat face, frowning mouth and arm-like fins could be part of a formerly unknown family of vertebrates.

It's unlike anything weird-fish expert and University of Washington ichthyologist Ted Pietsch has ever seen.

"I'm still thrilled. It's an incredible thing. It's remarkable," said Pietsch, who specializes in anglerfish or frogfish, strange swimmers who grow their own lures to catch prey.

The newly found 4-inch fish lives in Indonesian coral beds, crawling in and out of crevices on its bent pectoral fins. It was spotted by the owners of a commercial dive company who kept mum on their discovery to protect it until they found additional fish.

The couple, Buck and Fitrie Randolph, are part-owners of Maluku Divers along with Andy Shorten. The Randolphs spotted the fish in January on Indonesia's Ambon Island. In March, they saw juvenile fish. This week a female was seen protecting an egg mass of about 20 to 30 young.

"What you usually see is variations of a fish you've seen before," said Shorten, who was reached in Indonesia. "We've never seen a fish with remotely this kind of face."

Shorten, who said he's done about 2,000 dives, said they e-mailed photos to authors of leading fish identification books.

"They all said, 'We've never seen that before,' " Shorten said. Eventually the divers were referred to Pietsch.

A world expert in anglerfish, Pietsch is certain that the new fish is related to frogfish because of its characteristic armlike fins and the sheath that held the eggs. Mother anglers typically wrap their bodies around the eggs to protect them from predators.

But the fish -- which Pietsch plans to name the Maluku frogfish -- is different from other anglers in remarkable ways. It lacks a lure, has tiny pelvic fins and -- most remarkably -- has a flat face with forward facing eyes. Most fish have eyes on the sides of their head and very few have them located close enough that their range of vision overlaps. These fish could have humanlike binocular vision giving them better depth perception.

That sort of vision in fish "is extremely rare," Pietsch said. "It must feed in a completely different way from other anglerfishes."

The fish have thick, flabby skin and crawl under rocks and into coral, probably on the hunt for small fish and shrimp. Despite the sharp coral edges, the creatures don't appear scratched in anyway, making Pietsch bet they're covered in a protective mucus.

The radiating, swirling pattern of stripes that adorn the Maluku frogfish make a symmetrical, mirror-image from the right to left side.

One of Pietsch's graduate students traveled to Indonesia this week and captured one of the fish so the scientists can perform DNA analysis and a closer examination to better understand how the species fits in with other anglerfish. She should return next week and Pietsch expects DNA results by mid-April. He's rushing to be the first to publish a paper on the species.

People are keeping an eye on the area where the fish were found and where the mother is guarding her eggs, Pietsch said. He's somewhat concerned about the threat from unscrupulous collectors seeking the frogfish for the aquarium trade. Shorten said the island is pretty remote, and Maluku Divers is the only commercial dive operation, so they have an idea of who's out in the water.

They all hope the rare fish survives its new fame.

"This is quite amazing," Pietsch said. "I'm nearly certain it represents a new family of vertebrates, and we don't find a new family of vertebrates very often at all."

P-I reporter Lisa Stiffler can be reached at 206-448-8042 or lisastiffler@seattlepi.com. Read her blog on the environment at datelineearth.com.

Source:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/photos/photo.asp?PhotoID=181333

PHOTOS: Top Ten New Species of 2007 Named

2008-07-03T08:14:00.000+07:00

1. Ornate Sleeper Ray

With powerful suction capabilities, Electrolux addisoni—a species of electric ray—lives up to its scientific name.

Commonly called the ornate sleeper ray, Electrolux crowns the inaugural list of the International Institute for Species Exploration's (IISE's) top ten new species of 2007, which was released in May 2008.

The IISE, at Arizona State University, will release the ranking every year to draw attention to the importance of taxonomy and species exploration.

The winners—chosen from a pool of thousands—were based on peculiar names and unique and surprising attributes, among other criteria.

2. Giant Duck-Billed Dinosaur

Discovered by high school students in southern Utah in 2002, the above fossil dates back 75 million years and is one of the largest duck-billed dinosaurs ever found.

The massive skull was found to belong to a new species, Gryposaurus monumentensis, in 2007.

The International Institute for Species Exploration (IISE) added the duck-billed dinosaur to its list of top ten new species of 2007, which was released in May 2008.

3. Shocking Pink Dragon Millipede

This newly discovered millipede from Thailand comes in at number three on the International Institute for Species Exploration's (IISE's) list of the top ten new species of 2007, released in May of this year.

The millipede's bright color helps to warn predators that it is not candy-coated, but is instead spiny and toxic.

The millipede's unusual habit of sitting in plain sight during the day probably also tells predators that it's inedible, researchers believe.

4. Sri Lankan Shrub Frog

A newly named frog species—which had been bottled up for nearly 150 years—has scored a spot on the International Institute for Species Exploration's (IISE's) top ten list of new species named in 2007, released in May 2008.

Scientists declared it a new species when the specimen was rediscovered last year. But the frog and a number of related species are likely now extinct, experts say.

Since the science of taxonomy was refined in the 18th century, scientists have recorded about 1.8 million species on Earth. Most experts estimate that there are close to ten million species on our planet.

5. Central Ranges Taipan

Discovered in an isolated and arid region of Australia in 2007, the Central Ranges taipan is one of the most venomous snakes in the world.

The snake slithered onto the International Institute for Species Exploration's (IISE's) list of the top ten new species of 2007 in part because accurate identification of species can help with proper treatment of bites.

The list, released in May 2008, draws attention to the need to flesh out biodiversity data, according to Quentin Wheeler, an entomologist and director of IISE.

"We only know 10 percent of the species out there, and therefore are powerless to recognize potential pests and vectors of disease," Wheeler said.

6. Mindoro Stripe-Faced Fruit Bat

The large and charismatic Mindoro stripe-faced fruit bat is found only on the Philippine island of Mindoro.

The only other species in this genus was discovered by Alfred Russell Wallace, a colleague of Charles Darwin, on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.

The Mindoro bat ranks sixth on a top ten list of new species in 2007, released by the International Institute for Species Exploration (IISE) in May 2008.

Finding the Mindoro bat advances research on endemic species, which is why IISE included it on its annual list.

7. New Mushroom

A new fungus species, above, was discovered on the campus of Imperial College, London in 2007—growing right under the noses of some of the world's leading academics.

The new mushroom is one of the top ten new species in 2007, announced by the International Institute for Species Exploration (IISE) in May 2008.

"Most people do not realize just how incomplete our knowledge of Earth's species is or the steady rate at which taxonomists are exploring that diversity," said Quentin Wheeler, an entomologist and director of IISE.

"If you look at the size of the challenge, we need more people and better coordination," Wheeler told National Geographic News.

8. Lethal Jellyfish

This jellyfish species, Malo kingi, was named after American tourist Robert King, who died after apparently being stung by the species off northern Queensland in Australia.

News of the 2002 event helped raise awareness about this new potentially lethal species, which is included on the International Institute for Species Exploration's (IISE's) list of the top ten new species of 2007.

Discovering new species can also aid conservation efforts, according to IISE, which released the top ten list in May 2008.

9. Rhinoceros Beetle

A new rhinoceros beetle found in Peru has a hornlike structure on its head that had never been seen before—except in Dim, a character in the Disney/Pixar animated film A Bug's Life.

This bizarre feature made it one of the International Institute for Species Exploration's (IISE's) top ten new species of 2007, released in May 2008.

In real life, nearly 15,000 to 20,000 new species are discovered each year.

10. Michelin Man Plant

This bubbly plant found in western Australia made the 2007 top ten list of new species because it resembles the Michelin Man, according to the International Institute for Species Exploration (IISE), which published the list in May 2008.

The species was found during an environmental impact survey for a mining company, and is one of 298 new plant species named last year in western Australia alone.

Source:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/06/photogalleries/species-photos/index.html

A Survivor In Greenland: A Novel Bacterial Species Is Found Trapped In 120,000-year-old Ice

2008-07-03T08:05:00.000+07:00

Extruding a core: Scientists extrude the core from its barrel with the utmost care. Any butyl acetate on the core surface is carefully cleaned off before sawing the ice into 2 m sections. The cloudy layers clearly visible in this 6 m core section were formed when dust fell onto the ice sheet and was entrained in the ice. (Credit: Mark Twickler, University of New Hampshire/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Paleoclimatology Program/Department of Commerce -- Note: Access to ice-core samples was provided by the National Science Foundation)

ScienceDaily (June 3, 2008) — A team of Penn State scientists has discovered a new ultra-small species of bacteria that has survived for more than 120,000 years within the ice of a Greenland glacier at a depth of nearly two miles. The microorganism's ability to persist in this low-temperature, high-pressure, reduced-oxygen, and nutrient-poor habitat makes it particularly useful for studying how life, in general, can survive in a variety of extreme environments on Earth and possibly elsewhere in the solar system.

The work will be presented by Jennifer Loveland-Curtze, a senior research associate in the laboratory led by Jean Brenchley, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Penn State, at the 108th American Society for Microbiology General Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts on 3 June 2008.

This new species is among the ubiquitous, yet mysterious, ultra-small bacteria, which are so tiny that the cells are able to pass through microbiological filters. In fact, some species have been found living in the ultra-purified water used for dialysis. "Ultra-small cells could be unknown contaminants in media and medical solutions that are thought to have been sterilized using filters," said Loveland-Curtze.

The ultra-small size of the new species could be one explanation for why it was able to survive for so long in the Greenland glacier. Called Chryseobacterium greenlandensis, the species is related genetically to certain bacteria found in fish, marine mud, and the roots of some plants. The organism is one of only about 10 scientifically described new species originating from polar ice and glaciers.

To study the bacterium in the laboratory, the research team, which also includes Senior Research Associate Vanya Miteva, filtered the cells from melted ice and incubated them in the cold in low-nutrient, oxygen-free solutions. The scientists then characterized the genetic, physiological, biochemical, and structural features of the species. The team hopes that its studies of this species, as well as others living in the Greenland glacier, will reveal more about how cells survive and how they may alter their biochemistry and physiology over time.

"Microbes comprise up to one-third or more of the Earth's biomass, yet fewer than 8,000 microbes have been described out of the approximately 3,000,000 that are presumed to exist," said Loveland-Curtze. "The description of this one species is a significant step in the overall endeavor to discover, cultivate, and use the special features held by these organisms."

Source:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080603104418.htm

Soft Coral Pipefish

2008-07-02T14:35:00.000+07:00

Soft coral pipefish
Siokunichthys breviceps
by Michael Topolovac

Big thanks to Scott Michael for helping with an identification on this little pipefish!

While in Irian Jaya March 2003 I came upon a small and very unusual pipefish. At the time I was looking into the leathery coral sinularia sp. Initially noticing a group of tiny weedy filefish, then all of a sudden I noticed two of these pipefish. Calling over the photographer who done very well as these were very shy and kept hiding within the branches of the coral.

Soft coral pipefish
Siokunichthys breviceps
by Michael topolovac

If anyone has any more information regarding other sightings of this pipefish I would be very interested to hear from you. Do not hesitate to contact me with any information or other images you have of this rare and strange little pipefish.

Source:
http://www.diving4images.com/creature_features.html

Black Sail-fin Goby (Magnificent Goby)

2008-07-02T14:34:00.001+07:00

Black Sailfin goby
Flabellagobious sp.
by Roberto Sozzani

A very rare goby known only to me originally from the book Sea Fishes of Japan. It had been on my lookout list since I first set eyes on it. The story to actually finding this fish is fairly bizarre too. We used to dive a site to see some white tip reef sharks, it was also good for large pelagic fish, though logistically we could not dive it on the right tides so it was sometimes an awkward dive site. Not being really enthused about seeing some reef sharks and pelagic fish I started to search the sandy areas if the site. I had seen some great gobies and started to search some more. I then came across this most amazing of gobies. I started to rave on about this little beauty and the guests were then briefed to opt for macro lenses.

Like most partner gobies, this is fairly shy. Its habitat is known only to me from two areas of Indonesia, the one shown here was photographed on Medang island just off the coast of northern Sumbawa. I have also seen it in Irian Jaya. From what I have seen the fish seems to prefer current as both sights it was seen facing into the current on open sand patches between reefs. It is partnered by the very colourful Randalls shrimp goby alpheus randalli.

I am very keen to hear about more sightings of this beautiful fish, if there are any keen divers, photographers, scientific experts about there interested in seeing this fish here in Indonesia please do not hesitate to contact me.

Source:
http://www.diving4images.com/creature_features.html

Longfin waspfish

2008-07-02T14:32:00.001+07:00

Longfin waspfish
Apistus carinatus

I have now seen this unusual fish in two different parts of Bali, both times in similar environments. Shallow black sand sites with virtually no coral growth. A very bizarre fish with many unique features, it has long thin finger like projections coming down from the underside of it's pectoral fins, then it has barbles just like a goatfish but the most unique feature is those long fins.... though what are they for. My theory, unless someone can correct me is a feeding mechanism.

During one dive I noticed this fish quickly moving these long fins back and forth in what seemed to be like a very controlled manner, to me it looked like it was trying to disturb small animals under the sand and feed on them. These may go unnoticed as just another goatfish laying on the sand, most times when I have first spotted this fish it lays with the fins buried in the sand, only when it seemed disturbed by my presence did it slowly rise up to show it's full length fins and colourfully marked dorsal and anal fins.

Source:
http://www.diving4images.com/creature_features.html

Unidentified Pigmy Sea Horse

2008-07-02T14:31:00.000+07:00

Hippocampus sp.
by Michael Topolovac

Now becoming the new creature sought by divers, photographers and videographers all over Indonesia and PNG, I call it the weedy pigmy sea horse.

Hippocampus sp.
by Graham Abbott
West Papua

I first new of this species from a video that had filmed in the Banda Sea around 2000. While I worked with Wakatobi Dive Resort, they were also seen. Later dive guides at Wakatobi resort started to see them regularly.
They have been seen in PNG and more recently it has been seen by in Manado by the guides from Froggies and other dive operators. Now it is being photographed by their happy guests. It is going through the naming process, to be named after one of the guides from Froggies Hippocampus pontohi.

Hippocampus sp.
by Michael Topolovac

In March 2003 I had the pleasure of finding more of these in the Raja Ampat, West Papua, a photographer and a videographer had the joy of capturing these little gems on film. More sightings in October 2004 in the West Papua along with more pigmy sea horses than I have ever seen, most days we found a few different pigmy's. The Raja Ampat Ampat has been the best place for finding and photographing, these little beauties.

These are even smaller than the H. denise and are much more cryptic than the other more known pigmy sea horses as they are a lot more active and move from place to place where as the other tend to live for long periods of time.

Source:
http://www.diving4images.com/creature_features.html

Denise's Pigmy Sea Horse

2008-07-02T14:30:00.000+07:00

H. denise
by Graham Abbott
West Papua

A new species of pigmy sea horse has very recently been named, here it is most commonly known as the plucked chicken pigmy sea horse. It was named Hippocampus denise by a team of experts from the McGill University in Montreal Canada. The sea horse has been named after the underwater photographer Denise Tackett who has spent many years diving in the Indonesian waters.

H. denise
by Adam Powell
Hoga, Tukang Besi
at 18m depth

H. denise is generally found on the subergorgia mollis sea fan they have been seen on different occasions on what I believe to be the echinogorgia (meneela) sp. as shown in the image by Adam Powell. These are also seen in a variety of colours though the red colouration is a very rare sighting. Like the H. bargibanti it probably feeds on the zooplankton that the sea fan feeds upon.

Recently we have been seeing a variation of this species very regularly with more bumps as shown in the photo below taken on Satonda Island. These are being seen on a few different echinogorgia sp. Many ID books have these down as being the H. bargibanti though they surely must be the H. denise as they have longer snouts which is a feature which is used to identify sea horses.

H. denise
by Roberto Sozzani found on
a different species of sea fan
at Satonda Island

The H. denise is generally smaller in size to the H. bargibanti and are around 15mm and the depth range is also similar though I have made notes and these seem to more commonly seen in depths at around 10-20m / 30-60'. The life is as yet unknown though I have seen this species on a sea fan over a period of around 7 months. I had seen it develop, at first there were two individuals, the larger of the two was first to go, then slowly the other became slower to react. Then one dive I noticed it started to have algae on it's body, it also looked rather dishevelled, the next trip I went to see it, it had gone ahhh....

Source:
http://www.diving4images.com/creature_features.html

Bargibants Pigmy Sea Horse

2008-07-02T14:29:00.000+07:00

H. bargibanti
by Michael Topolovac

First we had the very cute Bargibants pigmy sea horse, this was first said to be found in deeper waters, generally said to be around 20-30m / 65-100' deep. This has now been proved to be wrong, all over Indonesia they can be seen in much shallower depths. The best places I have personally encountered for seeing pigmy sea horse is in Irian Jaya. Here I have seen pigmy sea horses in depths as shallow as 6m / 18' of water. Pigmy sea horses come in a huge variety of colours as shown in these images.

H. bargibanti
by Dianne Armstrong

The Bargibants sea horse is nearly always found on the Muricella sp. These sea fans can be found all over reefs in Indonesia, PNG, Philippines, Malaysia and Eastern Fields, still waiting to hear the first reported sighting in Thailand, sure they will be there somewhere!

They apparently feed upon the zooplankton trapped by the polyps of the sea fan. There actually size probably as large as 25mm in length. Their life span is as yet unknown though I have seen them on the same sea fan for over 10 months. This was witnessed with one individual on a particular dive site that was seen on the same fan for about 10 months, during the month or so it started to grow algae on it's body, became shaky and then it was gone ahhhhh!

As seen in the image alive they are often seen in numbers, they can be in numbers up to 30 or more on oen single sea fan. They are found at depths ranging from as shallow as 6m / 18' to depths beyond recreational diving depths.

Source:
http://www.diving4images.com/creature_features.html

Dangerous Animal Alert!

2008-07-02T14:27:00.000+07:00

H. bargibanti
by Graham Abbott
20m in West Papua

The little creature feature is one of those cute little creatures we all love so much. Sea horses, not the usual common sea horse but the ones that require dives to carry a magnifying glass. Some say these are one of the most dangerous creatures underwater, I think it could true.... For dive operators and guides who find these tiny creatures they can become a problem. They have been responsible for sending many a diver into deco' requiring extended safety stops while taking either photographs or video footage. I have never personally had any major problems, though I have heard stories of these little beauties causing out of air / very low air situations before, they have probably caused cases of DCS too. There are ways to avoid this and special precautions must be taking when approaching this dangerous marine animal.

Source:
http://www.diving4images.com/creature_features.html

New Scorpion / Wasp fish species found...

2008-07-02T14:25:00.000+07:00

Species diversity is always a big attraction to new dive locations. The Lembeh Straits has pulled in vast amounts of critter lovers who want to see species of marine life they have never seen before. Species like the hairy frogfish (Antennarius striatus), weedy scorpionfish (Rhinopias frondosa) and a whole array of other bizarre and well sought after rarities attract marine life enthusiasts, photographers, film makers and scientists alike.

Note the upturned mouth here ©

Just about every critter lover has been away on their dive holiday and found animals they are unable to find in any of the resort or liveaboard identification books. Nudibranchs and their relatives are often seen that are certainly not in any of the books out there yet. There are many great destinations where we can find new species of nudibranchs.

Richardsons waspfish ©

In between assisting filming sequences for a BBC film maker whilst around the Komodo area recently I had a little extra time to go in search of new and exciting sites, of course with the chance to possible look for new marine life. To my big surprise I saw a fish on a night dive that simply wasn’t quite right. For over 10 years I’ve my head stuck in fish and marine life ID books and magazines. So when I noticed a fish that looked like a cross between a waspfish, scorpionfish, stonefish and stingfish I was glad to have my little camera with me.

Side profile, note the huge pectoral fins ©

I’ve already managed to sent some photo’s to the likes of Dr. Gerry Allen, Dr. Mark Erdmann and the Lembeh Straits critter maniac Bruce Moore of Black Sand Dive Retreat. I thought if Mark and Gerry hadn’t seen this then Bruce might have. Bruce and his many years of experience in Lembeh have brought him many surprise finds, however all these Indonesian specialists had never seen this fish at all, or even any documentation of anything like it. It’s behaviour, very much like the waspfish Richardsonichtys leauchogaster shown below is rather none existing and being at 32m I didn’t have a whole lot of time down there to see it this was actually going do anything or if there was another partner nearby. I have seen a few fish very similar to this fish like this...

This is may be somewhat similar species to a species that was photographed in Triton Bay earlier in 2007. however Gerry and Mark have seen more of the images from Triton Bay than me and are fairly sure this is something very different!

Source:
http://www.diving4images.com/creature_features.html

Photo 11 new species In Vietnam

2008-07-02T13:24:00.002+07:00

Scientists find new species in Vietnam

Species found in remote region known as 'Green Corridor'

Sept. 26, 2007

HANOI, Vietnam - Scientists have discovered 11 new species of plants and animals in Vietnam, including a snake, two butterflies and five orchid varieties, the Worldwide Fund for Nature said Wednesday.

The new species were found in a remote region known as the "Green Corridor" in Thua Thien Hue province in central Vietnam, it said.

"You only discover so many new species in very special places, and the Green Corridor is one of them," Chris Dickinson, WWF's chief technical adviser in the region, said in a statement.

Source:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20990436/

Scientists find new species: Giant rat, tiny possum

2008-07-02T13:14:00.000+07:00

Conservation International reports that scientists have discovered what they believe are two new species hidden inside a tropical forest in New Guinea.

The Cercartetus pygmy possum and Mallomys giant rat were encountered during an exhibition to the Foja Mountains in western New Guinea.

"It’s comforting to know that there is a place on earth so isolated that it remains the absolute realm of wild nature," Bruce Beehler, the scientist who led the expedition, says in a statement. "We were pleased to see that this little piece of Eden remains as pristine and enchanting as it was when we first visited."

Source :
http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2007/12/scientists-find.html

Divers find new species in Aleutians

2008-07-02T13:06:00.000+07:00

Caption: This may be a new species of sea anemone.
Credit: Stephen Jewett

Fairbanks, ALASKA-- There are unknown creatures lurking under the windswept islands of the Aleutians, according to a team of scientific divers from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

This summer, while completing the second phase of a two-year broad scientific survey of the waters around the Aleutian Islands, scientists have discovered what may be three new marine organisms. This year's dives surveyed the western region of the Aleutians, from Attu to Amila Island, while last year's assessment covered the eastern region.

During the dives, two potentially new species of sea anemones have been discovered. Stephen Jewett, a professor of marine biology and the dive leader on the expedition, says that these are "walking" or "swimming" anemones because they move across the seafloor as they feed. While most sea anemones are anchored to the seabed, a "swimming" anemone can detach and drift with ocean currents. The size of these anemones ranges from the size of a softball to the size of a basketball.

Another new species is a kelp or brown algae that scientists have named the "Golden V Kelp" or Aureophycus aleuticus. According to Mandy Lindeberg, an algae expert with NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service and a member of the expedition, the kelp may represent a new genus, or even family, of the seaweed. Up to ten feet long, the kelp was discovered near thermal vents in the region of the Islands of the Four Mountains.

"Since the underwater world of the Aleutian Islands has been studied so little, new species are being discovered, even today," said Jewett. He adds that even more new species may be revealed as samples collected during the dives continue to be analyzed.

The organisms were found while surveying more than 1000 miles of rarely-explored coastline, from Attu to the Tigalda Islands. Logging more than 300 hours underwater, the divers collected hundreds of water, biological and chemical samples during 440 dives. Armed with underwater cameras and video cameras, the divers took hundreds of photographs and dozens of short movies of the creatures that inhabit the coast of the Aleutians.

According to Jewett, the scientists are reasonably sure that the kelp is a new species, but more work is being done to confirm that the sea anemone species are completely new to science. Correspondence with anemone experts has so far shown the anemones to be new species, but the analysis is ongoing.

During both years, the chief scientist on the project was Douglas Dasher, a water quality expert from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. The scientific team operated from the R/V NORSEMAN, a 108-foot vessel originally designed for crab fishing in the Bering Sea.

The dives were part of a broad health assessment of the Aleutian Islands and were sponsored by the Alaska Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program, also referred to as AKMAP. The program is funded by the Environmental Protection Agency and managed through a joint agreement between the ADEC and UAF.

Samples from the dives are being used to catalog biodiversity in the region, assess water quality and potential contaminants. According to Jewett, this is the first time the remote nearshore region of the Aleutian Chain has undergone an in-depth marine assessment.

The rugged and remote islands of the Aleutians are not immune to the reach of human activity, say scientists leading the expedition.

"Pollutants traveling through air and water pathways from temperate latitudes have been showing up in the area," says Jewett. "Debris and spills from World War II in the Aleutians have left their mark behind in unexploded ordinance and local sources of pollutants."

Scientists on the project are using water and tissue samples collected during the dives to gauge the impacts of human activity in the area. Samples are being tested for nutrient and oxygen levels in the water, acidity, temperature and radioactive chemicals left over from the underwater nuclear tests conducted at Amchitka Island between 1965 and 1971.

"Climate change, with changes in water temperature, wind patterns and currents may impact the region's biological life," added Jewett. "It is important that we collect this information before any major changes occur."

Jewett, Dasher and the other scientists on the expedition hope that this assessment will help scientists gauge the overall health of the Aleutian Islands, both to provide a baseline for future comparison and to provide a general evaluation of the region's marine conditions.

###

UAF divers on the expedition included Reid Brewer, marine advisory program agent in Unalaska; Max Hoberg, marine taxonomist; Heloise Chenelot, research technician; and Shawn Harper, a graduate student studying marine biology. ADEC scientists included Jim Gendron, Terri Lomax and Nic Dallman. Other members of the scientific team included Roger Clark, a marine taxonomist with NOAA, and Roger Deffendall, a volunteer diver from Unalaska.

The Aleutian Islands dives support the National Coastal Assessment Program, a nation-wide project to characterize the U.S. nearshore coastline. AKMAP methods provide a practical, cost-effective system to characterize Alaska's coastal and surface waters. The AKMAP team has already sampled the marine waters off of Alaska's southcentral and southeastern coasts. The western Aleutians section of the program is the fourth of five planned surveys to assess Alaska's entire coastline.

The UAF School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences conducts world-class marine and fisheries research, education and outreach across Alaska, the Arctic and Antarctic. More than 60 faculty scientists and 160 graduate and undergraduate students are engaged in building knowledge about Alaska and the world's coastal and marine ecosystems. SFOS is headquartered at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and serves the state from facilities located in Seward, Juneau, Anchorage and Kodiak.

Contact: Carin Bailey
Public release date: 2-Nov-2007
bailey@sfos.uaf.edu
907-322-8730
University of Alaska Fairbanks

Source:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-11/uoaf-dfn110207.php

20 New Species from The Lost World in a few Country

2008-07-01T23:06:00.000+07:00

The Arunachal macaque

The last species of macaque to be discovered in the wild, the Indonesian Pagai macaque, was described in 1903. This monkey, a member of the macaque family, was sighted in the state of Arunachal Pradesh, India during expeditions conducted in 2003 and 2004. The Arunachal monkey (Macaca munzala) is the latest addition to the macaque family, a group with some 20 different species occurring mainly in Asia across a variety of different habitats.

Aspidistra Nicolai

The new species of Aspidistra plant is among the recently announced finds from the Annamite mountain range of central Vietnam. The plant was named in honor of the late Russian botanist Nicolai Arnautov, a senior gardener at the St. Petersburg Botanical Gardens who was in charge of the facility’s Aspidistra cultivation program. This, and other two butterflies species, a snake and four more orchids have been discovered in Vietnam’s Green Corridor.

Atelopus frog

The atelopus frog is just one of the 24 species discovered in Suriname in June 2007. Found in the Nassau Mountains, this purple fluorescent frog is on the road of becoming the poster child for some of South America’s tropical rainforests. With its colorful aspect, the frog will be used to draw attention to the illegal gold mining and droughts that threaten the area.

Bali Catshark

This species of catshark is among the rarest documented in a survey of the Indonesian fish markets. Researchers said six of their discoveries have been described in peer review journals, including the Bali Catshark and Jimbaran Shovelnose Ray, found only in Bali, and the Hortle’s Whipray, found only in West Papua. All in all, the country has the most diverse shark and ray fauna and the largest shark and ray fishery in the world.

Bornean big cat

A new species of cat is identified for the first time in almost 200 years. Genetic and skin tests on the creature, now dubbed the Bornean clouded leopard, or Neofelis diardi, have shown that it is almost as different from clouded leopards found on the Asian mainland. This clouded leopard which feasts on monkeys, deer and pigs has been discovered living deep in the Borneo rain forest. With a body that measures just over a foot, the clouded leopard is the smallest of the ‘big cats’. But compared to the size of the rest of its body, it has the biggest teeth of any cat, being called a modern-day sabre-tooth tiger.

Daceton armigerum

The ant species Daceton armigerum is a highly visible predator in the forest canopy in Suriname. It nests and forages in trees throughout South America. The ant is the only valid species in this genus. It is distributed throughout northern South America; Trinidad and Tabago, Brazil, Ecuador, Venezuela, Surinam, Peru, Guiana, and French Guiana.

Eleutherodactylus frog

The smallest frog in both the Northern and Southern hemisphere was recently discovered (1996) in Monte Iberia, Cuba. It doesn’t have a common name yet, but its scientific name is Eleutherodactylus iberia. The frog was discovered during the expedition in the plateaus of eastern Suriname, a South American country located north of Brazil. The frog, and other creatures were discovered by 13 scientists who explored a region enough clean fresh water sources to support abundant fish and amphibians.

Formicivora grantsaui

A new species of antwren from Bahia, Brazil has recently been described in the journal Zootaxa. Also known as Sincorá Antwren, the bird is found only in the campo rupestre vegetation of the Serra do Sincorá between 850 m and 1,100 m in the Chapada Diamantina region. The bird was not described as a new species until 2007. The binomial name commemorates the German-born naturalist Rolf Grantsau who collected a specimen in 1965 that was recently identified as this species.

Furry lobster

Marine biologists have discovered a crustacean in the South Pacific that resembles a hairy lobster. The team found the animal last year in waters 2,300m (7,540ft) deep at a site 1,500km (900 miles) south of Easter Island, an expert has claimed. Its name was inspired by “Kiwa”, the goddess of shellfish in native Polynesian culture and “hirsute” which means hairy. The blind creature has pincers covered in hairy strands and has “the vestige of a membrane” instead of eyes, Segonzac told the Associated Press.

Granrojo

Marine biologists at Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute discovered 23 of what they call Big Reds in Monterey Bay and the Sea of Cortez and off Hawaii, Japan and the Farallon Islands near San Francisco. Granrojo or big red, Tiburonia granrojo, is a recently discovered jellyfish of the family Ulmaridae, the only member of its genus yet identified. Scientists named the new genus “Tiburonia” after the aquarium’s research vessel Tiburon, and the species “granrojo,” Spanish for big red.

Legless lizard

This recent discovery was made in the Khandadhar region, eastern India. Sushil Kumar Dutta, leader of a team of researchers from NGO Vasundhra, found the 7-inch long creature in the forest, 625 miles southeast of New Delhi. Legless lizards are a large family of snake-like lizards, compared to the solid-toothed, harmless snakes. Preliminary scientific study reveals that the lizard belongs to the genus Sepsophis.

Mindoro Stripe-Faced Fruitbat

An island south of Manila is the home to a new species of fruit fat, called the Mindoro Stripe-Faced Fruitbat. The bat with a white-stripped face was found in a protected wildlife area on Mindoro Island during a survey of mammals, reptiles, and amphibians in Sablayan region. New species are being discovered in the Philippines and neighbouring areas at a remarkable rate but this might stop due to extensive deforestation, many species being threatened with extinction.

Phyllagathis Melastomataceae

This orchid is part of the 11 new species discovered in central Vietnam, in the area called the Green Corridor. “You only discover so many new species in very special places, and the Green Corridor is one of them,” said Chris Dickinson, WWF’s chief technical adviser in the area. Three of the newly discovered orchid species are have no leaves, a rare thing for orchids. They contain no chlorophyll and live on decaying matter, like many fungal species.

Sea Urchin

This animal was discovered in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica, scientists even suggesting that life on Earth started here. This new species was even listed on eBay, for auction. A recent study showed that these tiny invertebrates cal live to be 100 years old, and some may reach 200 years, making them one of the oldest animals on Earth.

Shovelnose ray

The Jimbaran shovelnose was discovered recently in Indonesia as part of a five-year survey of the country’s shark and ray species. A total of 30 new species of sharks and rays were discovered in this survey. The survey was part of a broader project working towards improved management of sharks and rays in Indonesia and Australia. This type of ray has the body of a shark, the head of a ray and skeletons made of cartilage instead of bone.

Slender-billed Vulture

Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) recently discovered Southeast Asia’s only known breeding colony of slender-billed vultures, one of the world’s most threatened bird species. These vultures will be taken into the Indian vulture conservation breeding centers run by the Bombay Natural History Society to help take the species off the endangered list. This was caused by the use of diclofenac to treat farm animals especially in India, a drug that causes vultures kidney failure.

Smoky Honeyeater

The honeyeater is the first new bird species to be sighted on the island of New Guinea since 1939. Scientists discovered the bird on a recent expedition to the Foja Mountains of Indonesia, on the island of New Guinea. The bird’s diet consists of nectar and insects.
Scientists still expect more species to be found. The bird remained hidden for so long since the local Kwerba and Papasena tribes rarely venture into the deep forest, abundant in cassowaries or wild boards.

Tree Kangaroos

The golden-mantled tree kangaroo was discovered in December 2005 by a team of Indonesian, Australian, and U.S. scientists, in the Foya Mountains, in the Papua proivince. Currently, ten species are recognized in the group, nearly all of which are threatened by habitat loss or hunting. The golden-mantled tree kangaroo is considered as one of the most endangered of all tree-kangaroos, being extinct in most of its original range.

Walking shark

The fascinating marine biodiversity of the Bird’s Head Seascape on the northwestern end of Indonesia’s Papua province is home to 50 new marine species, including the new epaulette shark (Hemiscyillum freycineti). In addition to the two types of walking epaulette sharks, the researchers discovered 22 species of other fish, 20 species of hard corals, and 8 kinds of shrimp all believed new to science. However, the underwater world is under severe threat from over-fishing with dynamite and cyanide, as well as deforestation and mining that degrade coastal waters.

White-lipped keelback

With the discovery of the white-lipped keelback in Vietnam and other 10 species, scientists hope to protect the area from deforestation and development projects that can endanger this haven. The snake can reach 31 inches and tends to live by streams where it catches frogs and other small animals. “The area is extremely important for conservation,” Hoang Ngoc Khanh, director of Thua Thien Hue Provincial Forest Protection Development, said in a statement. “The province wants to protect the forests and their environmental services.”

Source:
http://www.greenexpander.com/2007/10/15/20-new-species-from-the-lost-world/

10 of the Most Endangered Animals in the World

2008-07-01T23:05:00.000+07:00

The extinction of at least 500 species of animals has been caused by man, most of them in this century. Today there are about 5,000 endangered animals and at least one species dies out every year. The number is rapidly growing, some species becoming endangered without most of us even knowing it. Their value is of utter importance, since they are responsible for a variety of useful medications. The first step towards saving animals is to learn as much as possible about them. So here is a look at some of the most endangered species of animals around the world:

1. Greater Horseshoe Bat - There are fourteen species of bat in Britain and all of them are endangered. The greater horseshoe bat is one of the rarest. There are currently 35 recognised maternity and all-year roosts and 369 hibernation sites. Current estimates range between 4,000 and 6,600 individuals. They have also suffered from the use of insecticides (poisonous chemicals sprayed on to crops to kill harmful insects) which have deprived the bats of their insect food.

2. Siberian Tiger - It is highly endangered and there may be fewer than 200 in the wild, probably all in special nature reserves. The are hunted because a poacher can feed his family for a year on the proceeds of just one tiger kill.

3. Loggerhead Turtle - This threatened reptile lives in the Mediterranean Sea, as well as the Black Sea and Atlantic Ocean. The turtle was once intensively hunted for their meat and eggs, but its fat was also used in the cosmetic industry. Many of these animals die annually caught in the fishing nets of crabfishers. In Turkey, hotels have been built right on its breeding sites.

4. White Tailed Fish Eagle - Before man experimented with the use of pheromones, this spectacular bird of prey was much more numerous than it is today. They have also been hunted by shepherds and gamekeepers that considered them a threat to their sheep or birds. With intense conservation actions, the populations in eastern Europe recovered, recovery plans are aimed at colonizing some traditional breeding areas in Europe.

5. Mandarin Duck - This bird can be seen Britain, but its native home is across eastern Asia, in Russia, China, Korea and Japa. Worldwide population status is unknown, the current Asian population being somewhere under 20,000. Extinction of these beautiful birds is due to mainly loggers, hunters and poachers. Known predators include mink, raccoon dog, otters, polecats, eagle owls and grass snakes.

6. Lion-Tailed Macaque - These animals live in several areas in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Many of India’s tropical forests, the monkey’s natural habitat, have been cleared and replaced with tea and coffee plantations. As with so many mammals, currently the main threat in the wild is destruction of their habitat. Poachers have also captured baby macaques, often killing their parents in the process, for illegal export to collectors. They are considered to be the most endangered monkey, with only 400 individuals left in the wild. They are hunted for their flesh and fur.

7. Jackass Penguin - Once the most common sea-bird in in South Africa, the jackass penguin is the only penguin to be found in Africa. Because they live so far north, and in a relatively accessible region, African penguins have been particularly vulnerable to human depredation. Considering the decline in food supplies, seals now prey on the penguins instead. Oil pollution also threatens them, as does the taking of their eggs for food.

8. Mountain Gorilla - The Virunga volcanoes region in eastern Zaire, Rwanda and Uganda is the only home of the highly endangered mountain gorilla. They are frequently killed by traps and snares intended for other animals, face habitat loss and are vulnerable to many of the same diseases as humans. It depends on dense forests for survival and these are steadily being cut down to make way for crop growing and livestock grazing. Humans and gorillas are 98% genetically identical so they are also exposed to human disease. This is the most endangered of the gorilla subspecies, only about 700 mountain gorillas remain in the wild.

9. Numbat - They inhabit woodlands in Western Australia, this is the only state in which they are found in the wild. The numbat is now extinct throughout much of its range. It survives in the wild only in a small area in the southwest corner of Australia. When man introduced predatory animals such as cats, dogs and foxes, these animals ate many numbats. Their numbers are still declining since many of the areas that constituted their habitats are being cleared for farming and mining.

10. Black Footed Ferret - This is one of the most endangered mammals in North America, an animal on the edge of extinction in the wild. Loss of habitat is the primary reason black-footed ferrets remain near the brink of extinction. The remaining prairie dog colonies are small and fragmented, separated by great expanses of cropland and human development. By the year 2010, biologists hope to have 1500 ferrets established in the wild, with no fewer than 30 breeding adults in each population.

Source :
http://www.greenexpander.com/2007/09/18/10-of-the-most-endangered-animals/

The 10 Rarest Animals in the World Wide

2008-07-01T23:01:00.000+07:00

Endangered, hunted, smuggled and now some would say abandoned, these animals have the smallest chances of recovery out off all the Earth’s creatures. Last year, studies shown that there are at least 35 different animals with world populations of under 1000. But which are the rarest, the animals on the brink of extinction? We have rounded up a list of 10 of the rarest animals in the wild. These animals are so rare, they might disappear forever, and they’re not alone!

1. The Pinta Island tortoise - Without argument, this turtle is one of the few species of Giant Galapagos tortoises and the rarest animal in the world since there is only one left alive. Lonesome George is the sole surviving member of the Pinta Island race, the giant tortoise being a symbol for the fragility of the Galapagos islands, and a constant reminder for vigilence and conservation of the species. The species was considered extinct until 1971, when a lone example was located by rangers. Since then, the Charles Darwin Research Station has been searching for a female tortoise, even posting a reward of $10,000 to those that find one.

2. Baiji (Yangtze River Dolphin) - With no more than a few tens of individuals, the dolphin is one of the world’s rarest mammals, and a victim of China’s breakneck economic growth, competing for food with the human beings. It has been driven to extinction due to the activity in 50 years, this being the fourth time when an entire evolutionary line of mammals has vanished from the face of the Earth since the year 1500. The main reason for this fact are the numerous dams and barrages, built starting in the 1930’s, that have fragmented the population and reduced the amount of available habitat. There are news that the species is functionally extinct, experts still searching for members of the species. Fingers crossed!

3. The Vancouver Island Marmot - This marmot is found only in the high mountainous regions of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, the Canadian Species at Risk Act listing it as endangered in May 2000. In 1998, the population reached an all-time low of 75 individuals, a captive breeding programme being started during that time. In captivity, there are around 90 Vancouver Island marmots in four breeding facilities, while an estimated 30 members of this species live in the wild ibn 2004. The ultimate goal is to restore a sustainable population of 400-600 Vancouver Island marmots in the wild, so there’s still much to be done. 2005 was a successful year, with 150 individuals in captivity and over 44 pups born.

4. Seychelles Sheath-tailed Bat - Inhabiting the central granitic islands of the Seychelles Islands north of Madagascar, the bat is part of our list, being one of the most endangered animals since fewer than 100 are believed to exist in the world. It was once commonly found in Seychelles, but the species has undergone a dramatic decline in population during the mid to late 20th century. More research needs to be done in order to understand how the species behave and what needs to be done in order to save them. Scientists believe that, with a heavy amount of effort, 500 individuals may be sufficient to guarantee long-term persistence of the population.

5. Javan Rhino - This scarce animal is one of the rhino species with fewer than 60 animals surviving in only two known locations: one in Indonesia and the other in Vietnam. Though once widespread throughout Asia, by the 1930’s the rhinoceros was nearly hunted to extinction in Peninsular Malaysia, India, Burma and Sumatra. It was poached for its horn, that is believed to have medicinal uses, and driven to extinction to the intense agricultural practices. Even with all the conservation efforts, the Javan rhinoceros’ chance of survival is small: the population is reduced, hence there are risks of disease and inbreeding.

6. Hispid hare - Also called the “bristly rabbit”, this hare has been recorded along the southern foothills of the Himalayan mountain chain, Nepal, , Bengal, and Assam. Deforestation, cultivation, and human settlement had the most negative impact on the species, isolating the rabbits in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Assam. This animal was feared extinct in 1964, but in 1966, one was spotted. There were an estimated 110 hispid hares worldwide in 2001, numbers continuing to plunge due its unsuccessful adaptation to captivity.

7. Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat - In the 19th century this species of wombat was present in New South Wales and Victoria but now can only be found in a small national park near Epping Forest Station in tropical Queensland. While this area has been protected as a National Park, the native grasses that the wombat eats are overtaken by non-indigenous plants. The Northern hairy-nosed wombat is the rarest Australian marsupial, and probably the world’s rarest large mammal. In the latest population study, there are an estimated 113 (range 96 to 150) individual. A major recovery program is underway, funded by the Queensland and Commonwealth governments to the tune of $250,000 per year.

8. Tamaraw (Dwarf Water Buffalo) - Found in the the island of Mindoro in the Philippines, the tamaraw is the only endemic Phillipine bovine. In 1900 there were an estimated 10,000 tamaraw on Mindoro, 120 in 1975, 370 in 1987 . It was declared critically endangered species in 2000 by the World Conservation Union and remained so until today, being threatened by agriculture, hunting or disease brought by domestic species. The current population was estimated in 2002 at a number between 30 and 200 individuals. Although protected by law, the illegal capture and killing of this species continues to occur.

9. Iberian Lynx - The Lynx, the most endangered of the world’s 36 cats, stands on the edge of extinction. This lynx was once distributed over the entire Iberian Peninsula but now its area is severely restricted in Andalusia. Threatened by destruction of habitat and of its prey, the cat was killed by traps set for rabbits or hit by cars as the number of roads increase. The Spanish Government is now in the process of developing a national conservation effort to save the Iberian Lynx. Studies from March 2005 have estimated the number of Lynx to be as few as 100, down from about 400 in 2000. On March 29, 2005, the birth of 3 cubs, the first born in captivity, was announced, a hope for the future reintroduction of the species.

10. Red Wolf - This wolf is a smaller and a more slender cousin of the gray wolf, historically ranging from southeastern United States to Florida and Texas. Now, their home is the 1.7 million acres throughout northeastern North Carolina, including Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge and Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. Only 20 pure red wolves were estimated in 1980, however the number increased to 207 captive red wolves, found in 38 captive breeding facilities across the United States. With the successful breeding programs, over 100 red wolves currently live in the wild.

Runner-up. Dwarf Blue Sheep - The Dwarf Blue Sheep or Dwarf Bharal Pseudois schaeferi is an endangered species of caprid found in China and Tibet. The dwarf blue sheep population in the world has declined to a total of 70–200 individuals, currently being listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The species is hunted, and in their limited range cannot escape from humans and livestock. As of 1997, China did not recognize them as a seperate species so efforts to conserve the species have not been initiated.

Source :

http://www.greenexpander.com/2007/10/01/the-10-rarest-animals-in-the-world/

Vietnam, 21 new species found in forest that has kept its secrets since the Ice Age

2008-07-01T22:51:00.000+07:00

From The Times

September 26, 2007

Lewis Smith, Environment Reporter

Up to 21 new species of animals and plants have been discovered in a remote region of Vietnam. Scientists have confirmed that they have identified eleven previously unrecorded species, and that ten more are still being examined.

The finds include a frog-eating snake, two butterflies, orchids that grow like fungi and an aspidistra with a flower that is almost black.

The area of central Vietnam where the finds were made is known as the Green Corridor; several mammals were discovered there in the 1990s.

Zoologists involved in the expeditions to the Annamite mountain range said that the area was so rich in wildlife that the recent discoveries may represent a small sample of the unknown species living there.

“You discover so many new species only in very special places, and the Green Corridor is one of them,” said Chris Dickinson, of the WWF, which led the expeditions. “Several large mammal species were discovered in the 1990s in the same forests, which means that these latest discoveries could be just the tip of the iceberg.”

A significant number of threatened creatures and plants was also identified during the survey, which was carried out in 2005 and 2006.

Among these were fifteen reptiles and amphibians, six bird species and the highest known concentration of the white-cheeked crested gibbon, which is one of the most endangered primates in the world.

The Green Corridor includes extensive tracts of wet evergreen forests and ecologically valuable areas of lowland river. It is thought to be the home of the saola, a forest-dwelling ox discovered in 1992.

The new snake has been named the white-lipped keelback, Amphiesma leucomystax, because of the broad stripe on its upper lip giving the appearance of having a white moustache. It can grow to more than 2½ft (80cm) long.

Two butterflies were identified, including one for which a genus had to be created, to add to the six that have been discovered in the region since 1996. Scientists said that the discovery of the new genus was of particular significance because it was an indicator of the unique ecological properties of the forests.

Of the five confirmed orchids, three were unusual in being leafless. They do not have chlorophyll and do not photosynthesise and have survived by feeding on nutrients provided by decaying material, just as many fungal species do.

An aspidistra, Aspidistra nicolai, had a dark blue flower that was almost black, and other new plant species include a type of arum, Cryptocoryne vietnamica, with yellow flowers surrounded by funnel-shaped leaves.

The second aspidistra, which has delicate yellow flowers, has yet to be named. The discovery comes after the identification in 2005 of six species of aspidistra that were collected on an expedition in 1996 and grown at the Munich botanical gardens until they could be officially described by scientists.

Environmental organisations are concerned about the future of wildlife in the region because of threats from activities such as hunting, illegal logging and development.

Dr Dickinson said: “The central Annamite mountains of Vietnam and Laos are unique and amazing forests. They are very wet forest areas with little or no dry season, with no month receiving less than 40mm of rain.

“Such forests are naturally quite localised and appear to have acted as Ice Age refugia - old forests that have been climatically stable for millennia. Due to previous isolation and a stable climate, these forest areas have evolved a suite of species restricted to these very wet forests.

“One problem is that the sale of wild orchids to local Vietnamese is quite common, with many extracted from valuable forests areas. How many new species of orchid are being sold in the markets of Hue to Vietnamese tourists and locals we have no idea of knowing.”

Authorities in Thua Thien Hue province have pledged to conserve and manage the forest’s sustainably.

Hoang Ngoc Khanh, director of the Thua Thien Hue provincial forest protection department, said: “The area is extremely important for conservation and the province wants to protect the forests and their environmental services, as well as contribute to sustainable development.”

— A frog thought to have been extinct for almost 20 years has been found in a South American forest.

The brown and metallic-green tree frog, Isthomhyla rivularis, was thought to have been one of several amphibians killed off by a combination of a fungal virus and the effects of climate change.

The rediscovery raises hopes that the creature reputed to be the first victim of climate change, the golden toad, Bufo pere-glenes, may yet be found again.

Andrew Gray, the curator of herpetology at the Manchester Museum, part of the University of Manchester, came across the frog at the Monteverde Cloud forest reserve in Costa Rica. He scaled a tree during the night as he tried to identify a male frog calling from a bough. “One look at the specimen in my hand and I knew I had caught something very special,” he said.

Borneo a 'hotbed' of over 360 new species

2008-07-01T22:47:00.000+07:00

29 April 2005

This brightly coloured insect was discovered on the Sangkulirang Peninsula, East Kallmantan

Over 360 new species have been discovered in Borneo over the last decade, highlighting the great need for conservation in the area, the WWF says.

Previously unseen insects, frogs, fish, lizards and snakes have made themselves known to science for the first time.

And a new report suggests thousands more species remain undiscovered.

However, these newly introduced and yet-to-be-uncovered species are also under threat, WWF claims, because Borneo's forests are being cleared.

"Borneo is undoubtedly one of the most important centres for wildlife in the world," said Tess Robertson, head of the forests programme at WWF-UK. "It is one of the only two places on Earth where orangutans, elephants and rhinos can be found."

Lost world

Apart from the famous orangutan, Borneo is home to other threatened species such as the clouded leopard, the sun bear and the Bornean gibbon.

Amongst the 361 new species discovered since 1994 are a catfish and a giant cockroach, believed to be the largest in the world.

Other species include 260 insects, 50 plants, 30 freshwater fish, seven frogs, six lizards, five crabs, two snakes and a toad.

WWF's report, Borneo's Lost World, suggests that a panoply of species may yet be found, especially in the largest and most pristine forests in the heart of the island, which is relatively inaccessible.

However, these species, along with their better known compatriots, have an uncertain future because of the timber, rubber, palm oil and paper trades.

Since 1996, deforestation in the whole of Indonesia has increased to an average of two million hectares per year - an area about half the size of the Netherlands.

The WWF claims that logging is set to rise because of the country's growing population and the soaring demands of international markets.

Hydrophis sibauensis is a highly venomous species of water snake, first described in 2001

According to the report, the illegal trade in exotic animals is also on the rise, as logging trails and cleared forest open access to more remote areas.

The WWF says it is working with Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia on a new initiative to conserve the area known as the "Heart of Borneo" - a total of 220,000 sq km of equatorial rainforest - through a network of protected areas and sustainably managed forest.

"The forests of Borneo are crucial not just for the protection of wildlife but also to safeguard water resources necessary for the prosperity of the island," said Ms Robertson.

"Losing the heart of Borneo would be an unacceptable tragedy not only for Borneo, but for all of Asia, and the rest of the globe. It really is now or never."

A new "glass" catfish called Ompok platyrhynchus

Source :
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4474257.stm

Borneo Island leopard deemed new species

2008-07-01T22:39:00.000+07:00

Clouded leopards found on Sumatra and Borneo represent a new species, research by genetic scientists and the conservation group WWF indicates.

Until now it had been thought they belonged to the species that is found on mainland southeast Asia.

Scientists now believe the two species diverged more than one million years ago, and have evolved separately since.

Island leopard deemed new species

The mainland clouded leopard (left) has been separated from its island cousin (right) for about 1.4 million years, research suggests

With bodies up to 1.1m long, clouded leopards are the biggest predators on Borneo and one of Asia's largest cats.

It's incredible that no-one has ever noticed these differences

Andrew Kitchener

The separation of the species was discovered by scientists at the US National Cancer Institute near Washington DC.

"Genetic research results clearly indicate that the clouded leopards of Borneo should be considered a separate species," said Dr Stephen O'Brien, head of the Institute's Laboratory of Genomic Diversity.

"DNA tests highlighted around 40 differences between the two species."

Tell tails

Supporting evidence came from examination of fur patterns. Leopards from Borneo and Sumatra have small "clouds" with many distinct spots within them, grey and dark fur, and twin stripes along their backs.

Their mainland cousins have large cloud markings on their skin with fewer, often faint, spots within the cloud markings, and are lighter and more tawny in colour.

"The moment we started comparing the skins of the mainland clouded leopard and the leopard found on Borneo, it was clear we were comparing two different species," said Dr Andrew Kitchener from the National Museums of Scotland.

"It's incredible that no-one has ever noticed these differences."

WWF, which maintains a large conservation operation on Borneo, estimates there are between 5,000 and 11,000 clouded leopards on the island, with a further 3,000 to 7,000 on Sumatra.

"The fact that Borneo's top predator is now considered a separate species further emphasises the importance of conserving the 'Heart of Borneo'," said WWF's Stuart Chapman, co-ordinator of a project seeking to preserve the island's wildlife.

The three governments with territory on the island - Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei - signed an agreement earlier this year pledging to protect the "Heart of Borneo", 200,000 square kilometres of rainforest in the middle of the island thought to be particularly high in biodiversity.

Source :

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6452555.stm

Video : Mysterious mammal caught on film, a long-eared jerboa

2008-07-01T22:12:00.000+07:00

Mysterious mammal caught on film

Last Updated: Monday, 10 December 2007, 00:36 GMT

By Rebecca Morelle
Science reporter, BBC News

First footage of a long-eared jerboa

An "extraordinary" desert creature has been caught on camera for what scientists believe is the first time.

The long-eared jerboa, a tiny nocturnal mammal that is dwarfed by its enormous ears, can be found in deserts in Mongolia and China.

Zoological Society of London (ZSL) scientist Jonathan Baillie said the footage was helping researchers to learn more about the mysterious animal.

The species is classified as endangered on the IUCN Red list.

These creatures hop just like a kangaroo; it is amazing to watch

Dr Jonathan Baillie, ZSL

The unusual animals were filmed in the Gobi desert during an expedition led by Dr Baillie.

Until now, the creatures had proven extremely difficult to study, thanks to their minuscule size, nocturnal nature and the harsh desert environment that they inhabit.

Big ears

Dr Baillie told BBC News that he was "ecstatic" to have tracked down the jerboas.

"These creatures hop just like a kangaroo; it is amazing to watch. Little hairs on their feet, almost like snow shoes, allow them to jump along the sand," he explained.

"And in terms of mammals, they have one of the biggest ear-to-body ratios out there."

The footage revealed that the creatures spent daylight hours in underground tunnels beneath the sand, and that their diet was mostly made up of insects.

"The long-eared jerboa is a bit like the Mickey Mouse of the desert, cute and comic in equal measure," Dr Baillie said.

By setting pitfall traps, the researchers were also able to look at the rodents close-up and to begin to estimate their population.

Dr Baillie added that although there was still much to learn about the rare rodent, it was already believed to be under threat from habitat disturbance.

"We travelled to the Gobi to find out about the animal's status and learn more about it so we can develop a thorough long-term action plan."

Desert bounties

The expedition formed part of ZSL's Edge programme, which focuses its efforts on conservation plans for animals that are both endangered and evolutionarily distinctive.

The long-eared jerboa is one of 10 species that the programme is looking at this year.

"These amazing, remarkable creatures are on the verge of extinction and we know almost nothing about them," warned Dr Baillie.

He added that it was important not to overlook desert habitats in conservation.

"Everyone thinks the desert is a totally desolate area, void of biodiversity, and often when conservation planning is done, deserts are overlooked.

"But there are some remarkable species in the desert, so we really need to start paying attention to this environment."

An Edge scientist has now been appointed to further study the species.

Source:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7130484.stm

Video : 'Bizarre' new mammal discovered

2008-07-01T22:09:00.000+07:00

By Rebecca Morelle
Science reporter, BBC News

The curious-looking creature was caught on camera

A new species of mammal has been discovered in the mountains of Tanzania, scientists report.

The bizarre-looking creature, dubbed Rhynochocyon udzungwensis, is a type of giant elephant shrew, or sengi.

The cat-sized animal, which is reported in the Journal of Zoology, looks like a cross between a miniature antelope and a small anteater.

It has a grey face, a long, flexible snout, a bulky, amber body, a jet-black rump and it stands on spindly legs.

"This is one of the most exciting discoveries of my career," said Galen Rathbun, from the California Academy of Sciences, who helped to confirm the animal was new to science along with an international team of colleagues.

They are so bizarre-looking and a lot of their behavioural ecology is so unique and interesting, you kind of get wrapped up with them

Galen Rathbun

Despite its name, the creature, along with the 15 other known species of elephant shrew, is not actually related to shrews.

Dr Rathbun told the BBC News website: "Elephant shrews are only found in Africa. They were originally described as shrews because they superficially resembled shrews in Europe and in America."

In fact, the creature is more closely related to a group of African mammals, which includes elephants, sea cows, aardvarks and hyraxes, having shared a common ancestor with them about 100 million years ago.

"This is why they are also known as sengis," explained Dr Rathbun.

The new species was first caught on film in 2005 in Ndundulu Forest in Tanzania's Udzungwa Mountains by a camera trap set by Francesco Rovero, from the Trento Museum of Natural Sciences in Italy.

Dr Rathbun said: "I got these images, and said to myself: 'Boy, these look strange'. But you can't describe something new based just on photographs, so in March 2006, we went back in and collected some specimens."

Flashy creatures

He told the BBC that it quickly became apparent that the creatures were new to science.

He said: "Elephant shrews are almost all distinguished by distinctive colour patterns, and this is especially true of the forest-dwelling giant sengis.

The animal uses its long snout for scooping up insects

"They are all quite flashy - one species has a bright golden rump, another checkers along the rump - so when you have a colour pattern that just isn't similar to what is out there, you know it is fairly obvious that you have got something new.

"And this one, with its grey face and black rump, was pretty different."

As well as its distinctive colouring, the new species is also larger than other species of giant elephant shrew, weighing 700g (25oz) and measuring about 30cm (12in) in length.

It uses its long, flexible nose and tongue to flick up insects, such as termites, and it is most active in daylight.

Dr Rathbun added: "They are behaviourally fairly simple - they are not like a dog or cat you can interact with - but they are so bizarre-looking and a lot of their behavioural ecology is so unique and interesting, you kind of get wrapped up with them."

The scientists say there is still much to learn about the Rhynochocyon udzungwensis, but they hope further research will help to answer questions about how many of the animals exist, their range and how closely the animals live together.

Tanzania's Udzungwa Mountains are biodiverse-rich. In addition to this new species, a number of other new animals have been found there, including the Udzungwa partridge, the Phillips' Congo shrew, and a new genus of monkey known as Kipunji as well as several reptiles and amphibians.

Dr Rathbun said it was vital the area and its inhabitants in this biodiversity "hotspot" were protected.

Source :

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7213571.stm

Discovery New Orchid smells like 'sweaty feet'

2008-07-01T21:47:00.000+07:00

16 July 2007

Q. What has tennis-ball yellow flowers, flourishes only in the wet meadows of a national park and smells like sweaty feet?

A. A rare orchid species.

Scientists announced the discovery of the rare orchid species Monday. The plant, which is the only known orchid species endemic to California's Sierra Nevada range, grows in spring-fed areas between 6,000 and 9,000 feet. All nine sites where the orchid has been spotted are in Yosemite National Park.

WHAT'S THAT SMELL?
Botanist Alison Colwell said the smell led her to the species. The Yosemite bog-orchid emits the smell to attract pollinators.

"I was out surveying clovers one afternoon, and I started smelling something. I was like, 'Eew, what's that?'" said Colwell, who works for the U.S. Geological Survey in El Portal. "It smelled like a horse corral on a hot afternoon."

-- Megan K. Scott

Source :
http://asapblogs.typepad.com/news/weird_news/index.html

Stunning Orchid Discovery

2008-07-01T21:40:00.000+07:00

Alexandria orchid grower seeks the Holy Grail of orchids

By Yassir Islam
January 3, 2008

Almost every orchid grower dreams of seeing the rarest of orchids, the Holy Grail, just once in their lifetime. Alexandria resident Ken Meier is one such lucky grower.

A fiber optic technician by profession, he has been growing orchids for more than two decades. His backyard greenhouse is crammed with orchids that spill out into his yard during the warm summer months. Ken, who has more than two thousand orchids in his collection, is constantly in pursuit of new and unusual orchids.

While others kick back and head for the beach during their summer vacation, Ken can be found deep in the jungles of Asia and South America looking for orchids growing wild in their native habitat.

Meier has the distinction of being one of the few westerners to have seen what has been called the “orchid discovery of the century,” growing wild in its native habitat; an orchid so spectacular, that many wonder how it could have gone undiscovered for so long.

The tale of its discovery is one filled with the drama and passion that only orchids can inspire. This orchid was brought into the United States and described as a new species by Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in 2002. It was named Phragmipedium kovachii in honor of its American discoverer, Michael Kovach, of Goldvein, Va. Eventually, its “discoverer” would be indicted for smuggling the plant into the United States, the prestigious Selby Gardens disgraced, and the original habitats of this orchid plundered by illegal collectors.

Recently, Meier led an orchid expedition to the Andes in the remote northern region of Peru. His guide knew of two habitats were the fabled phragmipedium could still be found. “We hiked for about five hours through the jungle to reach the first habitat,” recalls Ken. “It was tough going and only a few members of our group made it—the rest turned back.”

Disappointingly, while they found several of the rare orchid plants, none were in flower. While the rest of his team gave up, Meier pressed on with his guide. “It was a strenuous hike up almost vertical cliffs, shrouded in mist. We finally reached the second habitat, and there on a mossy outcrop, I saw a single flower that simply took my breath away, though I was already out of breath from the low oxygen levels at that altitude.”

Meier is as excited today, as he describes the orchid that he saw a year ago: a voluptuous fuchsia flower almost half a foot across. “The color was so rich and deep, the flower could have been made out of velvet,” he enthuses. After about half an hour of admiring the flower and taking photos it was time to leave and carefully climb back down the slippery treacherous cliffs before darkness fell.

When asked, Meiei said he had no seeds or plants of Phragmipedim kovachii from his trip. It’s illegal to remove any slipper orchid plants or seeds from their native habitat, especially so endangered a species. Soon, legally propagated plants from Peru will be exported and available in United States,” Meier said.

Even so, it will be several more years before they bloom. Meier smiles with the patience that only orchid growers know. “It’s worth the wait…and until then I have my photographs and memories from Peru to remind me why.”

Source :
http://www.argusorchids.net

Discovery bird in Palawan, Philippines

2008-07-01T21:32:00.000+07:00

YELLOW-THROATED LEAFBIRD near Sabang
- One of nearly 20 endemics confined to the island of Palawan. This one, like many others, is easy to find and was picked up a number of times in just a few days there.

JAVAN ('PALAWAN') FROGMOUTH near Sabang
- Confusion still reigns over the identity of the Palawan Frogmouths: some say they should be lumped within Sunda, some call them Javan, although many others believe they deserve full
endemic species status.

Report and all photos by Sam Woods/Tropical Birding

22nd March: Puerto Princesa to Underground River National Park, Sabang (PALAWAN) Lowland, coastal limestone forest and mangroves.
Another early start was required to take the only daily flights to the Palawan capital of Puerto Princesa. We had originally planned a stop for Chinese Egrets and shorebirds at Garceliano Beach near the capital, although when we arrived there were horrified to find an extremely high tide rendering the whole area birdless - we quickly changed the plan, ate an early lunch and then boarded our vans to make the journey to Sabang that would be our base for exploring the endemic-rich coastal, limestone forests of St. Pauls (recently renamed Underground River National Park). Palawan often turns out to be most people's favorite Philippine island, due to a combination of easy endemics, some of the largest most in tact tracts of rainforest and frankly, because much of it is an idyllic paradise island of beaches, mangroves and lush bird-rich rainforests. Between Puerto Princesa and our resort in Sabang we passed by some deserted scenic beaches with superb vistas over the South China Sea, and along the way we encountered some fabulous stretches of forest and tree-lined limestone outcrops that are good spots for some of Palawan's coolest endemic birds. A few weeks before I had checked out some areas in preparation for the main tour, when an unplanned stop for some emergency car repairs, alongside a scenic tree-lined river, had caused me to stumble onto some superb flowering trees that had proved a real boon for nectarivores. And so it was we made our first stop there along the way in the hope that some of the trees would still be in bloom. Thankfully they were and it did not take long to find our main target, with a stocky male Copper-throated Sunbird and Palawan's own endemic nectar specialist, with the aptly named Palawan Flowerpecker, in addition to a whole bunch of other nectar feeders including Pygmy Flowerpecker, Little Spiderhunter, several stunning scarlet-breasted trochilus race Purple-throated Sunbirds, and a few Olive-backed Sunbirds. Our next, 'emergency' stop was made alongside a stretch of Palawan's idyllic western coastline for another low-flying squadron of needletails, this time a group of Brown-backed Needletails, to add to the Purple and Philippine Needletails already recorded on Mindanao earlier on the tour. All along the way we ran into small vocal groups of the endemic pusillus 'race' of Slender-billed Crow, heard giving their instantly recognizable, high-pitched and distinctly un-crow like calls, a subspecies that many believe should be given full species status, and so is frequently referred to simply as 'Palawan Crow'. We then rose up onto a scenic forested ridegtop, where the hoped-for Ashy-headed Babbler that had been present there only a few weeks previous failed to show, although we did begin seeing our first Palawan endemics with several Yellow-throated Leafbirds, high flying flocks of Palawan Swiftlets (a recent split from Island or Uniform Swiftlet), a White-vented Shama was observed giving its fluty song from a low roadside perch; and best of all a gorgeous Blue Paradise-Flycatcher popped up on the opposite side of the road to the showy Shama. A short walk further down the road and we picked up another of the Palawan specialties, when we found a pair of lemon-yellow and black Palawan Tits singing in a bare roadside tree. Only a few hours within Palawan and we were getting a real taste of some of its very best birds. Aside from this haul of endemics, we also heard our third target pitta species of the trip, when a Hooded Pitta called closeby, that Don at least got fantastic views of. The others were not left smarting for long over this though, as I had another territory lined up a little further down the road, that paid off handsomely, when on playing the tape only briefly, the bird came crashing in and perched up within a few feet of our stunned, beaming faces. One of the main reasons for taking time on the way into Sabang was to stop for Palawan's endemic nightbirds along the way, so we needed to ride out some time waiting for dusk. Some of this time was spent scanning some huge tree-lined limestone outcrops that jut out above the surrounding coastal forests, giving a truly magnificent backdrop to birding this quiet coastal road. A short time later I picked up the gleaming ivory casques of a small party of Palawan Hornbills that we had been hoping for and can sometimes be found roosting in this area. We then got ourselves in position for the nightshow, although with light not yet fading a pair of calling Ashy-headed Babblers (that had failed me earlier in the afternoon) were fair game and typically gave excellent views when responding to a little gentle playback. As we waited along the deserted road for the onset of dusk, the first bats appeared and soon after we were treated to the sight of an Oriental Hobby hunting the bats low over the road, catching three bats in under 30 minutes, not a bad way to while out the time until the time for owling! Soon after dark our first night bird appeared with a pair of calling roadside Large-tailed Nightjars. The frogmouths we were after were also soon calling, although the first of these gave us the run-around until we found a nice cleared area where we found a much more cooperative individual that just sat there growling back at us from its low perch. This funky bird with its ridiculous oversized whiskers continues to confound birders as to exactly what it is, currently listed as Javan Frogmouth, this island form gives a call that is not known in other populations of the widespread Javan that may itself warrant splitting into several different species. To add to the confusion some have also considered this 'Palawan' Frogmouth as a unique form of Sunda Frogmouth, while others of which the majority of opinion seems to be weighing behind consider the frogmouths on Palawan to be another as yet undescribed species, being referred to widely as simply Palawan Frogmouth. Whilst soaking up the frogmouth our final night quarry, Palawan Scops-Owl uttered its own quiet, almost inaudible growl. The call of this bird is completely deceptive as you can be standing right in front of one, and the call can be difficult to hear even then, so the toughest thing is not to risk flushing the bird as you can walk right into it. Which is basically what happened initially when I went towards the source of the quiet growling and failed to notice the bird, perched vertically on a low vine until I was right on top of it, so that when everyone else came in for a look the bird flew with only me getting one unforgettable view. Thankfully after an initial, panicked period of silence the bird began calling once more and we managed to find it a short distance from its original perch, where the eyes glowed bright red back at us while we lapped up this impressive endemic scops owl. 3 target nightbirds, all 3 seen so we headed to our resort for celebratory beers and to plan tomorrow's 'assault' on one of the most stunning birds in the Philippines - as we would be seeking the breathtaking Palawan Peacock-Pheasant.

The exquisite male PALAWAN PEACOCK-PHEASANT
St. Pauls - the only 'true' pheasant in the Philippines.

This showy male PALAWAN PEACOCK-PHEASANT provides one of those rare problems for a bird photographer - how to get photos of a bird that is often too close! Digiscoping was generally useless (although I did manage to get the shot on the left through a scope), so I shot this one hand held with the use of a flash as the bird was only a few feet away at the time. Although the natural light shot through the scope reveals the full, phenomenal colors of the bird best. If this is a prority bird for you then this is clearly the time to go for it, as this rediculous individual has made this species shamelessly easy to see!

24th March: Underground River (St. Paul's) National Park, Sabang and Garceliano Beach, Puerto Princesa (PALAWAN) Tidal mudflats and mangroves.
Don had also missed the peacock show the day before through illness and what with there still being a few birds in the same area for the rest of us we boarded our banca once more and waded the short distance ashore, to enter the kast forest that is the peacock's well-documented stomping ground. In addition to the 'almost guaranteed' Palawan Peacock-pheasant we all had superb views of a perched Oriental Dwarf (Rufous-backed) Kingfisher, that had only given brief views for most the day before as it typically zipped by at lightning speed, and a pair of Stork-billed Kingfishers were also in the same area. With little else showing we returned to the boat and made the short ride to another bay where we paddled to shore again and entered the forest in search of Palawan's coolest endemic babbler once more. On reaching the spot where it had performed so poorly the day before, the bird was immediately heard calling. This time however, only the shortest burst of playback brought the Falcated Ground-Babbler screaming into view, that then perched up magnificently in an open gully in the forest that even allowed a few of us to get full on views of this cracking endemic babbler in the Swarovski scope. Other notable birds included our only tour sighting of Mangrove Whistler, as well as Bar-bellied Cuckoo-shrike, Rufous-tailed Tailorbird, Common Flameback and a couple of young Red-bellied Pittas that bounced off the trail in front of us. After a final lunch at the Last Frontier where we were able to watch a Palawan Hornbill leaping around in some trees right by the dining area, we departed for Puerto Princesa, stopping en-route to pick up another pack of low-flying Brown-backed Needletails, our first, much belated view of a Plaintive Cuckoo, a small active party of well-named Fiery Minivets (that included a vivid orange-red male in their group) and a Sulphur-bellied Bulbul for Don who had missed it during his bout of flu. We then returned to the mudflats near Puerto Princesa hoping for a more favorable tide on this occasion. Unfortunately the tides were extremely high at this time, leaving little exposed mud. However, we did come across a band of roosting egrets which after some scrutiny was found to hold at least two of the endangered Chinese Egrets that we were seeking there. Shorebirds were thin on the ground due to the unfortunate state of the tide but we did find a few Gray-tailed Tattlers roosting in the mangroves. We then retired to Princesa, taking in a superb seafood restaurant perched on the edge of the mangroves, that even has Prince Andrew on its long list of past celebrity diners and after tucking into the locally produced food, we were able soon understood why.

25th March: Iwahig Penal Colony and Rasa Island (PALAWAN) Lowland rainforest and coastal scrub and woodland on Rasa.
The Balsahan Trail, bizarrely set for a birding area within a safe correctional institution, is a key site on Palawan for a couple of endemics that are never recorded at St. Paul's - notably Melodious Babbler and historically (although very rarely in recent years), also Palawan Flycatcher. One of the logistical problems we had not expected there was unseasonally heavy rains the day before our arrival, leading to the swelling of the river that runs alongside the trail and a rising of the formerly little brooks that we needed to cross to reach the best areas for these key endemics. Thankfully Arding, our driver and Iwahig employee, was on hand to aid us all across what is usually little bother to cross in little more than walking boots. We all eventually made it and to my relief we soon heard the Melodious Babblers calling on cue, and were soon getting to grips with a group of three-four birds perched up in a subcanopy vine tangle. With these falling conveniently early we were getting into the privileged position of what do we look for next? Well the flycatcher of course! My hopes really were not high for this site (we had a stop planned for our final birding of the tour, which has been a much more reliable stakeout in recent years), as nobody had reported seeing at all in the current season (with many tours having visited the area). Indeed Nicky our resident, experienced Filipino bird guide had recently revealed he had never encountered them on the Balsahan at all. What the hell we thought, we had the time so we should try and ease the pressure on tomorrow's final birding stop. So we headed in to the thick stands of bamboo that they generally favor (and which makes them often challenging to see), and received little response to a bit of strategic playback. Unsurprised we turned to leave and immediately a Palawan Flycatcher piped up and gave a brief snatch of song close by. I waited for a time to hear it again and identify the source of the sound, but the bird had fallen stubbornly silent, so I tried a quick burst of playback whereupon, this shy retiring flycatcher zipped straight in (flashing the bright reddish tail past us as it did so leaving us in no doubt as to what it was), and perched right out in front of us singing away within 10 feet of the whole group who were all fixed firmly on this bonus find. We had served our time in Iwahig and so then headed for our final main destination of the tour - the sleepy, peaceful coastal town of Nara, our base for exploring nearby Rasa Island. After a lunch and rest in Nara from the severe afternoon heat, we boarded another banca and set sail for Rasa, a 30 minute ride away. From the boat we picked up our final new birds of the tour - first our last Imperial Pigeon of the tour, the striking Pied Imperial Pigeon, here on Rasa in its element as it is a small island specialist, and then a little later the first of the roosting Philippine Cockatoos came sailing in from the mainland. Using a scope while on board a Filipino banca is not easy to say the least, but in between the drifting motion of the boat we all managed scope views of these ivory birds, all of us keen to get a good look at their burnt red vents that makes this species unique from all other cockatoos. These critically endangered 'parrots' are now extremely localized, having suffered a dramatic decline in recent years due to a lethal combination of habitat destruction and intensive hunting for the cage bird trade. Thus they are now very difficult to find anywhere away from Rasa, (having formerly been a regular sighting at St. Paul's there are no very recent records at all despite much good habitat remaining in that national park). So it was well worth the journey to watch playful gangs of these extremely rare cockatoos landing on the edge of island, before they headed deeper inland to roost. We then returned to Nara for our final late farewell dinner, before our departure the next day.

26th March: Nara to Puerto Princesa and departure back to Manila.
Essentially a departure day, we made the journey back to Puerto Princesa to fly to Manila and connect with international flights back. Although we made a stop along the way for a last few looks at some of Palawan's endemic birds, including another view of the scarce Palawan Flycatcher at a site we would more normally expect to run across it, Handsome (Shelley's) Sunbird, Yellow-throated Leafbird and a Sulphur-bellied Bulbul or two. It was then off for our good-byes with talk of the next trip (because us birders are always looking to the next trip and the next haul of new birds at the soonest opportunity) - Argentina next perhaps for Don and Doris, and only a few weeks later Mark, Shirley and Richard would be in Andean cloudforests of southern Ecuador pursuing such treats as Jocotoco Antpitta and others.

As an inaugural tour to the Philippines we were more than happy with our species haul, a good number of endemics (just under 130 recorded), including two representatives from the lone endemic bird family - the Philippine Creepers. Aside from that we had a good run on the most highly sought after species in the Philippines with good looks at many of these, like all 3 realistic pitta species including the spectacular endemic Steere's (Azure-breasted) Pitta, a bagful of very cool endemic kingfishers including Winchell's (Rufous-lored), Indigo-banded, Philippine Dwarf, Silvery Kingfisher and Spotted & Blue-capped Wood-Kingfishers, the just plain awesome (Mindanao) Wattled Broadbill; the incredible, few-feet-away views of the breathtaking resident male Palawan Peacock-Pheasant at St. Paul's; and a bunch of cool doves that included the elusive Luzon Bleeding-heart, the very scarce Spotted Imperial & Pink-bellied Imperial-Pigeons and fancy Flame-breasted Fruit-Dove all on Luzon; and a number of good sightings of the more widespread but way more attractive Yellow-breasted Fruit-Dove. However, the undoubted highlight of the tour has to have been our unbeatable, close up encounters with the 'haribon' or Philippine Eagle, with cracking views of the 4 month-old chick along with the monstrous adults also in attendance. Only the south American Harpy Eagle comes close to this awesome raptor, although the critically endangered and endemic tag that comes attached to this species gives the Philippine Eagle an undoubted edge that saw it universally voted for as one of the top trip highlights. Both for the group and guides alike this was a great encounter that had it all - good views of the chick in the nest, the adult birds perched and also in flight when the incredibly distinctive silhouette with the bulging primaries was superb to see as it flew low over us. Rarely in birding do you get the full on views that you crave, as the natural world is a 'cruel mistress' as some would say, but this time we had it all and then some. The pressure is now on for next years tour!

Source :
http://www.tropicalbirding.com/tripReports/TR_Philippines2007/TR_Philippines2007.htm