New species of sucker-footed bat found in Madagascar

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

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.

Extraordinary Giant Palm Discovered in Madagascar

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