Subject: [earthchanges] This is real earthchanges
- new animals and plants found
From: dee777@PrivateEmail
Date: Mon, 6 Feb 2006 23:00:28 EST
To: earthchanges@PrivateEmail
Scientists hail discovery of hundreds of new species
in remote New
Guinea
By Terry Kirby, Chief Reporter
Published: 07 February 2006
An astonishing mist-shrouded "lost world" of
previously unknown and rare
animals and plants high in the mountain rainforests
of New Guinea has been
uncovered by an international team of scientists.
Among the new species of birds, frogs, butterflies
and palms discovered in
the expedition through this pristine environment,
untouched by man, was the
spectacular Berlepsch's six-wired bird of paradise.
The scientists are the first
outsiders to see it. They could only reach the
remote mountainous area by
helicopter, which they described it as akin to
finding a "Garden of Eden".
In a jungle camp site, surrounded by giant flowers
and unknown plants, the
researchers watched rare bowerbirds perform
elaborate courtship rituals. The
surrounding forest was full of strange mammals, such
as tree kangaroos and spiny
anteaters, which appeared totally unafraid,
suggesting no previous contact
with humans.
Bruce Beehler, of the American group Conservation
International, who led the
month-long expedition last November and December,
said: "It is as close to the
Garden of Eden as you're going to find on Earth. We
found dozens, if not
hundreds, of new species in what is probably the
most pristine ecosystem in the
whole Asian-Pacific region. There were so many new
things it was almost
overwhelming. And we have only scratched the surface
of what is there." The
scientists
hope to return this year.
The area, about 300,000 hectares, lies on the upper
slopes of the Foja
Mountains, in the easternmost and least explored
province of western New Guinea,
which is part of Indonesia. The discoveries by the
team from Conservation
International and the Indonesian Institute of
Sciences will enhance the island's
reputation as one of the most biodiverse on earth.
The mountainous terrain has
caused hundreds of distinct species to evolve, often
specific to small areas.
The Foja Mountains, which reach heights of 2,200
metres, have not been
colonised by local tribes, which live closer to sea
level. Game is abundant
close to
villages, so there is little incentive for hunters
to penetrate up the
slopes. A further 750,000 hectares of ancient forest
is also only lightly
visited.
One previous scientific trip has been made to the
uplands - the evolutionary
biologist and ornithologist Professor Jared Diamond
visited 25 years ago - but
last year's mission was the first full scientific
expedition.
The first discovery made by the team, within hours
of arrival, was of a
bizarre, red-faced, wattled honeyeater that proved
to be the first new species
of
bird discovered in New Guinea - which has a higher
number of bird species for
its size than anywhere else in the world - since
1939. The scientists also
found the rare golden-fronted bowerbird, first
identified from skins in 1825.
Although Professor Diamond located their homeland in
1981, the expedition was
able
to photograph the bird in its metre-high "maypole"
dance grounds, which the
birds construct to attract mates. Male bowerbirds,
believed to be the most
highly evolved of all birds, build large and
extravagant nests to attract
females.
The most remarkable find was of a creature called
Berlepsch's six-wired bird
of paradise, named after the six spines on the top
of its head, and thought
"lost" to science. It had been previously identified
only from the feathers of
dead birds.
Dr Beehler, an expert on birds of paradise, which
only live in northern
Australia and New Guinea, said: "It was very
exciting, when two of these birds,
a
male and a female, which no one has seen alive
before ... came into the camp
and the male displayed its plumage to the female in
full view of the
scientists."
Scientists also found more than 20 new species of
frogs, four new
butterflies, five new species of palm and many other
plants yet to be
classified,
including what may be the world's largest
rhododendron flower. Botanists on the
team
said many plants were completely unlike anything
they had encountered before.
Tree kangaroos, which are endangered elsewhere in
New Guinea, were numerous
and the team found one species entirely new to the
island. The golden-mantled
tree kangaroo is considered the most beautiful but
also the rarest of the
jungle-dwelling marsupials. There were also other
marsupials, such as wallabies
and
mammals that have been hunted almost to extinction
elsewhere. And a rare
spiny anteater, the long beaked echidna, about which
little is known, allowed
itself to be picked up by hand. Dr Beehler said:
"What was amazing was the lack
of
wariness of all the animals. In the wild, all
species tend to be shy of
humans, but that is learnt behaviour because they
have encountered mankind. In
Foja
they did not appear to mind our presence at all.
"This is a place with no roads or trails and never,
so far as we know,
visited by man ... This proves there are still
places to be discovered that man
has
not touched."
Inhabitants of New Guinea
Birds
The scientists discovered a new species - the red
faced, wattled honeyeater -
and found the breeding grounds of two birds of
almost mythical status - the
golden- fronted bowerbird and Berlepsch's six-wired
bird of paradise, long
believed to have disappeared as a separate species.
The expedition also came
across exotic giant-crowned pigeons and giant
cassowaries - a huge flightless
bird
- which are among more than 225 species which breed
in the area, including 13
species of birds of paradise. One scientist said
that the dawn chorus was the
most fantastic he had ever heard.
Mammals
Forty species of mammals were recorded. Six species
of tree kangeroos, rare
elsewhere in New Guinea, were abundant and the
scientists also found a species
which is new to Indonesia, the golden-mantled tree
kangeroo. The rare and
almost unknown long-beaked echidna, or spiny
anteater, a member of a primitive
group of egg-laying mammals called monotremes, was
also encountered. Like all
the
mammals found in the area, it was completely
unafraid of humans and could be
easily picked up, suggesting its previous contact
with man was negligible.
Plants
A total area of about one million hectares of
pristine, ancient, tropical,
humid forest containing at least 550 plants species,
many previously unknown and
including five new species of palms. One of the most
spectacular discoveries
was a so far unidentified species of rhododendron,
which has a white scented
flower almost six inches across, equalling the
largest recorded rhododendron
flower.
Butterflies
Entomologists among the scientists identified more
than 150 different species
of butterfly, including four completely new species
and several new
sub-species, some of which are related to the common
English "cabbage white"
butterfly.
Other butterflies observed included the rare giant
birdwing, which is the
world's largest butterfly, with a wingspan that
stretches up to seven inches.
Frogs
The Foja is one of the richest sites for frogs in
the entire Asia-Pacific
region, and the team identified 60 separate species,
including 20 previously
unknown to science, one of which is only 14mm big.
Among their discoveries were
healthy populations of the rare and little-known
lace-eyed frog and a new
population of another frog, the Xenorhina arboricola,
which had previously only
been
known to exist in Papua New Guinea.
An astonishing mist-shrouded "lost world" of
previously unknown and rare
animals and plants high in the mountain rainforests
of New Guinea has been
uncovered by an international team of scientists.
Among the new species of birds, frogs, butterflies
and palms discovered in
the expedition through this pristine environment,
untouched by man, was the
spectacular Berlepsch's six-wired bird of paradise.
The scientists are the first
outsiders to see it. They could only reach the
remote mountainous area by
helicopter, which they described it as akin to
finding a "Garden of Eden".
In a jungle camp site, surrounded by giant flowers
and unknown plants, the
researchers watched rare bowerbirds perform
elaborate courtship rituals. The
surrounding forest was full of strange mammals, such
as tree kangaroos and spiny
anteaters, which appeared totally unafraid,
suggesting no previous contact
with humans.
Bruce Beehler, of the American group Conservation
International, who led the
month-long expedition last November and December,
said: "It is as close to the
Garden of Eden as you're going to find on Earth. We
found dozens, if not
hundreds, of new species in what is probably the
most pristine ecosystem in the
whole Asian-Pacific region. There were so many new
things it was almost
overwhelming. And we have only scratched the surface
of what is there." The
scientists
hope to return this year.
The area, about 300,000 hectares, lies on the upper
slopes of the Foja
Mountains, in the easternmost and least explored
province of western New Guinea,
which is part of Indonesia. The discoveries by the
team from Conservation
International and the Indonesian Institute of
Sciences will enhance the island's
reputation as one of the most biodiverse on earth.
The mountainous terrain has
caused hundreds of distinct species to evolve, often
specific to small areas.
The Foja Mountains, which reach heights of 2,200
metres, have not been
colonised by local tribes, which live closer to sea
level. Game is abundant
close to
villages, so there is little incentive for hunters
to penetrate up the
slopes. A further 750,000 hectares of ancient forest
is also only lightly
visited.
One previous scientific trip has been made to the
uplands - the evolutionary
biologist and ornithologist Professor Jared Diamond
visited 25 years ago - but
last year's mission was the first full scientific
expedition.
The first discovery made by the team, within hours
of arrival, was of a
bizarre, red-faced, wattled honeyeater that proved
to be the first new species
of
bird discovered in New Guinea - which has a higher
number of bird species for
its size than anywhere else in the world - since
1939. The scientists also
found the rare golden-fronted bowerbird, first
identified from skins in 1825.
Although Professor Diamond located their homeland in
1981, the expedition was
able
to photograph the bird in its metre-high "maypole"
dance grounds, which the
birds construct to attract mates. Male bowerbirds,
believed to be the most
highly evolved of all birds, build large and
extravagant nests to attract
females.
The most remarkable find was of a creature called
Berlepsch's six-wired bird
of paradise, named after the six spines on the top
of its head, and thought
"lost" to science. It had been previously identified
only from the feathers of
dead birds.
Dr Beehler, an expert on birds of paradise, which
only live in northern
Australia and New Guinea, said: "It was very
exciting, when two of these birds,
a
male and a female, which no one has seen alive
before ... came into the camp
and the male displayed its plumage to the female in
full view of the
scientists."
Scientists also found more than 20 new species of
frogs, four new
butterflies, five new species of palm and many other
plants yet to be
classified,
including what may be the world's largest
rhododendron flower. Botanists on the
team
said many plants were completely unlike anything
they had encountered before.
Tree kangaroos, which are endangered elsewhere in
New Guinea, were numerous
and the team found one species entirely new to the
island. The golden-mantled
tree kangaroo is considered the most beautiful but
also the rarest of the
jungle-dwelling marsupials. There were also other
marsupials, such as wallabies
and
mammals that have been hunted almost to extinction
elsewhere. And a rare
spiny anteater, the long beaked echidna, about which
little is known, allowed
itself to be picked up by hand. Dr Beehler said:
"What was amazing was the lack
of
wariness of all the animals. In the wild, all
species tend to be shy of
humans, but that is learnt behaviour because they
have encountered mankind. In
Foja
they did not appear to mind our presence at all.
"This is a place with no roads or trails and never,
so far as we know,
visited by man ... This proves there are still
places to be discovered that man
has
not touched."
Inhabitants of New Guinea
Birds
The scientists discovered a new species - the red
faced, wattled honeyeater -
and found the breeding grounds of two birds of
almost mythical status - the
golden- fronted bowerbird and Berlepsch's six-wired
bird of paradise, long
believed to have disappeared as a separate species.
The expedition also came
across exotic giant-crowned pigeons and giant
cassowaries - a huge flightless
bird
- which are among more than 225 species which breed
in the area, including 13
species of birds of paradise. One scientist said
that the dawn chorus was the
most fantastic he had ever heard.
Mammals
Forty species of mammals were recorded. Six species
of tree kangeroos, rare
elsewhere in New Guinea, were abundant and the
scientists also found a species
which is new to Indonesia, the golden-mantled tree
kangeroo. The rare and
almost unknown long-beaked echidna, or spiny
anteater, a member of a primitive
group of egg-laying mammals called monotremes, was
also encountered. Like all
the
mammals found in the area, it was completely
unafraid of humans and could be
easily picked up, suggesting its previous contact
with man was negligible.
Plants
A total area of about one million hectares of
pristine, ancient, tropical,
humid forest containing at least 550 plants species,
many previously unknown and
including five new species of palms. One of the most
spectacular discoveries
was a so far unidentified species of rhododendron,
which has a white scented
flower almost six inches across, equalling the
largest recorded rhododendron
flower.
Butterflies
Entomologists among the scientists identified more
than 150 different species
of butterfly, including four completely new species
and several new
sub-species, some of which are related to the common
English "cabbage white"
butterfly.
Other butterflies observed included the rare giant
birdwing, which is the
world's largest butterfly, with a wingspan that
stretches up to seven inches.
Frogs
The Foja is one of the richest sites for frogs in
the entire Asia-Pacific
region, and the team identified 60 separate species,
including 20 previously
unknown to science, one of which is only 14mm big.
Among their discoveries were
healthy populations of the rare and little-known
lace-eyed frog and a new
population of another frog, the Xenorhina arboricola,
which had previously only
been
known to exist in Papua New Guinea.
SOVEREIGN SISTER WINIFRED BARTON
- FEB. 06 EMAIL SERIES
-
**********
Related :
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- JANUARY 06 EMAIL SERIES
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SOVEREIGN SISTER WINIFRED BARTON
- DECEMBER. 05 EMAIL SERIES
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SOVEREIGN SISTER WINIFRED BARTON
- NOVEMBER. 05 EMAIL SERIES
-
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