[va-richmond-general] New bird discovered!
- From: "featherchaser@xxxxxxxxxx" <featherchaser@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: va-richmond-general@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 7 Feb 2006 10:33:58 -0500
http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/science/02/07/papua.species.reut/index.html
'Lost world' found in jungle
Tuesday, February 7, 2006; Posted: 7:33 a.m. EST (12:33 GMT)
A new species of Smoky honeyeater is seen in this photo released by
Conservation International.
OSLO, Norway (Reuters) -- Scientists say they have found a "Lost World" in
an Indonesian mountain jungle, home to dozens of exotic new species of
birds, butterflies, frogs and plants.
"It's as close to the Garden of Eden as you're going to find on Earth,"
said Bruce Beehler, co-leader of the U.S., Indonesian, and Australian
expedition to part of the cloud-shrouded Foja mountains in the west of New
Guinea.
Indigenous peoples living near the Foja range, which rises to 2,200 meters
(7,218 feet), said they did not venture into the trackless area of 3,000
square kilometers (1,200 square miles) -- roughly the size of Luxembourg or
the U.S. state of Rhode Island.
The team of 25 scientists rode helicopters to boggy clearings in the
pristine zone.
"We just scratched the surface," Beehler told Reuters. "Anyone who goes
there will come back with a mystery."
The expedition found a new type of honeyeater bird with a bright orange
patch on its face, known only to local people and the first new bird
species documented on the island in more than 60 years.
They also found more than 20 new species of frog, four new species of
butterfly and plants including five new palms.
And they took the first photographs of "Berlepsch's six-wired bird of
paradise," which appears in 19th century collections but whose home had
previously been unknown.
The bird is named after six fine feathers about four inches (10
centimeters) long on the head of the male which can be raised and shaken in
courtship displays.
'Animals not afraid'
The expedition also took the first photographs of a Golden-fronted
bowerbird in front of a bower made of sticks, while he was hanging up blue
forest berries to attract females.
It found a rare tree kangaroo, previously unsighted in Indonesia. Beehler
said the naturalists reckoned that there was likely to be a new species of
kangaroo living higher altitudes.
The scientists visited in the wet season, which limited the numbers of
flying insects.
"Any expedition visiting in the dry season would probably discover many
more butterflies," he said.
Beehler, who works at Conservation International in Washington, said the
area was probably the largest pristine tropical forest in Asia. Animals
there were unafraid of humans.
"I suspect there are some areas like this in Africa, and am sure that there
are similar places in South America," he said.
Around the world, pristine areas are under increasing threat from expanding
human settlements and pollution. A U.N. meeting in Brazil in March will
seek ways to slow the accelerating rate of extinctions.
Beehler said the Indonesian government was doing the right thing by keeping
the area off limits to most visitors -- including loggers and mineral
prospectors.
The scientists cut two trails about four kilometers (2.5 miles) long,
leaving vast tracts still to be explored.
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