Over 1000 New Species Found in New Guinea

A fanged frog, a bright yellow snail and a blue lizard are among more than 1,060 new species recently found on the Melanesian island of New Guinea, environment group World Wildlife Fund said.

Among the new species discovered from 1998 to 2008 were 218 new kinds of plants (of which around 100 are orchids), 580 invertebrates, 134 amphibians, 2 birds, 71 fish (including an extremely rare 8-foot-long river shark), 43 reptiles and 12 mammals.

The bad news is that nearly all are at risk due to human activities, such as logging and forest conversion to agriculture.

“This report shows that New Guinea’s forests and rivers are among the richest and most biodiverse in the world. But it also shows us that unchecked human demand can push even the wealthiest environments to bankruptcy,” Neil Stronach, WWF Western Melanesia’s Program Representative, was quoted as saying in a press release.

He added, "If you look at New Guinea in terms of biological diversity, it is much more like a continent than an island. Scientists found an average of two new species each week from 1998 to 2008 –- nearly unheard of in this day and age."

Check out some of the recently discovered new species:

(Blue-eyed spotted cuscus (Spilocuscus wilsoni), Papua New Guinea. One new mammal species has been discovered in the region on average every year over the past ten years. The highest diversity of tree-dwelling marsupials in the world exists on New Guinea, with an incredible 38 species. One of these species, the Blue-eyed Spotted Cuscus (Spilocuscus wilsoni), a small possum endemic to Papua in Indonesia, was discovered in 2004. Copyright: © WWF/Tim Flannery)

(Monitor lizard (Varanus macraei), Papua New Guinea. The most striking new reptiles identified in New Guinea in the last decade are the three new monitor lizards discovered on tiny islands off the Vogelkop (Birdís Head) Peninsula of Papua in Indonesia. Varanus macraei, found on the island of Batanta and described in 2001, is one of the most spectacular reptile discoveries anywhere. Capable of reaching a metre in length, this beautiful species is black with a mesmerising pattern of turquoise and blue. Copyright: © WWF/Lutz Obelgonner)

(Wattled Smoky Honeyeater (Melipotes carolae), Papua New Guinea. In November 2005, a team led by Conservation International landed by helicopter into a lost world deep in the forests of New Guineaís mist-shrouded Foja Mountains in Indonesiaís Papua Province. Within minutes of arriving in this isolated range, the field team discovered a new bird species, the Wattled Smoky Honeyeater (Melipotes carolae). The entire Foja forest tract covers some 9,712 sq km and is the largest road-free tropical forest in the Asia-Pacific. People from nearby villages do not enter the uplands, in part because of inaccessibility, but also because the summits are considered sacred. What also helped the honeyeater elude discovery was its silent nature. The scientists never heard or recorded the species making a sound, a characteristic that separates Melipotes carolae from other honeyeaters.
Copyright: © WWF/Bruce Beehler)

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