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Scientists Find New Species In Remote New Guinea

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the no-gorillas-in-this-mist dept.

An anonymous reader writes "A team of scientists exploring an isolated jungle in one of Indonesia's most remote provinces said they discovered dozens of new species of frogs, butterflies and plants as well as large mammals hunted to near extinction elsewhere. The team also found wildlife that were remarkably unafraid of humans during their rapid assessment survey of the Foja Mountains, which has more than two million acres of old growth tropical forest."

45 of 179 comments (clear)

  1. So tell us. by falzer · · Score: 5, Funny

    How do they taste?

    1. Re:So tell us. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Surprisingly like chicken.

    2. Re:So tell us. by Three+Headed+Man · · Score: 2, Funny

      Save the endangered species! Collect the whole set!

      --
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    3. Re:So tell us. by erroneous · · Score: 2, Funny

      "seriously tasty" according to reports

      --
      erroneous: look me up in a dictionary
  2. Consequences of Discovery by Iron+(III)+Chloride · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Hopefully this might provide more public incentive in terms of supporting conservation efforts.

    --
    Cogito, ergo sum, fosho!
  3. They found them !!! by __aahlyu4518 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    So anyone taking bets on how long it will take before these 'hunted to near extinction' mammals will really be extinct?

    1. Re:They found them !!! by User+956 · · Score: 4, Funny

      So anyone taking bets on how long it will take before these 'hunted to near extinction' mammals will really be extinct?

      That depends. Can you make fancy shoes out of them?

      --
      The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
  4. Uh-oh by Council · · Score: 4, Funny

    the team also found wildlife that were remarkably unafraid of humans

    That's what happens whenever you find animals that haven't encountered humans before. Thing is, the after the first few encounters they'll sort themselves into two groups.

    One group is the ones who learn to be afraid of us. The other, well . . .

    --
    xkcd.com - a webcomic of mathematics, love, and language.
    1. Re:Uh-oh by B3ryllium · · Score: 4, Funny

      We call that other group "tasty".

    2. Re:Uh-oh by Belseth · · Score: 2, Funny
      We call that other group "tasty".

      There are two subgroups to the "Tasty" group, the "Fast" and the "Slow" groups. The Fast animal group tends to be greasier and often deep fried. The Slow group tend to be healthier but not as tasty. It's not clear how wild animals in the Fast group came to be deep fried but it's thought to be a survival adaptation. Of coarse the Intellegent Design faction claim that God simply made them that way. I third theory involves natives with deep fryers but both sides have discounted that theory as rediculous.

  5. wood logging companies by jurt1235 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Sarcasm on

    They could only reach the remote mountainous area by helicopter, which they described it as akin to finding a "Garden of Eden".

    Wood logging companies & local farmers have been found willing to provide easier access to the area, as a local farmer said:
    I will burn down 5 hectares a month to create new places for my crops. That way tourist will be able to get closer to these pretty animals everyday without having to endanger them (the editor: By them he meant the tourist, because everybody knows that road travel in Indonesia is the safest way to travel) by helicopter.

    A loggin company responded too:
    2 million years without forest maintenance is not good for tourism. We are willing to trim the trees for easier access.

    Sarcasm off

    --

    My wife's sketchblog Blob[p]: Gastrono-me
  6. Learning the Birds n' Bees by malia8888 · · Score: 4, Funny
    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."

    Which is the closest thing to a sex life these scientists have ever had in their bespectacled, nerdy lives. ... Bespectacled? nerdy? I must be projecting heavily here.

    --
    Harpo Tunnel Syndrome--my wrist feels funny.
  7. Tourism by MichaelSmith · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This whole island: Papua and W New Guinea is too dangerous for normal people to consider going there. But is has forests and wildlife which have been wiped out in most other parts of Asia.

    If the politics can be sorted out the people living there will be sitting on an economic goldmine from tourism alone.

    --
    http://michaelsmith.id.au
    1. Re:Tourism by caffeinemessiah · · Score: 2, Insightful

      With cannibalism (in some parts), administration problems (to put it mildly) and rampant missionaries trying to save souls, I'm pretty sure tourism is PRETTY low on their list right now.

      --
      An old-timer with old-timey ideas.
    2. Re:Tourism by MichaelSmith · · Score: 2, Informative
      Maybe I'm living in a vacuum, but I don't get your sig. :)

      The Apollo lunar surface journal is the official record of everything which happened on the moon during the apollo program. It is very detailed. I have plucked it on to my palm pilot and I read it when I have free time.

      Pete Conrad was the commander of the Apollo 12 mission and he is (alas was) a real character. Mike Collins (CM pilot on Apollo 11) said in his book that Conrad was the only astronaut who exactly fitted the public perception of "Buck Rogers" astronauts.

      Neil Armstrong almost ran out of fuel for his landing. He got distracted by the engineering (not his job) and then lost right of the ground during final approach. He was the first, but some would say not the best.

      Conrad got to the landing site early with loads of fuel. He flew a circuit over the landing area, checking out several possible places to set the LM down. This being his only opportunity to fly an LM he found time for a couple of very radical turns at low altitude, nearly turning the LM on its side, throwing it around like he was in an airshow. Then he picked his spot. Hovered for a nice dramatic pause, and plonked the spacecraft right down on the exact edge of surveyor crater.

      The quote is from a point in one of the two EVA's on that flight where Conrad was in a lot of pain from a badly fitting pressure suit, but still kept his focus and managed the occasional joke.

      Al Bean pauses and checks his suit pressure. He says he felt a change in suit pressure

      Conrad: I thought you were going to go off like a ballon there Al!

      The thing is, the man had style.

      --
      http://michaelsmith.id.au
    3. Re:Tourism by krystofa · · Score: 3, Interesting

      PNG does have a reputation for being dangerous. However, it is possible to visit. As a child I used to live in Goroka, although crime was apparent I don't remember it being more of a menace than where I live now, Manchester UK.

      Of course, the /. article isn't clear as to whether this is PNG (East side of the island) or Irian Jaya (The Indonesian province). My understanding of Irian Jaya is that it is dangerous, whereas I have every intention of visiting PNG again I would draw the line at Irian Jaya.

      As with everywhere; if you want to visit, take precausions and read about it first.

    4. Re:Tourism by Weh · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Hmm, I was born in PNG, it is true that Port Moresby is one of the most dangerous cities in the world and there is a lot of unrest going on in the country (Bougainville etc.). However the Indonesian part (I also lived there for a few years) is relatively safe, basically the Indonesians (Javanese) took over the role of the Dutch as colonizers and (at the time) there was military everywhere.

      The biggest threat to wildlife in west papua comes from the mining companies (like Freeport and logging.

    5. Re:Tourism by digidave · · Score: 2, Funny

      Everywhere looks favourable when you compare it to Manchester.

      --
      The global economy is a great thing until you feel it locally.
  8. Dangerous? by ami-in-hamburg · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I don't understand the dangerous comment? I was there in 1994 when I was in the Marines and it didn't seem dangerous to me at all. The people were actually very friendly and the diving is awesome.

    They did warn us not to go anywhere alone but there was some kind of civil war going on at the time. That was nowhere near Papua though.

    Overall, I thought it was a pretty cool place!

  9. Well, obviously... by st1d · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...we'll have to send a number of scientists into the area to catalog all these new finds. Several teams of to catalog plants, birds, insects, mammels, etc. Then we'll need to create research areas for these scientists to work, because they'll need time to do all the research needed. Naturally, they'll need supplies, and flying in supplies to so many scientists will be extremely costly, so we should build a few roads to deliver goods to all the areas they'll be working in. It's a large area, so we should probably build a little infrastructure for refueling and medical needs, as well. That infrastructure will require power, so we should run a number of power lines to each of the various places. Of course, with this much research to be done, it would be a lot to ask for those scientists to have to leave their families behind for long periods of time, so we should build accomodations for their families. Those kids of theirs will need an education, so schools are a must. All work and no play is bad for morale, so we should build a few different types of entertainment for the residents, too. Naturally, with this many people in a newly discovered source of rare and unknown plants and animals, we need to make sure no one takes animals and plants out of the area, so we'll need to make sure we provide a healthy number of resource control officers, and they have needs and families as well. Geez, with this many people, we're bound to have crime and disorganization, so we'll need police and government officials to help maintain the order. Of course, we'll need judges and lawyers, to keep the police and politicians honest and make sure balance is maintained somewhat. We'll need construction workers to help build all this, and they'll need... :)

    --
    Microsoft has just released their much anticipated hands-free cordless mouse. Warning, it may hurt a little at first.
  10. How do YOU taste by Mrs.+Grundy · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If you read the article you may have notice the passing reference to the giant cassowary. It's basically a four foot chicken with a bad temper and a crazy look in its eye who can use its razor-sharp talons to disembowel a man where he stands. That's right, this is one of the last remaining birds that can easily kill a person and while it's not a man-eater, I'm sure there are plenty of other animals in the jungle that would be happy to let the cassowary play the butcher and carve you up like a holiday ham for their culinary delight. So before you start wondering about what kind of wine to server with tree kangaroo, you might first stop to ask yourself, how do you taste.

    1. Re:How do YOU taste by eskimopi · · Score: 2, Funny

      Sloppy, sloppy research. All you had to do was use SPELL CHECK! Even Word spell check! Then you would realize that you were actually talking about the Giant Cappowary. It is also a giant chicken (kismet favors you, my friend), and it can also disembowel you (also correct...miraculously), but it doesn't just use its claws like a raptor. It uses an artistic blend of dancing and martial arts to rend your innards. Much like the American system of gym-kata, a rich blend which evolved in the mid-eighties, the cappowary differs in that it sucks in Tekken 2, and that it evolved millions of years ago in Brazil and apparently Papua-New Guinea. Hooray science. Boo you, for poor research, though. You should research the sloth, you lazy bastard.

    2. Re:How do YOU taste by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      Actually, like pork.

      You may recall that the South Sea islanders who enjoyed a little cannibalism refered to man as 'long pig'. They may still do so, for all I know.

      And the pig has very similar body structures to ourselves - so much so that pig heart valves were once used for organ transplants (and may still be, for all I know).

      But the cincher for me was an experience while welding in the kitchen (as you do...). When you hit rust you get a shower of sparks, and one minute globule of molten metal hit me on an unprotected tbumb. It was very small, but white hot, and burnt straight through my skin before stopping. I put my thumb in my mouth (reflex action) and was rewarded with a strong taste of pork crackling. Under a glass, the edges of the wound looked exactly like the skin on a pork roast.

      So /. has now had a post from an auto-cannibal. And if this doesn't get modded informative, I'll eat my ......

    3. Re:How do YOU taste by kalirion · · Score: 3, Informative

      Wow, never heard of this bird before, so I wikipedia'd it. Of particular interest:

      The Southern Cassowary is the second-largest bird in Australia and the third-largest remaining bird in the world (after the ostrich and emu). Adult Southern Cassowaries are 1.5 to 1.8 m (5½ feet) tall and weigh about 60 kilograms (130 pounds). They have a bony casque on the head that is used to batter through underbrush, making them the only armoured bird in the world. Females are bigger and more brightly coloured.

      A cassowary's three-toed feet have sharp claws; the dagger-like middle claw is 120 mm (5 inches) long. This claw is particularly dangerous since the Cassowary can use it to kill an enemy, disemboweling it with a single kick. They can run up to 50 km/h (32 mph) through the dense forrest, pushing aside small trees and brush with their boney casques. They can jump up to 1.5 m (5 feet) and they are good swimmers.

      The 2004 edition of the Guiness Book of Records lists the cassowary as the world's most dangerous bird. Normally cassowaries are very shy but when disturbed can lash out dangerously with their powerful legs. During World War II American and Australian troops stationed in New Guinea were warned to steer clear of the birds. They are capable of inflicting serious injuries on an adult human, even causing death, but these instances usually result from provocation by the human, or are due to the involvement of dogs; wounded or cornered birds are particularly dangerous. Humans are well advised to stay away from Cassowaries in their natural environment as the bird can easily outmaneuver even an armed person. Cassowaries, deftly using their surroundings to conceal their movements, have been known to out-flank organized groups of human predators. Cassowaries are considered to be one of the most dangerous animals to keep in zoos, based on the frequency and severity of injuries incurred by zookeepers.

      An unprovoked attack on a Papua New Guinea village has also been documented, but was the result of a bird previously raised in captivity being released into the wild. At least two people, a man and his mother, were confirmed to have died as a result of this attack.

      More recently, Cassowaries have been known to lose their natural fear of man. As a result, large areas of Australian National Parks have been temporarily closed to avoid human contact with the bird.

  11. pictures? by phyl0x · · Score: 2, Interesting

    any idea when pictures are going to show up? magazines? tv specials?

    1. Re:pictures? by phyl0x · · Score: 5, Informative

      First pics

  12. How many? by deep44 · · Score: 4, Insightful
    We found dozens, if not hundreds, of new species ..
    Dozens? Hundreds? Do you mean to tell me that nobody actually counted?
    1. Re:How many? by st1d · · Score: 2, Informative

      They did, but the darn things kept running/flying away.

      "1, 2, 3...1, 2...1, 2, 3..."

      --
      Microsoft has just released their much anticipated hands-free cordless mouse. Warning, it may hurt a little at first.
    2. Re:How many? by FleaPlus · · Score: 2, Informative

      We found dozens, if not hundreds, of new species ..

      Dozens? Hundreds? Do you mean to tell me that nobody actually counted?

      I think the problem is that you can't always tell two organisms are of different species with a quick glance. Sometimes you actually need to do things like behavioral or genetic studies to be sure. Also, until they've had time to sort through the records, there's also the possibility that some of the species they've discovered have already been found elsewhere.

  13. Noah by quokkapox · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Noah had a big ark, and was really thorough.

    Or there maybe could be something to this new "Theory" of "Evolution".

    How many more of these discoveries do we need before the fanatics finally give it up?

    Tree Kangaroos. Five hundred previously unknown plant species. Wow. Just wow.

    --
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    1. Re:Noah by CmdrGravy · · Score: 2, Funny

      Actually "Noahs Ark" was a franchise, there were millions of arks all over the world. Unfortunately they weren't perfect and millions of animals never made it onto the ark but you wont have heard of them because the ones which weren't fish all died.

  14. no man's land... by layer3switch · · Score: 2, Insightful

    "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."

    Lets keep it that way. "Do Not Feed The Animal" sign is kinda getting old right now.

    --
    "Don't let fools fool you. They are the clever ones."
  15. makes me wonder by CAIMLAS · · Score: 2, Interesting

    It's finds like this which make me wonder: are there still what we consider to be "dinosaurs" - and what were considered "dragons" prior to 1850 or so - roaming the remote places of the earth? There seems to be quite a few first-hand accounts of such sightings, but no hard evidence.

    --
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    1. Re:makes me wonder by Gumshoe · · Score: 2, Interesting

      "if cryptozoology is your thing, then my money's on the Yeti."

      The Orang Pendek of Sumatra is a much more likely candidate IMO.

      http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/3734 946.stm

      http://www.forteantimes.com/articles/182_orang1.sh tml

    2. Re:makes me wonder by KaushalParekh · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Check out the Komodo dragon. Their saliva is so infectious that just a bite kills the prey. It could have been the source of fire-breathing dragon mythology.

  16. Re:Cats by st1d · · Score: 2, Funny

    Great, now all I have to do is figure out what the "sweet" is in "sweet and cat pork". :)

    --
    Microsoft has just released their much anticipated hands-free cordless mouse. Warning, it may hurt a little at first.
  17. Save them! by ben_1432 · · Score: 2, Funny

    When will they be hosing them down with tugboats?

  18. Thylacines (Marsupial Wolf) ?? by Savage-Rabbit · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Hopefully this might provide more public incentive in terms of supporting conservation efforts.

    This raises some interesting possibilities. According to some of the local tribes, Thylacines supposedly still exist in some of the high mountain valleys of New Guinea. It would be really nice if a viable population was found and this sounds like just the place where that might happen. If that was the case the I bet the Australians will be interested.

    --
    Only to idiots, are orders laws.
    -- Henning von Tresckow
  19. Recommended Reading by bmgoau · · Score: 3, Informative

    Recommended Reading: Throwim Way Leg - Tim Flannery

    Documents the journy's of a mammalian biologist during his 11 years in Puapua New Guinuie

    *First Contact with new tribes
    *Discovery of new spiders, snakes, tree kangaroos etc

  20. Common sense area unit by Life700MB · · Score: 3, Funny


    For the ignorants out there, an area of two million acres is equivalente to a 1,264M Volkwagens one.

    No, really.


    --
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  21. New species are nothing new by stunt_penguin · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's not that hard to find a new species- walk into any isolated forested region on earth and before you know it you'll be batting away unclassified insects, hacking your way through undiscovered shrubs, and if you're really unlucky, being poisoned by some new snake venom or frog toxin. People should realise that we really don't know shit about what's in the rainforests of the Amazon, never mind Papua New Guinea.

    This is, however an excellent discovery, and I don't mean to just dismiss the achievements of the scientists involved- I just want to point out that there are thousands of types of plants and animals out there that we haven't classified yet.

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  22. google has nothing on this place at all by Paua+Fritter · · Score: 2, Funny
    and what's more:
    Your search for pizza near -2 28' 60.00", +138 0' 0.00" did not match any locations.
    folks! don't even bother
  23. NYtimes article, with pictures by animeshpathak · · Score: 3, Informative

    Here it is. Free registration/bugmenot required :-).
    -A

    --
    "- What's so unpleasant about being drunk?"
    "- You ask a glass of water."[from h2g2]
  24. Homo floresiensis? by orthogonal · · Score: 2, Funny

    Any nasty hobbitses?

    --
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  25. Scientists look in new place, find new things! by mveloso · · Score: 2, Funny

    You can't find new stuff when you're sitting behind a desk in a university basement. Seek, and ye shall find!