New sea slug, feather star species discoveries in Papua New Guinea

This video is called Tab Island, Madang, Papua New Guinea, 18 August 2009.

From Wildlife Extra:

New species of sea slugs, feather stars and amphipods discovered in Papua New Guinea lagoon

Expedition led by Nova Southeastern University‘s National Coral Reef Institute discovers wealth of wildlife

March 2013. When Jim Thomas and his global team of researchers returned to the Madang Lagoon in Papua New Guinea, they discovered a treasure trove of new species unknown to science. This is especially relevant as the research team consisted of scientists who had conducted a previous survey in the 1990s.

“In the Madang Lagoon, we went a half mile out off the leading edge of the active Australian Plate and were in 6,000 metres of water,” said Thomas, Ph.D., a researcher at Nova Southeastern University’s National Coral Reef Institute in Hollywood, Fla. “It was once believed there were no reefs on the north coast of Papua New Guinea since there were no shallow bays and lagoons typical of most coral reef environments. But there was lots of biodiversity to be found.”

New species

Thomas and his team discovered new species of sea slugs (nudibranchs), feather stars (crinoids) and amphipods (genus Leucothoe). There was more variety of these indicator species found than there is in the entire length of Australia’s 1,600-mile Great Barrier Reef.

“This was an astonishing discovery,” Thomas said. “We returned to our labs and began to formally assess our collections. We had no idea this lagoon’s bounty was so profound.”

The international team Thomas led included researchers from and the Scripps Institute of Oceanography in San Diego, the California Academy of Sciences and the National Botanical Gardens of Ireland. Their 3-week expedition ended late last year. While in Madang, they joined a large French contingent of scientists from the Paris Museum of Natural History. The NSU-led research team’s findings will be shared with the local villagers, as well as regional and federal governments. It will also be published in peer-reviewed journals.

Environmental threats

The Madang Lagoon faces many environmental threats by land-based pollution from a recently opened tuna cannery whose outfall is very close to the lagoon’s reefs. “Hopefully, our discoveries will strongly encourage governing bodies to recognize the environmental importance of the lagoon and work to stop the pollution,” Thomas said.

Related articles

• Mine waste and canneries threaten Madang Lagoon “treasure trove” (radioaustralia.net.au)
• New species found in threatened New Guinea lagoon (summitcountyvoice.com)
• World’s most diverse coral reef provides many newfound species (mnn.com)
• New Marine Species Discovered in Papua New Guinea (natureworldnews.com)
• New Pacific Species Include Shrimp in a Sponge (livescience.com)
• Diverse coral reef yields many new species (science.nbcnews.com)
• PNG lagoon diversity faces development threat (abc.net.au)

New birds-of-paradise website

This video is called Birds-of-Paradise Project.

From the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in the USA:

Cornell Lab eNews

February 2013

The new website helps explain the Red Bird-of-Paradise‘s lovely display, and much more. Photo by Tim Laman.

Science and Beauty Converge on New Birds-of-Paradise Website Come along with us in the next phase of the Birds-of-Paradise Project: a new website that uses high-definition video to explore the science of these exquisite birds. The site features 35 videos, expert narration by the project scientists, plus sounds, slideshows, and downloadable lessons for educators. We’ll show you how the males create their jaw-dropping colors, shapes, and dances. And we’ll show you why it’s the subdued females that end up in the most powerful roles. Explore the site. Looking for recommendations? Here are a few of our favorites to start with: Meet the family with The 39 Species and The 15 Genera Learn the secrets of shape-shifting Overload your eyes with the Wilson’s Bird-of-Paradise Hear the otherworldly calls of the outrageous-looking King-of-Saxony Bird-of-Paradise Take a light-hearted look at the world of dance in Life’s a Stage Get to know Ed Scholes and Tim Laman as they describe how they grew up to become explorers

Related articles

• New birds-of paradise video (dearkitty1.wordpress.com)
• Birds-of-Paradise Project (ecology.com)
• Birds-of-Paradise Project: Psychedelic Smiley Face (neatorama.com)
• All 39 Species of Birds-of-Paradise, Caught on Incredible Video (motherboard.vice.com)
• Videos: Rare Glimpses of Amazing Birds-of-Paradise Courtship Rituals (wired.com)
• Birds of Paradise (judysp.wordpress.com)
• Cornell Launches Archive of 150,000 Bird Calls and Animal Sounds, with Recordings Going Back to 1929 (openculture.com)
• RaK posted a video (community.humanityhealing.net)
• Fauna: The Beautiful (and Hilarious) Mating Dances of Birds of Paradise (theatlantic.com)

Bird-of-paradise videos

These videos are part of the Birds-of-paradise project.

This video is about that project.

This video about birds-of paradise on the Aru islands in Indonesia says about itself:

Nov 12, 2012 by LabofOrnithology

See what it took for National Geographic photographer Tim Laman, to capture the shot of a lifetime.

This video is called Greater Bird-of-Paradise.

This video is called King-of-Saxony Bird-of-Paradise. Filmed by Tim Laman near Tari Gap in November of 2010.

This video says about itself:

Visit a King Bird-of-Paradise‘s perch in the lowland forests of the Bird’s Head Peninsula in western New Guinea. Watch as a diminutive male practices his courtship display. He aims to impress females with a combination of velvety red plumage, two emerald-green feather disks that bobble on wiry shafts—plus fan-shaped side feathers and abrupt about-face dance moves. Filmed by Tim Laman in August 2009.

More about the birds-of-paradise project is here.

Related articles

• What we do: 8 TED-style talks about birds and saving the world (birds.cornell.edu)
• Birds-of-Paradise (naturalhistorywanderings.com)
• Lecture and New Book Chronicle Epic Quest for Birds-of-Paradise (birds.cornell.edu)
• Kinky kakapo, lyrical lyrebird, moonwalking manakin (toughlittlebirds.com)
• They rooin my day! (thehindu.com)
• Country diary: Blackwater Carr, Norfolk: The jay, midwife of the forest (guardian.co.uk)

Birds-of-Paradise video

This video from the USA says about itself:

Oct 10, 2012

This fall, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Geographic are bringing the Birds-of-Paradise Project to the public with a gorgeous coffee-table book (published October 23, 2012), a major exhibit at the National Geographic Museum (opening November 1), a documentary on the National Geographic Channel (airing at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT November 22), articles in the Cornell Lab’s Living Bird magazine and National Geographic magazine, and National Geographic Live lectures across the country. Get an advance look now…and witness diverse strategies of evolution at work and experience one of nature’s extraordinary wonders – up close.

The full list of events is here.

World’s largest butterfly endangered

This video is called Queen Alexandra’s Birdwing Butterfly.

From daily The Guardian in Britain:

World’s largest butterfly disappearing from Papua New Guinea rainforests

Rare Queen Alexandra’s birdwing is losing habitat to logging and oil palm plantation

Posted by Mark Stratton

Monday 30 July 2012 11.35 BST

How large does a butterfly have to be before anybody notices it is disappearing? In the case of Papua New Guinea‘s (PNG) Queen Alexandra’s birdwing, the answer is enormous.

The world’s largest butterfly boasts a 1ft (30cm) wingspan – imagine the width of a school ruler – yet few outsiders in its rainforest home in Oro province in northern PNG have ever seen it. It’s a scenario unlikely to improve as oil palm plantation and logging remorselessly devours this endangered butterfly’s habitat.

Edwardian naturalist Albert Meek first recorded it in 1906 on a collecting expedition to PNG. The fast-flying butterfly frequents high rainforest canopy so Meek resorted to blasting them down by shotgun. The Natural History Museum taxonomically allocated his buckshot-peppered specimens into the birdwing genus (a tropical grouping possessing super-elongated forewings) and named it after Edward VII’s wife.

How does mimicry work in butterflies? Academy researcher Durrell Kapan and his colleagues have found the answer in the butterfly’s genome: here.

Japan may have a real-life Mothra on its hands. Like the giant moth that often battled Godzilla, the butterflies near the site of the 2011 Fukushima disaster may have been mutated by exposure to radiation: here.

September 2012. This wettest summer for a century saw the numbers of many common butterflies fall, the world’s biggest butterfly count has revealed. More than 25,000 people across the UK took part in the Big Butterfly Count 2012, counting over 223,000 butterflies and day-flying moths: here.

Rare Beck’s petrel survey

This is a Beck’s petrel video.

From BirdLife:

Beck’s pulls in at the petrel station

Tue, Jun 12, 2012

A BirdLife International survey in southern New Ireland, Papua New Guinea, has encountered the largest single aggregation of Critically Endangered Beck’s Petrel Pseudobulweria becki, ever recorded. Upwards of 100 birds were estimated to be present at one location, with a single count recording 58 birds. For a seabird species lost to science for 79 years until its rediscovery in 2007 these vital new data offer a glimmer of hope.

“There was huge excitement from everyone involved as the first bird banked past our small boat. That turned into amazement as we counted more and more across the horizon”, said Jez Bird – the project leader from BirdLife International. “These findings give us momentum, and some important clues to take the conservation of Beck’s Petrel forward.”

Until recently, Beck’s Petrel was only known from two specimens: a female taken at sea east of New Ireland, Papua New Guinea in 1928, and a male taken in the Solomon Islands in 1929. Its rediscovery in July and August 2007, was made when an expedition encountered the species on seven days and at at-least four localities off New Ireland. Beck’s Petrel is listed as Critically Endangered by BirdLife on behalf of the IUCN Red List because it is thought to have a global population of fewer than 250 mature individuals that is believed to be declining.

The principal aim of this recent survey was to gather clues as to the likely whereabouts of the species’ breeding grounds which are yet to be located. Petrels as a group face numerous threats, both at sea and when they come to land to breed. Arguably the most significant comes from introduced mammalian predators which predate adults and chicks in their nesting burrows.

“Identifying exactly where Beck’s Petrel is breeding is an essential precursor to assessing impacts that threats are having on the species, and implementing targeted conservation actions to address them”, said Jez Bird.

One important feature of the survey is that it didn’t use ‘chum’ to attract the birds. The earlier rediscovery of Beck’s Petrel and subsequent sightings have used this mix of fish discards and fish oil to concentrate birds from the surrounding area. It’s an extremely effective attractant but as a result it can yield a biased impression of a species’ true abundance in an area.

“To see so many Beck’s Petrels without the stimulus of chum is unprecedented”, noted Jez. “Typically these birds are solitary at sea and are encountered far offshore. A gathering like this, so close to land, while not definitive, strongly indicates that they are breeding nearby”.

As well as actively searching for the birds, the survey involved numerous consultations with local coastal communities. Petrels were and are frequently harvested in the Pacific, and fear of their eerie night-time calls often lead villages to establish taboo areas in the forest where entry is prohibited. Intriguingly no-one locally knew Beck’s Petrel when presented with pictures and there was no knowledge of any nesting areas locally. This, and the apparent abundance of certain petrel predators like wild pigs in coastal and foothill forest suggests they are most likely to be breeding in montane areas, consistent with what is already known of similar species.

The concentration of birds encountered in this survey was seen at the mouth of a large bay, sitting directly below New Ireland’s highest peak (at over 2,000 m), Mt Agil. The bay offers the shortest straight line distance to the summit. A focus of future work will be to spot-light at night for birds returning to nesting burrows on the mountain, a technique that has proven effective in surveying threatened petrels elsewhere.

“This is fantastic news for this Critically Endangered species. Hopefully further surveys will be able to build on these results and confirm the location and size of breeding colonies, which will enable us to begin targeted conservation action”, said Andy Symes, BirdLife’s Global Species Programme Officer.

This survey, kindly supported by the Mohammed Bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund and the Global Greengrants Fund have responded to those priorities, implementing key research actions for this Critically Endangered species as part of the BirdLife Preventing Extinctions Programme. It represents BirdLife’s first project in Papua New Guinea, working alongside local conservation organisation Ailan Awareness.

If you would like to make a donation that will help BirdLife International prevent extinctions please follow this link. To find out more about how you or your company can become a BirdLife Species Champion please email species.champions@birdlife.org.

New gecko discovery in Papua New Guinea

This video is called BUMBLEBEE GECKO DISCOVERED IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA.

From Wildlife Extra:

New ’bumblebee’ gecko discovered in Papua New Guinea

Unexplored region could contain many new species

April 2012. A new species of gecko, adorned like a bumblebee with black-and-gold bands and rows of skin nodules that enhance its camouflage on the tropical forest floor has been discovered in Papua New Guinea by biologists from the Papua New Guinea National Museum and the U.S. Geological Survey.

Specimens of the lizard, which measures about 5 inches from head to tail, were collected in May 2010 in Sohoniliu Village on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea. Herpetologists George Zug of the Smithsonian Institution and Robert Fisher of the USGS Western Ecological Research Center described the new species.

“We’ve officially named it Nactus kunan for its striking colour pattern – kunan means ‘bumblebee’ in the local Nali language,” says Fisher. “It belongs to a genus of slender-toed geckos, which means these guys don’t have the padded, wall-climbing toes like the common house gecko, or the day gecko in the car insurance commercials.”

Fisher found two individuals of the bumblebee gecko on Manus Island in 2010 and analysed their genetics to show that the lizards were new and distinctive. Two additional species were found that trip, and the specimens await further analysis.

“This species was a striking surprise, as I’ve been working on the genus since the 1970s, and would not have predicted this discovery,” says Zug, a curator emeritus at the National Museum of Natural History.

Many new species in unexplored region

“Exploration of Manus Province is in its infancy, with many new species possible, and this joint expedition was our first to this region,” says Bulisa Iova, the reptile curator at the Papua New Guinea National Museum.

This research on Pacific lizard biodiversity was supported by the Smithsonian, U.S. Department of Defense and USGS.

So, part of the money for this beautiful discovery comes from a very ugly source: the Pentagon. The United States Department of “Defense”; “Defense” which, for some reason, invariably happens thousands of miles away from US borders. The Pentagon, the worst polluters in the world. What a pity that this beautiful interesting Papua New Guinea lizard is abused for Pentagon greenwashing.

More about greenwashing by militarists is here.

New New Guinea frog is world’s smallest vertebrate

From the Public Library of Science:

New species of tiny frog is world’s smallest vertebrate

Researchers have found two new frog species in New Guinea, one of which is the new smallest known vertebrate on Earth. The results are reported in the Jan. 11 issue of the online journal PLoS ONE, and the team of researchers was led by Christopher Austin of Louisiana State University.

The new smallest vertebrate species is called Paedophryne amauensis, named after Amau Village in Papua New Guinea, where it was found. The adult body size for these frogs ranges from just 7.0 to 8.0 millimeters.

According to Dr. Austin, the discovery “is of considerable interest to biologists because little is understood about the functional constraints that come with extreme body size, whether large or small”. The previous smallest vertebrate was a fish, called Paedocypris progenetica, with an adult size of 7.9 to 10.3 millimeters.

See also here. You can also listen to the new frog’s mating call there.

See also here. And here. And here.

Is this frog really the smallest vertebrate? See here.

February 2012 – Amphibian populations are declining around the world, to the extent that some of the last survivors of Central America’s once rich diversity of frogs now exist only in captivity. A male Rabbs’ fringe-limbed tree frog, believed to be one of only two of his kind left on Earth, has died at Zoo Atlanta: here.

First-ever night orchid discovery

Daily The Morning Star in Britain reports:

The world’s first-known night-flowering orchid has been discovered on New Britain island, near Papua New Guinea, experts from Kew Gardens said today.

The species, Bulbophyllum nocturnum, is the first-known example of an orchid which has flowers that consistently open after dark and close in the morning.

Long-beaked echidna research

From the Wildlife Conservation Society:

Wildlife Conservation Society supports world’s first study of egg-laying mammal

Study on Papua New Guinea‘s long-beaked echidna reveals elusive habits

A Wildlife Conservation Society research intern working in the wilds of Papua New Guinea has successfully completed what many other field biologists considered “mission impossible”—the first study of a rare egg-laying mammal called the long-beaked echidna.

The WCS-supported study—which consisted of thousands of hours of grueling field work in Papua New Guinea’s Crater Mountain Wildlife Management Area—took Muse D. Opiang, now of the Papua New Guinea Institute of Biological Research, several years of remotely tracking the porcupine-sized mammals and recording their dens and other signs.

The study, published in a recent of the Journal of Mammalogy, chronicles the first solid data on the animal’s nocturnal foraging behaviors, movement patterns, and home-range sizes for the species.

The long-beaked echidna is found only in New Guinea and is a member of the monotremes, a primitive order of mammals that forced zoologists to change their very definitions of what a mammal is. Unlike all other mammals, monotremes like the echidna (also called the spiny anteater) and the better known platypus lay eggs.

“All of the time and effort invested in the study has paid off with new insights into the natural history of this seldom seen and unusual mammal,” said Opiang. “These findings will help inform conservation strategies for the species, which is threatened by hunting and habitat loss.”

The nocturnal, subterranean lifestyle of the species represented a real challenge for field research, with some experts declaring the species impossible to study. And it did take some time – nearly 6,000 man-hours of field work between 2001-2005. Opiang spent 500 hours in the field before locating his first animal.

In the end, Opiang managed to capture 22 individual echidnas (15 adults and 7 juveniles), and affixed radio transmitters to 9 adults and 3 juveniles. Because this was the first study of the unusual species, Opiang had to develop methods by trial and error. Initially, transmitters were attached to spines, but the constant burrowing and digging of the echidnas resulted in transmitters falling off. The ankle proved to be a more reliable placement point. Home ranges for the tracked echidnas averaged 39 hectares (96 acres).

The study located over 200 den sites, most of which were underground, while others were found in cliff faces and in thick vegetation. One lactating female was found. Other signs recorded in the study were nose-pokes (when the echidna pokes its tube-like snout in the soil in search of invertebrate prey) and digs (deeper holes excavated with the echidna’s long claws).

“The limited information on the long-beaked echidna’s biology, feeding behavior and ecology has prevented conservationists from formulating plans for protecting this elusive and threatened animal,” said Dr. Ross Sinclair, Director of WCS’s Papua New Guinea program. “The research methods developed by Opiang and the data he gathered can now help us to manage and protect this rare and species.”

About long-beaked echidnas

* Echidnas are members of the monotremes, an order of mammals that lay leathery eggs, as opposed to placental and marsupial mammals, both groups of which give birth to live young.
* Echidnas resemble anteaters with long course hairs and spines. They are powerful diggers and possess short legs with long claws.
* The snout of the echidna ends in a tiny mouth with no teeth.
* Long-beaked echidnas feed on insect larvae, worms, and other invertebrates (whereas short-beaked echidnas prefer ants and termites).
* Echidnas and platypuses are more reptile-like than other mammals, with features such as: a more sprawling gait; and a single opening for depositing waste and facilitating reproduction (known as a cloaca, as in both birds and reptiles).
* Echidnas (both long- and short-beaked) lay a single egg, which the female holds in a sticky pouch. The hatchling (known as a “puggle”) resides in the pouch for between 40-50 days and receives milk from two mammary patches (echidnas have no teats).
* Once the puggle develops spines, the mother digs a nursery den that becomes the puggle’s new home; the mother returns every five days to nurse the puggle. The baby is weaned in seven months.

This new study is about the eastern long-beaked echidna.

FREQUENCY OF BREEDING AND RECRUITMENT IN THE SHORT-BEAKED ECHIDNA, TACHYGLOSSUS ACULEATUS: here.

One of Australia’s most unusual animals, the platypus, is being put at risk by yabby traps: here.

SYDNEY: New research suggests that the echidna may have evolved from a platypus-like animal, sometime in the last 30 millions years ago. The discovery may explain a confusing lack of echidnas in the fossil record: here.

Lucy Cooke: World’s weirdest penis belongs to the echidna (GRAPHIC PHOTO): here.

New insights into the biology of the platypus and echidna have been published, providing a collection of unique research data about the world’s only monotremes: here.

Extreme Monotremes: Why Do Egg-Laying Mammals Still Exist? Here.

Unlocking the mystery of the duck-billed platypus’ venom: here.

The first results from a comprehensive study of the health and abundance of the platypus population in the Murrumbidgee catchment in eastern Australia show that despite a tough environment, platypuses continue to survive: here.

Island Platypuses Face Risky Future. The iconic Australian animal is in danger of being wiped out due to lack of genetic diversity: here.

The Egg-Laying Mammals: here.