Expedition Reports

First Xenoglaux Seen Alive In Wild

American Bird Conservancy is reporting the first live sighting a few weeks ago of what is “considered a holy grail of South American ornithology,” Xenoglaux loweryi. Commonly called the long-whiskered owlet – alone in its own genus Xenoglaux, meaning “strange owl” – it was first discovered in 1976. Researchers have caught a few specimens in nets after dark but had not seen it in nature, until was spotted in February in a northern Peruvian rainforest. It was encountered three times during the day and its calls recorded at night in the Alto Nieva’s Peruvian reserve, known locally as the Area [...]

New Bamboo Found in Appalachia

Hill Cane, Iowa State University photo We tend to think that we … know our own biodiversity, and that there isn’t much left to discover in a place like the United States. I think this demonstrates that that’s not true.Lynn Clark, professor of ecology, evolution and organismal biology, Iowa State University Surprise, surprise! Two known species of North American bamboo discovered 200 years ago have been joined by a brand new one just found in the last year. The “hill cane” was discovered in the Appalachian Mountains. This new species of bamboo (Arundinaria appalachiana) grows only to about 6 feet, [...]

More on Aussie Serpent

An illustration of a central ranges taipan. Original news of find reported here on Cryptomundo. New deadly species found A NEW species of the world’s most venomous snake, the taipan, has been discovered. The central ranges taipan was found in the central desert of Western Australia but its habitat could extend into the Northern Territory and South Australia. Dr Mark Hutchinson, from the SA Museum, caught the snake crossing a dirt track on a sunny afternoon during a survey of the Ngaanyatjarra lands late last year. The find was announced yesterday. Laboratory analysis at the WA Museum, and DNA testing [...]

New Aussie Serpent

New species of taipan found AUSTRALIAN researchers have found a new species of taipan snake slithering in the outback. Similar to the western brown snake, the still unnamed species was discovered during an expedition to a remote region about 200km northwest of Uluru in September last year. Dr Mark Hutchinson, reptile and amphibian curator at the South Australian Museum, caught the immature female taipan while it was crossing a dirt track. He said the reptile was about one metre long but, because it was one of the most venomous snakes in the world, he did not inspect the creature on [...]