It is always good to update a year old story. The Kokako ~ the New Zealand version of the ivory-billed woodpecker intrigue ~ is back in the news. The Kokako has recently been in the newspapers again, with a new sighting of this contemporary cryptid. Alec Milne, an amateur ornithologist from Golden Bay, in the Nelson region at the top of the South Island, has reported to the New Zealand Department of Conservation that he has recently heard what he believes was the call of the South Island kokako at the head of the Cobb Valley in Kahurangi National Park, [...]
Lungless Frog Discovered
Photo of Barbourula kalimantanensis. Researchers have confirmed the first case of complete lunglessness in a frog, according to a report in the April 8, 2008, issue of Current Biology, a publication of Cell Press. The aquatic frog Barbourula kalimantanensis apparently gets all the oxygen it needs through its skin. The closely related Barbourula busuangensis or Philippine Flat-headed Frog. Previously known from only two specimens, two new populations of the aquatic frog Barbourula kalimantanensis were found by the team during a recent expedition to Indonesian Borneo. “We knew that we would have to be very lucky just to find the frog,” [...]
New Mystery Fish
A strange new mystery fish find has turned up from Pioneer Park Pond in Brigham City, Utah. It allegedly has biologists stumped. A fish with fangs was discovered; now officials are trying to figure out what exactly it is. CNN News Video. What do you think? One thing it is not: a squashed otter. The following is a snakehead: Below is an unidentified fish caught in the Amazon River: Following, a wolf fish:
New Brazilian Species Discovered
A team of researchers and experts of Brazil’s Tocantins Sierra Environmental Station has catalogued 440 animal species in the Tocantins Sierra Wildlife Reserve (TSWR), among them 14 new species. Their work lasted 30 days. Below are photos of five of the species of interest to the researchers: Corythomantis greeningi Bachia sp. Stenocercus quinarius Proceratophrys sp. Phyllomedusa sp. The two lizards (Bachia and Stenocercus) are said to be “recently described,” as well as the Phyllomedusa frog. The Proceratophrys toad “has yet to be described,” and the Corythomantis amphibian, though already described, is said to be “rarely encountered” in the area under [...]
New Wolverine Photos
A wolverine has been captured on camera by an Oregon State student, Katie Moriarty. Confirming new photographs (below) have been recorded from the Tahoe National Forest in California, during mid-March 2008. Earlier, it was established this is the first wolverine verified in California since 1922. Side view of a wolverine photographed by a remotely triggered camera at a snare established, by another study, for the purpose of collecting hair from American martens. The snare is comprised of a black plastic base from which brass gun-cleaning brushes are attached. Bait, which is normally attached immediately above the marten hair snare, had [...]
Sri Lanka’s Newest Shrew
The Greater White-toothed Shrew (Crocidura russula), shown above, is a small shrew found in Europe and North Africa, and related to the species newly discovered. A new, endemic species of shrew Crocidura hikmiya, has been described from Sri Lanka. The new shrew is presently only known from mid-montane and lowland rainforests of Sinharaja. This shrew was previously been identified as Ceylon Long-tailed Shrew (Crocidura miya). However the latter species is now believed to be confined to the montane forests of the central hills. The researchers believe that the most frequently encountered shrew in Sinharaja is the new species. This raises [...]
Giant Species Found in Antarctic
National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research scientists Brent Wood (NIWA fisheries scientist, left) and Stefano Schiaparelli (Italian National Antarctic Museum taxonomist, right) examine an Antarctic toothfish (1.81 m long, 57 kg) in Tangaroa’s wet lab in Antarctic waters. Found: giant jellyfish with 12-foot tentacles, large sea spiders, huge sea snails, and 2-foot-wide starfish. Breaking news is that incredibly large new species have been found in New Zealand’s Antarctic waters. Of the 30,000 specimens collected, hundreds might turn out to be new species. National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research team members Sadie Mills (NIWA curatorial technician, left) and Niki [...]
New Species Photo Roundup
During the first couple weeks of March, several new species have been revealed as new discoveries. Here is a survey of their published images and links to more details about the findings. The green tree skink (Prasinohaema virens) is one of five described species of green-blooded lizards from New Guinea. Credit: Chris Austin, Louisiana State University. A new species of frog of the genus Hylophorbus from New Guinea. Credit: Chris Austin, Louisiana State University. Source: “New Species Found in Mysteriously Diverse Jungle: Louisiana State University’s Chris Austin describes his work studying the diversity of life on the island of New [...]
New Mouse-Deer
In the West, we know the above pictured species as a chevrotain or musk-deer. In the East, they are sometimes called mouse-deer. One of Sri Lanka’s least known mammals, the mouse-deer found in the highlands of Sri Lanka has been photographed in the wild. This may well be the only occasion in which it has been photographed to a ‘publishable standard’ under truly wild conditions. For many years it was believed that Sri Lanka had one species of Mouse-deer, which was shared with Southern India. Colin Groves a British Taxonomist in June 2005 published a paper in a special supplement [...]
Seven-Colored Snake
In the world of weird animal news, because exact species details are still lacking, comes word of a “strange seven-colored snake found in Nepal,” from Xinhuan news service of China. Thousands of people have been thronging Chapaghar area of Tanahu district in western Nepal to see a strange seven-colored snake found in a well there, the National News Agency RSS reported on Saturday, [March 15, 2008]….The snake was first seen by a local people. Since then thousands of people have seen the snake. A local Kum Bahadur Thapa said 1,000 people visit the area daily to see the snake. Another [...]
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