Lost World, New Species.

[Roy]

OSLO, Norway (Reuters) -- Scientists say they have found a "Lost World" in an Indonesian mountain jungle, home to dozens of exotic new species of birds, butterflies, frogs and plants.

"It's as close to the Garden of Eden as you're going to find on Earth," said Bruce Beehler, co-leader of the U.S., Indonesian, and Australian expedition to part of the cloud-shrouded Foja mountains in the west of New Guinea.

Indigenous peoples living near the Foja range, which rises to 2,200 meters (7,218 feet), said they did not venture into the trackless area of 3,000 square kilometers (1,200 square miles) -- roughly the size of Luxembourg or the U.S. state of Rhode Island.

The team of 25 scientists rode helicopters to boggy clearings in the pristine zone.

"We just scratched the surface," Beehler told Reuters. "Anyone who goes there will come back with a mystery."

The expedition found a new type of honeyeater bird with a bright orange patch on its face, known only to local people and the first new bird species documented on the island in more than 60 years.

They also found more than 20 new species of frog, four new species of butterfly and plants including five new palms.

And they took the first photographs of "Berlepsch's six-wired bird of paradise," which appears in 19th century collections but whose home had previously been unknown.

The bird is named after six fine feathers about four inches (10 centimeters) long on the head of the male which can be raised and shaken in courtship displays.

'Animals not afraid'
The expedition also took the first photographs of a Golden-fronted bowerbird in front of a bower made of sticks, while he was hanging up blue forest berries to attract females.

It found a rare tree kangaroo, previously unsighted in Indonesia. Beehler said the naturalists reckoned that there was likely to be a new species of kangaroo living higher altitudes.

The scientists visited in the wet season, which limited the numbers of flying insects.

"Lost World" Found In Jungle

"Any expedition visiting in the dry season would probably discover many more butterflies," he said.

Beehler, who works at Conservation International in Washington, said the area was probably the largest pristine tropical forest in Asia. Animals there were unafraid of humans.

"I suspect there are some areas like this in Africa, and am sure that there are similar places in South America," he said.

Around the world, pristine areas are under increasing threat from expanding human settlements and pollution. A U.N. meeting in Brazil in March will seek ways to slow the accelerating rate of extinctions.

Beehler said the Indonesian government was doing the right thing by keeping the area off limits to most visitors -- including loggers and mineral prospectors.

The scientists cut two trails about four kilometers (2.5 miles) long, leaving vast tracts still to be explored.


The animals live in the Foja Mountains, an area in eastern Indonesia's Papua province with more than two million acres of old growth tropical forest.

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1. A Golden-Fronted Bowerbird, in the first photographic record of the Species.


2. A new species of Smoky Honeyeater is seen in this photo released by Conservation International.


3. First known photograph of Berlepsch's Six-Wired Bird of Paradise, which was described by hunters in New Guinea in the 19th Century.


4. The Golden-Mantled Tree Kangaroo -- thought to have been hunted to near Extinction -- also lives there.


5. Map


6. The scientists said they discovered 20 frog species, including a tiny frog less than a half-inch long, as well as four butterfly species and at least five palm plants.


7. Some animals were remarkably unafraid of the team. Two long-beaked echidnas like this one let scientists pick them up and bring them to camp for study.


8. (No Comment)


9. "We've only scratched the surface," trip co-leader Bruce Beehler, of Conservation International, said.

[carrotderek]

Pretty awesome. Shows that there are many things still undiscovered in the world.

That toad is pretty fat JHAHAHA

[Roy]

Yeah that toad is pretty fat. I thought it was cool too. If you think about it, 2 million acres is a big ass space...

[ilovecoheed]

that's wicked awesome man

[tacoX]

Thats really interesting... wow. Do you have a URL to the origional article?

[Dale]

Wow awesome! I wonder how many they discover =)

[Adam]

yep i saw something about this on the SBC homepage, was interesting.

bloop

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060207/ap_on_...sia_new_species

[tacoX]

Thats pretty remarkable, I wonder what it would be like to be there... simply insane.

[Deadloader]

hmm, unusual and here's me thinking the age of discovery was over, damn all you people in 1700-1900 bastards!!! :lol: i've always wanted to travel somewhere and discover a new island.. or like all these myths you hear, atlantis, golden city all that stuff it's quite astounding