New Guinea
dr. dolittle | June 6, 2014 Image of a big-eared bat from Scientific American
The New Guinea big-eared bat (Pharotis imogene; specimen pictured above) was thought to be extinct for the past 120 years. The bat is now considered critically endangered or possibly extinct as this specimen is the only known member of the genus. Since very little is known of this endangered bat, researchers who identified this specimen suggest that further research is needed to determine its abundance and distribution. With ongoing deforestation in New Guinea, this species may very well actually become extinct.
Source:
www.theconversation.…
awild | April 5, 2010[a guest post by myrmecologist Andrea Lucky]
Andrea & her intrepid field team in New Guinea
It was a dark and stormy night...
...actually, it was a dark and stormy morning. The dawn of the 7th day of ceaseless frigid rain to be precise, and I was reminiscing about the grand old days one week before when the sun emerged and for a glorious 10 minutes it was warm enough to splash some water on my arms, legs and neck and wipe away the accumulated grime that is synonymous with field work. I wondered if that lovely burst of sunshine would ever come again (no, it wouldn't), and every time I…
grrlscientist | September 27, 2009tags: nature, birds, New Guinea, Black Sickle Bill Bird of Paradise, Epimachus fastuosus, Bruce Beehler, streaming video
This streaming video is a clip from 60 Minutes where Bob Simon and Bruce Beehler, a scientist from Conservation International, head off into the New Guinea wilderness in search of the Black Sickle Bill Bird of Paradise, Epimachus fastuosus, and -- amazingly -- the cameramen capture video of this species's rarely seen courtship dance.
My life-long dream has been to explore untouched parts of the world. Ever since I read Alfred Wallace's Malay Archipelago, as a child, I've…
grrlscientist | December 5, 2008tags: evolution, Phylogeny, ornithology, chemical defense, Batrachotoxin, poisonous birds, Pitohui, Ifrita, Pachycephalidae, New Guinea
The Hooded Pitohui, Pitohui dichrous,
endemic to New Guinea, is very unusual
because it has poisonous plumage and skin.
Image: John Dumbacher.
I have been in love with New Guinea since I first read about it as a kid. Everything about this tropical island is exotic and fascinating to me, from the large numbers of endemic bird and plant species to the tremendous number of spoken languages -- more than anywhere else on the planet. So I was immediately…