Pictures: Tube-Nosed Bat, More Rare Species Found

New Species Blends In

Photograph courtesy Piotr Naskrecki, Conservation International

Camouflaged in a Muller Range forest on Papua New Guinea, a new leaf katydid species peers pinkly at the camera in 2009. The animal likely eats flowers in the forest's tall trees, researchers said.

During one of the so called rapid assessment programs (RAPs)—quick expeditions involving "dream teams" of top scientists—Piotr Naskrecki and David Rentz collected 42 leaf katydids. At least 20 of those are new species, according to Conservation International.

Of the roughly 120 katydids—leaf katydids and others—the researchers collected, at least 40 are new species, Naskrecki said. "That's a very high number even for a tropical, fairly unexplored area."

(See a picture of a spiny-crested katydid species announced in 2009.)

Published October 6, 2010

Watching, Waiting

Photograph courtesy Stephen Richards, Conservation International

A feather-tailed opossum clings to a tree branch in Papua New Guinea's Muller Range in September 2009. Though it has yet to be scientifically documented, the elusive species has been reported once before before, on a nearby mountain in 1985.

The possum may have been attempting to catch moths, the researchers said, as it was found near a light trap intended to lure nocturnal insects. Not much is known about the creature, though the structure of its tongue suggests a diet including nectar.

Published October 6, 2010

Rare Jewel

Photograph courtesy Piotr Naskrecki, Conservation International

Found in the Muller Range in September 2009, a new, unnamed species of katydid glimmers dark emerald—a color Naskrecki, director of Conservation International's Invertebrate RAP, had never before seen in katydids.

Katydids, which are related to crickets and grasshoppers, play an important role in the rain forest's food chain, providing protein to monkeys, bats, birds, rodents, and even other insects.

The Muller Range expedition spent a week at each of three camps, each at a different elevation. Around each camp, the scientists found entirely new animals.

Published October 6, 2010

Country Mouse

Photograph courtesy Stephen Richards, Conservation International

This new species of long-tailed mouse resembles tree mice of Papua New Guinea, but don't be fooled: The rodent, found in the Nakanai mountains in 2009, lives on the ground.

The researchers came to that conclusion after noticing the mouse's narrow feet and forward-pointing front teeth—useful for digging and moving soil.

Its white-tipped tail is unique among all the mice in the area and may suggest the species belongs to an entirely new genus.

(Related: "Drug-filled Mice Dropped Over Guam to Kill Snakes.")

Published October 6, 2010

A "Most Exciting" Find

Photograph courtesy Stephen Richards, Conservation International

Unlike most of its relatives, which chirp at night, this new, 0.8-inch-long (2-centimeter-long) frog species sends out its mating calls right after afternoon storms.

The unnamed species was the "most exciting and surprising herpetological discovery" of the Nakanai RAP, herpetologist and RAP team leader Stephen Richards said in a statement—the amphibian belongs to a group of frogs previously documented in only the Solomon Islands, hundreds of miles to the east.

(Pictures: "'Extinct Frogs,' Salamander Found.")

Published October 6, 2010

Major Discovery

Photograph courtesy Andrea Lucky, Conservation International

A huge-headed "major" ant of a thorny new species collects food from smaller workers in Papua New Guineau's Muller Range during a 2009 expedition. The majors use their muscular jaws to crush seeds that the smaller workers bring back to the nest.

Like other species in the Pheidole genus, the newfound ants are all divided into workers and majors, and the new species is very opportunistic, RAP director and Conservation International entomologist Leeann Alonso told National Geographic News.

"Some ants have a specialized diet," Alonso said. But the new ants "catch live insects, scavenge for dead insects and seeds. ..."

The new species was also the first to discover the crumbs researchers had inadvertently dropped near camp. "That's actually one of the best ways to find ants," she said. "Sit down there, drop some food on the ground, and wait for them to come."

(Also see "Brain-Controlling Flies to Triumph Over Alien Ants?")

Published October 6, 2010

New Species Aims for the Eyes?

Photograph courtesy Piotr Naskrecki, Conservation International

Unlike most katydids, which use a combination of camouflage and "startle displays," such as flashing their wings, to avoid being eaten, this new species uses its muscular, spike-covered legs to jab attackers into submission.

"I got jabbed quite a few times," Naskrecki, the invertebrate expert, told National Geographic News, adding that the new species probably evolved this defense mechanism to ward off birds and bats. "It probably aims for the eyes."

Published October 6, 2010

Tiny New Frog

Photograph courtesy Piotr Naskrecki, Conservation International

A frog small enough to sit on a thumbnail rests on a leaf in Papua New Guinea's Muller Range in 2009.

This species "nearly eluded the RAP team altogether," as the scientists had to search the forest floor in pouring rain to trace the sound of the "soft, scratching, cricket-like" call, according to a Conservation International statement.

The frog and all its closest relatives are found only on the island of New Guinea.

(See more tiny frogs and toads.)

Published October 6, 2010

Tent Sweet Tent

Photograph by Tim Laman, National Geographic

At a camp like those set up during the 2009 Nakanai and Muller RAPs, herpetologist Paul Oliver records a frog call in Papua New Guinea's Foja Mountains in 2008. The scientists' prep tent is at the left, the main tent in the background.

At the a typical camp during the Muller expedition, Alonso, the entomologist, said, "Our local guides tied logs together with vines and made little benches, little tables, and put a tarp over the top."

(Pictures: "Discovery in the Foja Mountains.")

Published October 6, 2010