Blossom Bats and Woolly Rats and Frogs That Inflate Their Nose -- Oh My!

Let's face it -- in this day and age it can be pretty hard to be surprised. Decades of video games and thriller books and movies have left us a little desensitized. We're pretty sure we've seen it all. That's why it's especially refreshing when new discoveries are verified that rival some of the best fiction out there.

In Indonesia, scientists have identified a hot spot for biodiversity. Originally discovered in 2008, the incredible variety of species in this area have been independently verified. Included in the mix are a bat that feeds only on the nectar of rain forest flowers, a giant woolly rat, the world's smallest wallaby, and a frog that calls to mates by inflating its nose, rather than its throat.

According to Conservation International (as reported by CNN), the 300,000 square hectares of pristine rain forest are "a profound species generator" and a "critical carbon-sink for the planet." (Indonesia was also recently in the news for being the home of a new species of Monitor Lizard, discovered outside of a small village in the Philippines.)

These new discoveries serve as a great reminder that there is still so much to learn about this planet and the species that live on it. With a little luck, this surge of discovery in Indonesia will help to protect some of the more delicate ecosystems for posterity. It might even help us learn a little more about ourselves!

Have you been talking about biodiversity and unique species in your classrooms? Tell us about it!

New Species Found in Phillipines

In the last century, advancements in technology and science have allowed for a thorough exploration of our planet and the rapid sharing of information. So, it is a peculiar condition of our modern times that many young people feel that there is nothing left to discover -- everything has already been done and found (especially the big stuff). But as those who work in the various scientific disciplines know, there is always something new to uncover. You just have to look in the right place!

In the latest volume of Biology Letters, scientists working in the Philippines discuss their discovery of a new species of monitor lizard (genus Varanus). The giant, golden-spotted lizard, a relative of the Komodo dragon, is approximate 6 1/2 feet long, lives in the northern forests of the Sierra Madre mountains in Luzon, and feeds solely on fruits and snails. Apparently, the scientists learned about the species for the first time in 2004, when they spotted local tribesmen carrying one of the dead creatures.

As the article notes, the researchers used "data from morphology and mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences, [to] demonstrate the taxonomic distinctiveness" of the species. This information provided insight into the biogeographical history of the organism; a phylogenetic analysis shows that, though the lizard differs in "characteristics of scalation, colour pattern, body size, anatomy of the reproductive organs and genetic divergence," it is still closely related to lizards on other, nearby islands.

The discovery is noteworthy for many reasons, but particularly because the organism in question is so large. Finding new species of large vertebrates is not nearly as common as finding new types of frogs, insects, or small fishes. Even more, this discovery comes about on an island under significant threat from development and deforestation. Rafe Brown, a member of the team that discovered the monitor lizard, said in a statement to the Associated Press, that they "hope that by focusing on protection of this new monitor, conservation biologists and policy makers can work together to protect the remaining highly imperiled forests of northern Luzon."

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