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Monster cockroaches, giant millipedes, dwarf crabs and blind catfish. It sounds like a menagerie from another world, but these are just some of the new species that have been found living in a huge system of caves on the Indonesian island of Borneo.
Many of the animals and plants collected during an expedition earlier this year are so new to science that they still don’t have a name, yet all of them are under threat from people making destructive incursions into their pristine habitat.
The scientists who took part in the five-week expedition found that loggers and miners have begun tearing down or burning many of the trees that form the heart of the species-rich rainforest of Borneo’s East Kalimantan - one of the most remote regions in the world.
The Nature Conservancy in Washington, which organised the trip, said yesterday that the expedition has yielded at least five new species of insect and two new species of fish, including the eyeless catfish.
Among the animals new to science is a cockroach measuring four inches long - probably the largest in the world - and a pure-white millipede which, at 2.5 inches long, is the longest cave-dwelling member of its group.
The limestone caves of East Kalimantan’s Sangkulirang Peninsula have hardly been explored yet they have already revealed a living diversity that has astonished seasoned explorers. Expedition scientists from half a dozen countries recorded at least 34 species of bats and 124 species of birds living in the area. They also found two new species of begonias and two new species of snail.
“Nearly all of the insects we collected are new to science,” said Louis DeHarveng, an experienced entomologist and director of research at the French Academy of Sciences.
news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/story.jsp?story=595641
Many of the animals and plants collected during an expedition earlier this year are so new to science that they still don’t have a name, yet all of them are under threat from people making destructive incursions into their pristine habitat.
The scientists who took part in the five-week expedition found that loggers and miners have begun tearing down or burning many of the trees that form the heart of the species-rich rainforest of Borneo’s East Kalimantan - one of the most remote regions in the world.
The Nature Conservancy in Washington, which organised the trip, said yesterday that the expedition has yielded at least five new species of insect and two new species of fish, including the eyeless catfish.
Among the animals new to science is a cockroach measuring four inches long - probably the largest in the world - and a pure-white millipede which, at 2.5 inches long, is the longest cave-dwelling member of its group.
The limestone caves of East Kalimantan’s Sangkulirang Peninsula have hardly been explored yet they have already revealed a living diversity that has astonished seasoned explorers. Expedition scientists from half a dozen countries recorded at least 34 species of bats and 124 species of birds living in the area. They also found two new species of begonias and two new species of snail.
“Nearly all of the insects we collected are new to science,” said Louis DeHarveng, an experienced entomologist and director of research at the French Academy of Sciences.
news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/story.jsp?story=595641
