Phenomena Discovery of New-Species in Southwest Suriname

Photograph courtesy Paul Ouboter via Conservation International

For three weeks in 2010, scientists roamed three pristine rain forests near the southwestern village of Kwamalasumutu in search for a new discovery. Day in and day out, a small teams of scientists roamed the remote habitats for intense, month long surveys. For more information: visit http://www.conservation.org


Today, Conservation International (CI) announced their phenomena discovery; the results of their three-week scientific survey in southwest Suriname that documented nearly 1,300 species, including 46 species which may be new to science.


See the phenomena beauty of those new discovered new species here.

 "Armored Catfish" — Pseudacanthicus sp. is a catfish whose armor (external bony plates) is covered with spines to defend itself from giant piranhas which inhabit the same waters.

 "Cowboy Frog" — Hypsiboas sp. has white fringes along the legs, and a spur on the "heel". It looks quite similar to "the Convict Treefrog" Hypsiboas calcaratus but lacks the black and white lateral stripes of H. calcaratus.

 "Crayola Katydid" — Vestria sp. known as Crayola katydids because of their striking coloration. They are the only katydids known to employ chemical defenses, which are effective at repelling bird and mammalian predators.

“Glittery Water Beetle” Glittering emerald and blue, this water beetle species of the Oocyclus genus (pictured) found in Venezuela is similar to Oocylcus tri. Oocyclus beetles live only amid waterfalls and wet rocks on mountains and rocky outcrops.

  "Pac-Man Frog" — Ceratophrys cornuta is a voracious sit-and-wait predator with an exceptionally wide mouth that allows it to swallow prey that is nearly as large as its own body, including birds, mice and other frogs.

 “Predatory Catfish” catfish of the Pterodoras genus was discovered at night, sitting on a large underwater rock in the middle of a river.The 2-foot-long (0.6-meter-long) predator eats "whatever will fit inside its mouth.

 "Spectacular Conehead Katydid" — Loboscelis bacatus was previously only known from Amazonian Peru. The katydid has fluorescent green and pink coloring. It is predator of insects and snails, and feeds on seeds and fruits.

"Turnip-tailed gecko" (Thecadactylus rapicauda) licks its eyeball. The large eyes have vertical elliptical pupils and no eyelid and so uses its tongue as a sort of windshield wiper.

See photos of other observed species here: http://www.smugmug.com

[via http://news.nationalgeographic.com]