The Arunachal macaque
The last species of macaque to be discovered in the wild, the Indonesian Pagai macaque, was described in 1903. This monkey, a member of the macaque family, was sighted in the state of Arunachal Pradesh, India during expeditions conducted in 2003 and 2004. The Arunachal monkey (Macaca munzala) is the latest addition to the macaque family, a group with some 20 different species occurring mainly in Asia across a variety of different habitats.
Aspidistra Nicolai
The new species of Aspidistra plant is among the recently announced finds from the Annamite mountain range of central Vietnam. The plant was named in honor of the late Russian botanist Nicolai Arnautov, a senior gardener at the St. Petersburg Botanical Gardens who was in charge of the facility’s Aspidistra cultivation program. This, and other two butterflies species, a snake and four more orchids have been discovered in Vietnam’s Green Corridor.
Atelopus frog
The atelopus frog is just one of the 24 species discovered in Suriname in June 2007. Found in the Nassau Mountains, this purple fluorescent frog is on the road of becoming the poster child for some of South America’s tropical rainforests. With its colorful aspect, the frog will be used to draw attention to the illegal gold mining and droughts that threaten the area.
Bali Catshark
This species of catshark is among the rarest documented in a survey of the Indonesian fish markets. Researchers said six of their discoveries have been described in peer review journals, including the Bali Catshark and Jimbaran Shovelnose Ray, found only in Bali, and the Hortle’s Whipray, found only in West Papua. All in all, the country has the most diverse shark and ray fauna and the largest shark and ray fishery in the world.
Bornean big cat
A new species of cat is identified for the first time in almost 200 years. Genetic and skin tests on the creature, now dubbed the Bornean clouded leopard, or Neofelis diardi, have shown that it is almost as different from clouded leopards found on the Asian mainland. This clouded leopard which feasts on monkeys, deer and pigs has been discovered living deep in the Borneo rain forest. With a body that measures just over a foot, the clouded leopard is the smallest of the ‘big cats’. But compared to the size of the rest of its body, it has the biggest teeth of any cat, being called a modern-day sabre-tooth tiger.
Daceton armigerum
The ant species Daceton armigerum is a highly visible predator in the forest canopy in Suriname. It nests and forages in trees throughout South America. The ant is the only valid species in this genus. It is distributed throughout northern South America; Trinidad and Tabago, Brazil, Ecuador, Venezuela, Surinam, Peru, Guiana, and French Guiana.
Eleutherodactylus frog
The smallest frog in both the Northern and Southern hemisphere was recently discovered (1996) in Monte Iberia, Cuba. It doesn’t have a common name yet, but its scientific name is Eleutherodactylus iberia. The frog was discovered during the expedition in the plateaus of eastern Suriname, a South American country located north of Brazil. The frog, and other creatures were discovered by 13 scientists who explored a region enough clean fresh water sources to support abundant fish and amphibians.
Formicivora grantsaui
A new species of antwren from Bahia, Brazil has recently been described in the journal Zootaxa. Also known as Sincorá Antwren, the bird is found only in the campo rupestre vegetation of the Serra do Sincorá between 850 m and 1,100 m in the Chapada Diamantina region. The bird was not described as a new species until 2007. The binomial name commemorates the German-born naturalist Rolf Grantsau who collected a specimen in 1965 that was recently identified as this species.
Furry lobster
Marine biologists have discovered a crustacean in the South Pacific that resembles a hairy lobster. The team found the animal last year in waters 2,300m (7,540ft) deep at a site 1,500km (900 miles) south of Easter Island, an expert has claimed. Its name was inspired by “Kiwa”, the goddess of shellfish in native Polynesian culture and “hirsute” which means hairy. The blind creature has pincers covered in hairy strands and has “the vestige of a membrane” instead of eyes, Segonzac told the Associated Press.
Granrojo
Marine biologists at Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute discovered 23 of what they call Big Reds in Monterey Bay and the Sea of Cortez and off Hawaii, Japan and the Farallon Islands near San Francisco. Granrojo or big red, Tiburonia granrojo, is a recently discovered jellyfish of the family Ulmaridae, the only member of its genus yet identified. Scientists named the new genus “Tiburonia” after the aquarium’s research vessel Tiburon, and the species “granrojo,” Spanish for big red.
Legless lizard
This recent discovery was made in the Khandadhar region, eastern India. Sushil Kumar Dutta, leader of a team of researchers from NGO Vasundhra, found the 7-inch long creature in the forest, 625 miles southeast of New Delhi. Legless lizards are a large family of snake-like lizards, compared to the solid-toothed, harmless snakes. Preliminary scientific study reveals that the lizard belongs to the genus Sepsophis.
Mindoro Stripe-Faced Fruitbat
An island south of Manila is the home to a new species of fruit fat, called the Mindoro Stripe-Faced Fruitbat. The bat with a white-stripped face was found in a protected wildlife area on Mindoro Island during a survey of mammals, reptiles, and amphibians in Sablayan region. New species are being discovered in the Philippines and neighbouring areas at a remarkable rate but this might stop due to extensive deforestation, many species being threatened with extinction.
Phyllagathis Melastomataceae
This orchid is part of the 11 new species discovered in central Vietnam, in the area called the Green Corridor. “You only discover so many new species in very special places, and the Green Corridor is one of them,” said Chris Dickinson, WWF’s chief technical adviser in the area. Three of the newly discovered orchid species are have no leaves, a rare thing for orchids. They contain no chlorophyll and live on decaying matter, like many fungal species.
Sea Urchin
This animal was discovered in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica, scientists even suggesting that life on Earth started here. This new species was even listed on eBay, for auction. A recent study showed that these tiny invertebrates cal live to be 100 years old, and some may reach 200 years, making them one of the oldest animals on Earth.
Shovelnose ray
The Jimbaran shovelnose was discovered recently in Indonesia as part of a five-year survey of the country’s shark and ray species. A total of 30 new species of sharks and rays were discovered in this survey. The survey was part of a broader project working towards improved management of sharks and rays in Indonesia and Australia. This type of ray has the body of a shark, the head of a ray and skeletons made of cartilage instead of bone.
Slender-billed Vulture
Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) recently discovered Southeast Asia’s only known breeding colony of slender-billed vultures, one of the world’s most threatened bird species. These vultures will be taken into the Indian vulture conservation breeding centers run by the Bombay Natural History Society to help take the species off the endangered list. This was caused by the use of diclofenac to treat farm animals especially in India, a drug that causes vultures kidney failure.
Smoky Honeyeater
The honeyeater is the first new bird species to be sighted on the island of New Guinea since 1939. Scientists discovered the bird on a recent expedition to the Foja Mountains of Indonesia, on the island of New Guinea. The bird’s diet consists of nectar and insects.
Scientists still expect more species to be found. The bird remained hidden for so long since the local Kwerba and Papasena tribes rarely venture into the deep forest, abundant in cassowaries or wild boards.
Tree Kangaroos
The golden-mantled tree kangaroo was discovered in December 2005 by a team of Indonesian, Australian, and U.S. scientists, in the Foya Mountains, in the Papua proivince. Currently, ten species are recognized in the group, nearly all of which are threatened by habitat loss or hunting. The golden-mantled tree kangaroo is considered as one of the most endangered of all tree-kangaroos, being extinct in most of its original range.
Walking shark
The fascinating marine biodiversity of the Bird’s Head Seascape on the northwestern end of Indonesia’s Papua province is home to 50 new marine species, including the new epaulette shark (Hemiscyillum freycineti). In addition to the two types of walking epaulette sharks, the researchers discovered 22 species of other fish, 20 species of hard corals, and 8 kinds of shrimp all believed new to science. However, the underwater world is under severe threat from over-fishing with dynamite and cyanide, as well as deforestation and mining that degrade coastal waters.
White-lipped keelback
With the discovery of the white-lipped keelback in Vietnam and other 10 species, scientists hope to protect the area from deforestation and development projects that can endanger this haven. The snake can reach 31 inches and tends to live by streams where it catches frogs and other small animals. “The area is extremely important for conservation,” Hoang Ngoc Khanh, director of Thua Thien Hue Provincial Forest Protection Development, said in a statement. “The province wants to protect the forests and their environmental services.”