New Species Discovered

Not all reported news is bad news... 

With so many news reports, placing a focus on negative events such as horrific accidents, riots and acts of war it is easy to get despondent and miss the good news stories. However, wondrous events are happening around us all the time. National Science Week, this week, gives us a great excuse to focus on the discovery of new species.

River shark and blue goanna among 1000 new species discovered in New Guinea

Monitor lizard (Varanus macraei), Papua New Guinea. Found on the tiny islands off the Vogelkop (Bird’s Head) Peninsula of Papua in Indonesia and capable of reaching a metre in length.  WWF/Lutz Obelgonner.  Read the full article at "The Conversation".

Internationally there have been news reports of fanged frogs being discovered in Sulawesi, lizards of the genus 'Cnemaspis' in South-East Asia, two species of spider in Melghat Reserve, India, and a multitude of other creatures, including a lurid blue monitor lizard, in New Guinea. Closer to home a burrowing frog that survives in the arid Pilbara landscape (Uperoleia saxatilis) was reported last month and West Australian Museum scientists have discovered a new species of solitary 'megamouth' bee in the Jandakot Regional Park (Perth). In fact, according to the Australian Museum website, there have been 46 newly described species in Australia so far during 2011.

What does all this mean?  

Great news!  It means that there is still an extraordinary quantity of wildlife right under our noses, which is new, stimulating and worth exploring. As Museum CEO, Alec Coles explains:

“This is another example of the extraordinary wildlife in Western Australia and indeed Perth, which has long been recognised as one of the world’s most biodiverse cities”

Having learnt about the existence of the megamouth bee I was inspired to contact Dr Terry Houston, Senior Curator (Entomology) at the Western Australian Museum and have since been informed there are “several species of insect awaiting naming” - including mole crickets and “a tiny parasitic wasp … associated with a tiny colonial native bee” - living right HERE in my city.  Because of this, we each need to learn as much as possible about the creatures in our own part of the world and do what we can to keep as much of our environment in its native state as possible.

Megamouth Bee - Photo: Terry Houston, Copyright Western Australian Museum

All these new discoveries are very exciting news for me.   When I go hiking in my local area I will definitely be keeping an eye out for the megamouth bee, and hope to experience other new creatures.

Turn your focus to the Good News Stories and see how wonderful life is on this remarkable planet. Have you come across an amazing creature in your own part of the world? Let me know.

Link to downloadable activities for children:

• Colour the Goanna
• Label the Megamouth Bee

Links to further reading:

• Australian Mini Toad Species Found (Uperoleia saxatilis). International Business Times
• Australian Museum: Bugwise. (2010).
• Australian Museum: New Species in 2011
• Fanged frogs - CBC New 12 August, 2011
• Megamouth Bee: Scientists find new bee in Perth, The West Australian
• National Science Week. (2011). Australian Government
• New to Nature No 50: Cnemaspis psychedelica. The Observer Sunday 14 August 2011
• Spiders discovered in Melghat reserve. Times of India
• WA Museum:New bee species discovered in Forrestdale

Footnote: I wish to acknowledge Dr Terry Houston, Senior Curator (Entomology), Western Australian Museum for his support with this entry.

Post last updated: 22 September 2011

Lots of lizards

On the weekend, a typical Perth, blue sky, sunny day, we went four wheel driving with a number of friends.  At one point, in the middle of the track was a large ‘sleepy Joe’, also known as a bob tail skink or blue tongue lizard. So we stopped to get it off the track before it was run over.  Of course everyone came to see why we’d stopped so suddenly.  With so many people around the lizard, it couldn’t be convinced to move in the right direction, so my husband picked it up to take it off the track.  As expected, the lizard wasn’t particularly happy about being handled, opened its mouth threateningly and showed that wonderful, distinctive blue tongue. 

Further along on our expedition I noticed something move behind one of the cars as they were trying to pull up off the main track.  I was out of the vehicle in a flash, camera in hand, so I could photograph a beautiful goanna with golden stripes on its belly.  Being one of Australia’s faster lizards, it didn’t hang around for long, raced off and ducked under a rock ledge.  My husband, who followed, stepped onto a large sheet of stone that rocked back and forth. Worrying that he might have crushed some wildlife under the rock, he lifted it, only to discover an amazing barking gecko.  Handling it gently, we checked that it hadn’t been hurt.  It hadn’t. It was photographed and released it.

Seeing these three completely different lizards was a great experience, especially as some of our friends were new to Australia and hadn’t seen anything like this before.  I particularly loved seeing the leaf gecko as I’d not seen one of these in the wild before, and geckos would have to be one of my favourite creatures. It just shows what you can see when you take the time to look around you when in the bush. Australia has lots of amazing lizards.