Indonesia - new species discovered

February 7, 2006 5:16 AM

"Lost World" found in Indonesian Papua (with audio)
posted by Protocols of the Elders of Awesome (21 comments total)

Saw this first thing at the start of another day of pointless electric toil and it brightened it a shade. Reminded me of all the lost species, many undiscovered, that once populated island ecosystems. That Douglas Adams book, Last Chance to See, talked about some of this - forest penguins, Kakapos et al. Thanks for posting and your handle is more than correct. Finding a pristine corner of the Earth is awesome.
posted by The Salaryman at 5:40 AM on February 7, 2006

I also like the fact that, perhaps uniquely, "civilised" man and the natives are making first discovery of a territory together as friends.
posted by Protocols of the Elders of Awesome at 5:45 AM on February 7, 2006

"It's beautiful, untouched, unpopulated forest; there's no evidence of human impact or presence up in these mountains," Dr Beehler told the BBC News website.

He then belched and threw his beer can over his shoulder.
posted by fungible at 5:47 AM on February 7, 2006

I invoke bevets!
posted by iamck at 6:15 AM on February 7, 2006

posted by Protocols of the Elders of Awesome at 6:19 AM on February 7, 2006

It's beautiful that the species do not fear human beings. Hopefully the scientists leave as little trace of their presence as possible. To be honest, it kind of makes me sad that they're making a return voyage. I wonder if Diamond withheld information in order to maintain the pristine beauty of the area.
posted by cloeburner at 6:19 AM on February 7, 2006

Hobbitses?
posted by orthogonality at 6:20 AM on February 7, 2006

Those double-quotes weren't supposed to imply that the scientists aren't civilised.

I have a theory that double-quotes are more frequently interpreted to imply sarcasm than single-quotes.

"civilised" man

'civilised' man

ya.
posted by Protocols of the Elders of Awesome at 6:28 AM on February 7, 2006

Does it have oil????
posted by you just lost the game at 7:03 AM on February 7, 2006

Its just a matter of time until they return with a massive deadly queen spider, who'll mate with a common local variety type, and terrorize a small community. Great. Just great.
posted by Atreides at 7:17 AM on February 7, 2006

Screw oil. The harvest of exotic wood alone is worth a fortune. Let the logging begin!

(Humans suck)
posted by JeffK at 7:23 AM on February 7, 2006

"It's beautiful, untouched, unpopulated forest; there's no evidence of human impact or presence up in these mountains"

OK. But there's...like... a Starbucks, right?
posted by PlusDistance at 7:24 AM on February 7, 2006

Old and busted: woods behind Grandma's house

Sexy new hotness: "Lost World" found in Indonesian Papua
posted by wfrgms at 7:31 AM on February 7, 2006

'It seems sad, that on the one hand such exquisite creatures should live out their lives and exhibit their charms only in these wild inhospitable regions, doomed for ages yet to come to hopeless barbarism; while on the other hand, should civilized man ever reach these distant lands, and bring moral, intellectual, and physical light into the recesses of these virgin forests, we may be sure that he will so disturb the nicely-balanced relations of organic and inorganic nature as to cause the disappearance, and finally the extinction, of these very beings whose wonderful structure and beauty he alone is fitted to appreciate and enjoy.'

- Alfred Russel Wallace
posted by driveler at 10:13 AM on February 7, 2006

It's beautiful that the species do not fear human beings.

Beautiful, and their ultimate downfall if the villagers that were so surprised to find the place decide they might be tasty.

Sitll, imagine what was going through the mind of the first person who tried to pick it up. I mean, it's a lost world -- it might have shot out spines or something.
posted by davejay at 10:51 AM on February 7, 2006

It's beautiful that the species do not fear human beings.

Yup, just like the dodo.
posted by gaspode at 11:00 AM on February 7, 2006

This is really cool, but.. what? No rat-monkeys?
posted by brundlefly at 12:24 PM on February 7, 2006

I was wondering where I put that world. Anyone find my keys?
posted by Smedleyman at 12:25 PM on February 7, 2006

gaspode is nominated for the most poignantly on-target comment.
posted by George_Spiggott at 12:47 PM on February 7, 2006

The expedition discovered the origin of Berlepsch's Six-wired Bird of Paradise and took the first-ever photos of the bird. They did not discover King Kong or dinosaurs. The first scientific trip to the region was 25 years ago, by Jared Diamond, of Guns, Germs, and Steel fame.
posted by kirkaracha at 3:01 PM on February 7, 2006

Wow. I wish the Beeb hadn't told people where it was, to be honest.
posted by dejah420 at 5:48 PM on February 8, 2006