The Cyclopes Expedition, which lasted 17 days within the Cyclopes Mountains in Papua, Indonesia, managed to find not only Payangko or Ekidna, with its Latin name Zaglossus attenboroughi but in addition a whole bunch of latest species which have not yet been recorded by science.
According to Dr. Leonidas Romanos-Davranoglou, an insect expert from the University of Oxford who participated within the expedition, they estimate that a whole bunch of latest species and even a brand new genus were discovered throughout the expedition.
Leonidas mentions that these are still estimates, because the technique of official recognition of the species by the scientific community takes a really very long time. The results of this study shall be studied by scientists for years to come back.
One of probably the most interesting discoveries was the existence of a brand new kind of shrimp living on Earth. This species was found on top of a mountain over 2,000 meters high in a tropical forest. Leonidas explained that the invention was made while examining rocks and leaves on the bottom. They named the shrimp “Sky Shrimp”. According to Leonidas, these shrimp live in areas with moist soil and have pouches on their bodies wherein their young grow.
Other recent species discovered include blind cave crickets, spiders, scorpions, frogs and recycling beetles. Leonidas also described the invention of an insect called the “killer insect”, a small predator equipped with a type of needle in its mouth used to inject poison into the bodies of other insects and suck their blood, very like a vampire would behave.
Leonidas also described one other discovery, a kind of recycling cockroach that has a somewhat cute appearance, unlike a typical cockroach. These insects participate within the technique of recycling wood that falls to the bottom, they eat it and create small tunnels contained in the wood. Interestingly, this group of cockroaches collectively look after their young, demonstrating the degree of dependence that babies have on their parents.
According to Leonidas, the distinctiveness of those insects lies not only within the indisputable fact that they’re a brand new species that plays a very important role within the ecosystem, but in addition within the complex social system they’ve.
Many recent species are discovered when scientists study an element of the ecosystem that they imagine receives almost no attention – the forest floor and the soil beneath it. This area serves as a spot where fallen leaves accumulate over time, making a recycling environment that supports forest fertility.
Scientists took soil samples and discovered several species of animals living within the soil. Because they live within the soil, these animals live like in a cave. Leonidas said that these creatures have limited mobility, so the extent of endemism could be very high. In other words, they’ll only be present in specific places and should not distributed elsewhere.
Scientists also wish to learn more in regards to the evolutionary history of animals living within the Cyclopes Mountains. They suspect that these mountains were once a volcanic archipelago within the Pacific Ocean that later joined the Papuan continent.
Scientists are studying the evolutionary history of animals within the Cyclopes Mountains. They suggest that the Cyclopes Mountains could have been a volcanic archipelago within the Pacific Ocean that eventually joined mainland Papua.
Although this hypothesis has not yet been conclusively proven, scientists hope to check its validity by conducting DNA tests on animals living within the mountains.
By understanding the origins of those small animals, researchers hope to find how and when the forests within the Cyclopean Mountains formed. In addition, they struggle to prove geological theories about whether the island of Papua once consisted of several isolated islands that later merged into one whole.
Source: BBC
