Enter a 'lost land of the weird'

By Matt Walker
Editor, Earth News

Weird tree kangaroo caught on film

A host of weird and wonderful animals has been discovered by a BBC expedition which ventured deep into some of the world's most remote rainforest.

The team explored the crater of a pristine giant extinct volcano located in the highlands of Papua New Guinea.

Accompanied by the first biologists ever to set foot in the crater, the team filmed strange spiders, giant caterpillars and tree-living kangaroos.

Series producer Steve Greenwood describes what they found.

"The BBC's Natural History Unit in Bristol has been making filmed expeditions to remote parts of the rainforest since 2006, firstly to Borneo for the programme Expedition Borneo, and then Guyana for Lost Land of the Jaguar," he says.

The team may have discovered up to 40 new species Giant rat found in 'lost volcano'

"When it came to organising the third expedition, the team were desperate to take on the challenge of New Guinea, the largest and most mountainous tropical island in the world."

To film the latest programme, Lost Land of the Volcano, the team visited the crater of Mount Bosavi, a pristine extinct volcano located in the southern highlands of Papua New Guinea.

The area is so remote and inaccessible that no people live in the crater. Even villagers in the few scattered settlements surrounding the volcano rarely ventured in, due to the difficulty of climbing the slopes leading to a 2,800m summit.

"'If you fall when climbing in,' one village elder said, 'no one will ever find your body,'" recounts Greenwood.

The area has an astonishing collection of invertebrates In Pictures: Weird crater creatures

The expedition team comprised a filming team of two cameramen, two sound recordists, two directors and support staff, along with a medic specialised in remote areas and an expert in ropes and climbing trees.

They joined with a number of expert scientists, specialising in mammals, birds, frogs, fish and bats among others, led by Professor George McGavin of Oxford University and the University of Derby in the UK.

Together they found a wealth of new creatures, during the three-week expedition.

The team can't be sure until scientists have had a chance to formally evaluate and describe the animals found, but they suspect they may have discovered up to 40 new species, including approximately 16 species of frog, one species of gecko, at least three new species of fish, 20 species of insect and spider and one new species of bat.

"Highlights include a camouflaged gecko, a fanged frog and a fish called the Henamo Grunter, so named because it makes grunting noises from its swim bladder," says Greenwood.

The creatures were documented during a three-week expedition

They also found a Doria's tree kangaroo, which wandered close to camp.

Tree kangaroos are notoriously wary of people, but this particular one seemed unfazed by the team's presence.

That confirmed what the expedition team suspected, that the huge crater walls had effectively cut off the animals living within the volcano crater, allowing them to be naive to people.

As well as large creatures, the team also encountered a variety of odd-looking insects including bizarre spiders.

On one trip outside the crater, they found a giant caterpillar surrounded by hundreds of smaller maggots.

The caterpillar appears to have tried to escape the maggots, which were attempting to eat it.

Broadcast of The Lost Land of the Volcano series will begin on BBC One on Tuesday 8 September at 2100 BST.

Leopard gecko and fanged frog among new species discovered in Mekong

WWF announces wealth of new species discovered in Mekong river region but warns creatures' survival at risk from climate change
 

In pictures: The Mekong's fanged frogs and gaudy geckos

 

A Cat Ba leopard gecko - one of some 163 species discovered in the Greater Mekong river region. Photograph: Thomas Ziegler/WWF/EPA

 

The world is reassuringly stranger than we thought: another fanged frog has hopped into view, along with a leopard striped gecko, a tube nosed bat and a bird called the Nonggang babbler, all recently discovered in the Mekong delta in south-east Asia.

The announcement comes weeks after the revelation by a BBC team of their fanged frog, a different newly identified species, along with rats as big as cats, grunting fish and a teddy bear-like tree-climbing silky cuscus, all found on an expedition to a volcanic crater in Papua New Guinea.

The new bird-eating fanged frog, which lies in wait along the riverbank for prey including birds and large insects, is among a wealth of new species announced today by WWF International.

In 2008, scientists discovered 100 plants, 28 fish, 14 amphibians, two mammals and the new bird species in the region – on top of over 1,000 new species identified there in the previous decade.

Scientists believe the frog, found in eastern Thailand, and named Limnonectes megastomias, uses fangs as intimidating as any snake's in combat with other males, as well as to catch prey.

The leopard gecko, Goniurosaurus catbaensis, turned up on Cat Ba island in northern Vietnam. It has large beautiful cat-like eyes, and leopard stripes along the length of its body.

The scientist who found it, Lee Grismer from La Sierra University in California, said he was so engrossed in trying to capture it, it took his son to point out that his hand was resting on a rock inches away from the head of a pit viper.

"We caught the snake and the gecko, and they both proved to be new species," he said.

The bat was found in south-eastern Vietnam, and the Nonggang babbler bird in the rainforest on the border between China and Vietnam.

"After millennia in hiding, these species are now finally in the spotlight, and there are clearly more waiting to be discovered," said Stuart Chapman, director of the WWF Greater Mekong Programme.

He warned, however, that climate change, including floods and drought, threatened the survival of many of these species, just as the world learned of their existence.

"Some species will be able to adapt to climate change, many will not, potentially resulting in massive extinctions. Rare, endangered and endemic species like those newly discovered are especially vulnerable because climate change will further shrink their already restricted habitats."

Lost Land of the Volcano, Episode 3 (Part 1)

Part 1 of the last episode of the BBC series "Lost Land of the Volcano". An international team of scientists, cavers and wildlife filmmakers venture deep into the heart of the remote tropical island of New Guinea to explore a giant extinct volcano - Mount Bosavi. Narrated by Philip Glenister.

Coming Soon! Rest of the parts of the last Episode, Episode 3

Lost Land of the Volcano, Episode 2 - Part 1

Watch the rest of the parts of Episode 2 on Youtube Now! 

Lost Land of the Volcano, Episode 1 - Part 1

Watch the rest of the parts of Episode 1 on Youtube Now!

BOX-EYED: Lost Land Of The Volcano, Harper's Island & Derren Brown's The Events

September 13, 2009 3:59 PM 

 

By Dan Owen

A new breed of wildlife documentary has been discovered by the BBC; one that combines the usual lush HD photography with a sense of human exploration and pure adventure. Following the success of Lost Land Of The Jaguar last year, the same team of scientists, naturalists and filmmakers have descended on the jungles of New Guinea -- another "unexplored" region that, in an amusing inconsistency, is later revealed to have been explored a few years back by a group that even left behind some old gear. Way to blow the illusion, guys...

The beauty of LOST LAND OF THE VOLCANO is how it cultivates a sense of discovery and adventure from the comfort of your armchair. You half expect the team to stumble upon a tribe sacrificing a blonde showgirl to a giant gorilla, or for a T-Rex to explode out of the foliage and chomp the head off one of the bearded eggheads. It actually makes me sad documentary filmmaking like this wasn't around when explorers really were venturing into uncharted territory. I guess this is as close as we'll get to a fly-on-the-wall expedition led by Dr. Livingtone in the 21st-century. It's easy to be drawn into the vibe Lost Land wants us to feel, even though I suspect the series is exaggerated for effect.

Perhaps the show's biggest success is the fact they really do discover new animals, and not all of them are dull sub-species of bat, frog or millipede. No, they actually found a cat-sized wooly rat! Okay, so even that's not going to stop the presses, but it still carries a certain sense of wonder. In the last series they found a new type of mountain-dwelling shrew, so the discoveries are at least getting bigger... making you wonder if that giant gorilla may appear a few series down the line.

If the Lost Land series has one failing it's that the production team seem more interested in the scientists than the creatures. You might get brief footage of a pygmy parrot, but it'll be outweighed by footage of a cameraman sat inside a camouflaged "hide" complaining about mosquitoes while waiting for said birds to appear. At times, you can understand why the emphasis is placed on the humans, because they do interesting things like climb cliffs, get stuck in whirlpools, and go down dark caves, but sometimes you wish they'd just let the wildlife speak for itself. BBC1/BBC HD, TUE, 9PM

BBC Three have an interesting new US acquisition they're broadcasting in double-bill chunks every Sunday night. While ITV1 gives us Agatha Christie's Miss Marple earlier that evening, BBC Three have HARPER'S ISLAND, partly inspired by Christie's classic Ten Little Indians. It's a high-concept murder-mystery drama about 25 people who arrive on the titular isle for a week of pre-wedding celebrations. Unfortunately, seven years ago the island was the crime scene for a serial-killer who butchered six locals and strung them up from a tree, and now the present-day guests find themselves being killed one by one...

Essentially, this is a serialized slasher film crossed with a glossy US soap. I had fun watching the opening couplet of episodes, but it remains to be seen if it can hold your attention once the novelty wears off. It needs strong characters and a compelling narrative to keep us glued each week, or else you'll just be watching for the bloodshed (which has already included a head-slicing by propeller, a hacked-off torso, a decapitation, and a girl being burned alive in a pit.) If the bride and groom survive the week, I hope they chose a better venue for their honeymoon. BBC THREE/BBC HD, SUN, 9PM.

Mind-fiddler Derren Brown is back for a new series, ominously referred to as THE EVENTS. His first wheeze was to predict Wednesday's National Lottery on live television, broadcast simultaneously across the Channel 4 platform. He succeeded, after insisting there was no significant delay between his transmission and the BBC's feed of the lotto draw, and some channel-hopping seemed to prove this. Of course, theories immediately flooded the internet, ranging from split-screens to mass hypnosis. Many also wondered why Derren didn't show us his prediction before the draw was made, as he mentioned a legal excuse that prevented him from doing so that sounded very suspicious. Friday's hour-long revelation, entitled "How To Win The Lottery" could be described as a disappointment, because no definitive answer was delivered, instead delivering two intriguing theories (one mathematical, one condoning Lotto sabotage), and a few magical set-pieces to illustrate some principles. Good fun, but I can understand people feeling let-down. Still, Derren Brown's one of very few entertainers that can get the whole nation talking for a few days, and you didn't really want the trick spoiled, deep down. Did you? WED, CHANNEL 4 / MORE4 / E4 / FILMFOUR, 10.35PM & FRI, CHANNEL 4, 10PM.

.....

If you enjoyed Box-Eyed, why not head over to Dan's Media Digest for more entertainment-related news, reviews and musings?

The rat that's the size of a cat: BBC team discovers 40 new species in 'lost world'

By Paul Revoir
Last updated at 3:35 PM on 7th September 2009

Rats as big as cats, fanged frogs and grunting fish - they sound like something from a horror movie.
But, incredibly, there is a 'lost world' on a distant island where these nightmarish creatures really exist.
A team of scientists discovered the bizarre animals - and dozens of others - at a remote volcano in Papua New Guinea.

New species: Wildlife cameraman Gordon Buchanan with the Bosavi Woolly Rat

 

No fear: The rat is not afraid of humans, which could make it vulnerable

In the kilometre-deep crater of Mount Bosavi, they found a habitat teeming with life which has evolved in isolation since the volcano last erupted 200,000 years ago.
Among the new species was the the Bosavi Woolly Rat.
One of the biggest rats in the world, it measures just over 32 inches from nose to tail and weighs 3lb.
The silvery grey mammal has dense fur and its teeth suggest it has a largely vegetarian diet and probably builds nests in tree hollows or underground.

 

Surprising find: A new species of frog found near base camp. When scared it puffs up its body.

The Bosavi Woolly was discovered by a team from the BBC's natural history unit as they searched for new wildlife while filming the series Lost Land Of The Volcano.
During the trip to a little-known part of the rain forest, the team also found about 40 other new species, which are at various stages of verification.
This included a marsupial called the Bosavi Silky Cuscus, a camouflaged gecko, a fanged frog and a fish called the Henamo Grunter, which makes a grunting sound from its swim bladder.

 

New species: A frog named, Litoria sauroni, discovered on the trip

Picture shows: A bizarre jungle spider camouflaged as lichen

Researchers also found an extremely hairy caterpillar which is now awaiting cataloguing in Oxford, where the team will give names to their finds.
It is estimated that along with the giant rat and cuscus the expedition found about 16 species of frogs, one species of gecko, at least three species of fish, at least 20 of insects and spiders and possibly one new species of bat.
The expedition was led by climber and naturalist Steve Backshall-wildlife cameraman Gordon Buchanan and head scientist Dr George McGavin.
Mr Buchanan and Smithsonian biologist Dr Kristofer Helgen were first on the scene when the rat was found by a tracker from the local Kasua tribe. Dr Helgen said:
'This is one of the world's largest rats. It is a true rat, related to the same kind you find in the city sewers, but a heck of a lot bigger.
'I had a cat and it was about the same size of this rat. This rat was incredibly tame.

Picture shows: A bizarre hairy caterpillar found in the rainforest

   

 

Amazing: The king bird of paradise, and a buff faced pygmy parrot, found by bird expert Jack Dumbacher

'It just sat next to me nibbling on a piece of leaf. It won't have seen a human being before. The crater of Mount Bosavi really is the lost world.'
Papua New Guinea is famous for the number and diversity of rodents that live there, with more than 57 species from the Murid family of rats and mice on the island.
Further evidence of the rich wildlife of the tropical location came with the discovery of the Bosavi Silky Cuscus. This animal, which resembles a small bear, is a marsupial that lives up in trees, feeding on fruits and leaves.
Weighing in at some 4.5lb, it has thick silky fur adapted for the mountain environment in which it lives. Dr Helgen has identified it as a new subspecies in the group of strange marsupials known as cuscuses.

An iridescent Beetle found in the New Guinea rainforest

 

New species: A beautiful fruit dove discovered during the BBC expedition

He said: 'Long ago it was isolated on this volcano and has become something unique to Bosavi.'
The habitat in the area is currently regarded as pristine, but less than 20 miles to the south of Mount Bosavi extensive logging operations are happening.
The mountain acts like an island in the vast sea of jungle, trapping different species on it.
The expedition base camp was in the foothills east of Mount Bosavi with smaller teams going out to remote locations.

Lost Land Of The Volcano starts on BBC1 tomorrow at 9pm.