Borneo: A Wealth of Newly Discovered Species
Science Daily reported yesterday that a new species of Clouded Leopard has been discovered on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. It had been thought that the new species was the same as the Clouded Leopard found elsewhere in Southeast Asia, but genetic testing has proved otherwise. Researchers at the U.S. National Cancer Institute say that genetic tests show the news species’ DNA differs from that of the old in approximately 40 ways. Other scientists have studied patterns on the fur and skin of both Leopards and have found distinctive qualities to each.
Borneo has recently been a hot spot for new species discoveries. Over 50 species have been identified in the past year alone. This article states a variety of the species found:
Some of the creatures new to science include: a miniature fish, the world's second smallest vertebrate measuring less than a third of an inch in length and found in the highly acidic blackwater peat swamps of the island; six Siamese fighting fish, including one species with a beautiful iridescent blue-green marking; a catfish with protruding teeth and an adhesive belly which allows it to literally stick to rocks; and a tree frog with striking bright green eyes. The new ginger plants more than double the number of the Etlingera species found to date.”
Borneo is an ideal location to discover new species - mostly due to its 84,000 square miles of rain forest.
These articles are fascinating because we are constantly discovering new species as technology advances. Without DNA mapping, scientists would have continued to believe that there was only one type of Clouded Leopard. We are learning more about these organisms while improving our methods for analyzing them. As technology advances, we expect that more definitive borders will continue to be made between species.
APentowski
posted by PWH @ 11:52 PM
15 comments
15 Comments:
I just finished reading the article and I found it really interesting. This article proves (in my opinion) that the rainforests should be preserved and protected for the animals and plants from deforestation. Your article was clear and concise. Overall I enjoyed your article throughly.
Sincerely,
ngc3
Thank you for this interesting article on the discovery of new species in Borneo. It proves that we have not discovered everything and there is much to learn about life in the rainforests covering this planet. I'm interested to know what exactly caused people to research the genetics of the snow leopards, if the appearance of both were so similar? Preservation of this rainforest and others is key for the continuation of knowledge and research of evolution and to further develop our tools for research. Thank you for this interesting information.
As you have read from these people, this article is exiting and interesting. I find it fascinating to know that we are all finding new animals and species of everything. I think it is a great thing that we are trying to preserve many forests and parks so that way we can get more species. This article was great and I would like to hear more about new species if you get a chance to write about it again.
Your article reveals in great simplicity the "value" of places such as Borneo and others like it. Though DNA testing is a great tool that allows us to determine if two seemingly identical creatures are in fact different species. However, even with DNA testing we would not be able to identify these new species of animals in places like Borneo if they did not exist. I hope that because we have such a great tool as DNA testing that it will help us preserve the wonderfully biodiverse places such as Borneo and others across the globe. The great technology of DNA testing will be worthless to both us and the animals that are tested if you do not use the information we gain from it to protect the very rare species that we determined through DNA testing.
I thought that these articles were very interesting, but I have a few questions that were not addressed. Do you know how long it took for the new species of Clouded Leopard to evolve? Also why is that the rain forest in Borneo is a hot spot for new species discoveries? What is so special about this particular island as opposed to other places in the world?
The fact that there are many more species to discover on earth, especially in rain forest’s and oceans, allows the field of science to keep growing. It gives more reason for more research and preservation of these two vast habitats. How are new species being discovered? What other techniques are being used besides DNA testing? What are some of the ways that animals in these habitats can be preserved and protected? How can the general public aid in this cause?
-Morgan Lindemayer
lindema7
Without sounding too much like a tree hugger, I think this article is a perfect example of why we have to be careful with our rainforest regions. If we found so many new species in this small area alone, imagine how many could have been missed in other areas where the rainforest has already been wiped out?
After reading this article I was also intrigued by the new species...why would the catfish need to stick to roots? Why would the tree frog have such strange green eyes? All of these mysteries just offer new areas of research for curious scientists.
I really liked this article. It was well written and interesting.
I feel like this article could have gone into much greater detail than it did about the new leopards discovered. I feel that the section included directly from the source almost took over the entire article. I think they could have ran farther with the article and gone into more detail like about what DNA has to do with it. For example the information in the novel by Carrol would be great to include.
lemaym6 Meghan Lemay
I just accidentily sent a comment about the new leopard discovered, I said it could have gone into more detail, specifically about DNA and what that has to do with it like everything we are learning about DNA and what it has to do with different spieces in the Carrol novel. However the comment I just wrote didn't have my name I forgot to write it so here it is.
lemaym6
Meghan Lemay
lemaym6 Meghan Lemay
I just accidentily sent a comment about the new leopard discovered, I said it could have gone into more detail, specifically about DNA and what that has to do with it like everything we are learning about DNA and what it has to do with different spieces in the Carrol novel. However the comment I just wrote didn't have my name I forgot to write it so here it is.
lemaym6
Meghan Lemay
Wow! These constant discoveries are amazing. It seems as though we will never have a complete list of the existing species in the world. And to think, scientists are busy trying to find life on other planets when we haven't even discovered all of the types of life on our own planet! I wonder if scientists were out in the rain forests for the specific reason of searching for new species or if this was a complete accident. Many discoveries happen by accident anyways. I'm sure many more discoveries will be accidently made in the future!
After reading your blog I started thinking about how much there is yet to discover in the world. It's amazing that so many new species are discovered each year. Is it because we can search harder or is it just that the human genome is changing so quickly? I'm not surprised that many new species are found in the rain forest but it makes me wonder what other regions of the earth have to offer like the ocean. Thank goodness we've come so far with DNA mapping and genetics. It has benefited science so much and is continuously improving our knowlegdge of the genetic tree of life.
Thanks for the article!
-Simpson6
This is a very interesting topic you chose to write about, and one that is particularly good for an audience to read about because it's something most of us probably have some type of knowledge about since it's been all over TV since the discovery of the Borneo leopard and the Discovery series Expedition Borneo! If you haven't seen it, you should. It show cases many of the new species that are in that article you posted! Again, very interesting topic and check out that documentary it may help you in doing research! Great Job!
rosec5
The fact that species of flora and fauna continue to be discovered by man year after year proves how desperately we must preserve our land. Many of our peers seem to think we have charted every square inch of this planet, but your analysis of the uncovering of Borneo's new species proves that there is a lot left to explore. It makes the world of natural resource management very exciting to realize just how much we do not yet know about our surroundings.
-wasserm4
I think it's really amazing that DNA testing has allowed us to improve taxonomy of organisms. It is allowing us to find out way more about a certain animal than we ever could from visually observing them. It would be interesting to look at a DNA-based tree of species once more genomes are mapped out.
tokard7
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