It’s the amazing Uroplatus! Also known as the leaf-tailed gecko, the genus Uroplatus is endemic to Madagascar.
See more animal camouflage here on The Conservation Report.
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Photo source for attribution. The author or licensor of this image does not endorse my work or me and their image is protected under an attribution license.
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Image: David Hall
Via the International Institute for Species Exploration, the top ten new species from 2009 include a new species of edible yam from Madagascar (Dioscorea orangeana) that’s considered critically endangered and a new species of tropical pitcher plant—one of the largest known—that was named after naturalist David Attenborough—Nepenthes attenboroughii. New species of animals discovered include the psychedelic or far-out frogfish (Histiophryne psychedelica)—pictured at right and the bug-eating slug (Aiteng ater). You can nominate a species for the top ten list here.
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The Alaotra grebe (Tachybaptus rufolavatus) has been declared extinct. Undoubtedly, the grebe is a victim of anthropogenic activities around Lake Alaotra—a large lake located in the central plateau region of Madagascar, which was the grebe’s stronghold. Activities such as fishing, rice production, and the introduction of invasive species changed the ecology of Lake Alaotra. Obviously, the grebe couldn’t adapt to these changes. More via Birdlife International:
BirdLife International has announced, in the 2010 IUCN Red List update for birds, the extinction of Alaotra Grebe Tachybaptus rufolavatus. Restricted to a tiny area of east Madagascar, this species declined rapidly after carnivorous fish were introduced to the lakes in which it lived. This, along with the use of nylon gill-nets by fisherman which caught and drowned birds, has driven this species into the abyss.
“No hope now remains for this species. It is another example of how human actions can have unforeseen consequences”, said Dr Leon Bennun, BirdLife International’s Director of Science, Policy and Information. “Invasive alien species have caused extinctions around the globe and remain one of the major threats to birds and other biodiversity.”
On a brighter note, the Madagascar pochard, another aquatic bird endemic to Madagascar and once thought to be extinct (the diving duck was rediscovered in 2006 prior to a confirmed sighting in 1991), is benefiting from a captive breeding program. Like the Alaotra grebe, Lake Alaotra was the pochard’s stronghold. However, it was rediscovered outside the Lake Alaotra region on a much smaller lake in northern Madagascar. Eggs were collected by a team of scientists from the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, and the ducklings have been successfully reared in Madagascar. It’s encouraging to see that the juveniles are heavy female. More via the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust:
Things are progressing well in Madagascar. All 23 birds are faring well. We have been able to sex the third brood, and the bias in favour of females continues – we now have a total of 16 females and seven males. As you can see from the photos by Owen, the birds are full size, with their first proper plumage, though still rather dowdy compared with adults. But the males already have pale eyes (not quite the shining white that they will be after a year or two), whereas they remain dark brown in the females.
It’s unclear yet whether these birds will breed in their first year. But just in case, we have taken the precaution of mixing the broods. The males from brood two have been placed with the females from brood one, males from brood three with females from brood two, and so on.
Even if our birds breed successfully this year, we will still need to return to Lake Bemanevika in autumn to collect clutches from all six females – to ensure that we have as much genetic diversity in the founder stock as possible.
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Blommersia angolafa image via Franco Andreone
Blommersia angolafa, a newly described species of frog from Madagascar, has the unique habit of rearing its eggs and tadpoles in fallen leaf litter. More via the BBC:
After mating, female frogs lay clutches of 2-10 yellowish eggs within a brown jelly onto the insides of dead leaves of three different palm species.
The frogs lay their eggs a few millimetres above the surface of water pooling in the leaf, which then hatch into tadpoles.
During their surveys, the researchers found egg clutches, tadpoles, new metamorphosised froglets and adult males and females within the dead leaves, including males calling out for a mate.
More often than not, males were found alongside the eggs and tadpoles, suggesting that males may guard the eggs and offspring.
No B. angolafa frogs were found living among the crowns of the palm trees or anywhere outside the dead leaves on the forest floor.
Nor did any other frog species inhabit the dead leaves.
Four other frog species are known to reproduce in fallen dry plant matter: three species breed in the fruit capsules of the Brazil nut tree, while another breeds in tree holes, empty nuts and occasionally snail shells.
But B. angolafa is the first known to breed in fallen dead leaves.
Raorchestes resplendens is a new species of frog described from India, and given the species vibrant coloration, it’s certainly reminiscent of the Mantella species that are endemic from Madagascar or the poison dart frogs of Central and South America. Furthermore, this species appears to be restricted to a very tiny area within India. More via AHN:
A new species of frog, bright reddish-orange in color, has been discovered in a national park in southern India’s Western Ghats mountain range.
Named Raorchestes resplendens, the frogs are physically unlike any known member of the frog family. They are distinguishable not only by their bright-colored bodies but also their multiple glands and extremely short limbs.
This new species of frog is restricted to less than 3 square kilometers of the highest mountain peak of the Western Ghats, Anaimudi, in Eravikulam National Park. The team of scientists that discovered this species called for “immediate conservation” of the Raorchestes frogs.
Paper: A ground-dwelling rhacophorid frog from the highest mountain peak of the Western Ghats of India
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This species of lemur was discovered more than a 100 years ago but was thought extinct due to deforestation, which is a big problem in Madagascar. More on the discovery from Scientific American:
Scientists have long believed that the Sibree’s dwarf lemur (Cheirogaleus sibreei) went extinct following the destruction of its only known forest habitat. But a few years ago Mitchell Irwin of McGill University in Montreal and his research team encountered some dwarf lemurs that didn’t quite look the way they expected the species to appear. Two lemurs were caught, their DNA tested, and the Sibree’s dwarf lemur was revealed.
This is actually the first confirmation that the Sibree’s lemur is truly its own species. The species looks almost identical to the Crossley’s dwarf lemur (C. melanotis), with which it shares its habitat. The research proving its morphological uniqueness was published online March 6 in the journal Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.
More via PhysOrg.com:
The species was first discovered in Madagascar in 1896, but this tiny, nocturnal dwarf lemur was never studied throughout the 20th century. Following the destruction of its only known rainforest habitat, scientists had no idea whether the species still existed in the wild – or even whether it was a distinct species.
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This work led to the further surprise that two morphologically distinct dwarf lemur species were present, living side-by-side. Further work by geneticist Linn Groeneveld, German Primate Center confirmed the existence of the more common Crossley’s dwarf lemur, and the elusive Sibree’s dwarf lemur.
The new study showed the mystery lemurs to be very similar to the only known specimen of Sibree’s dwarf lemur, now in The Natural History Museum in London, England. Genetic analysis shows the mystery lemurs to be highly distinct from all other known species. In fact, the genetic analyses confirmed that of the four known dwarf lemur species, this is the most genetically unique and probably closely resembles the ancestor that gave rise to the other species.
Image showing historical deforestation rates of Madagascar was found here
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