Saturday, May 21, 2011

New bird and rediscovered tree rat

I'm pleased to give credit to the blog Cryptomundo for catching these two major finds. Birds and mammals are the groups generally considered best-known: various experts at various times have declared them virtually all catalogued. But birds keep coming at a steady rate, and the discovery curve for mammals is actually trending up.
So it is we have a new rail from Madagascar and the rediscovery of a strikingly colored tree rat from Columbia not seen since 1898. The tree rat just sort of walked into view, ambling along a hand rail at a nature center. From the Beanka forest in western Madagascar - and area where the terrain is so steep the forest has yet to be logged - comes the rail Mentocrex beankaensis, courtesy of scientists from the Field Museum. Keep your eyes open, everyone. Discoveries are everywhere.

No comments: