In one of the most untouched and remote rainforests in the world, scientists have discovered some sixty new species, including a chocolate-colored frog and a super-mini dung beetle. The species were uncovered in Southeastern Suriname during a Rapid Assessment Program (RAP); run by Conservation International (CI), RAPS involve sending teams of specialists into little-known ecosystems to record as much biodiversity as they can in a short time. In this case, sixteen researchers from around the world had about three weeks to document the region’s biodiversity.
“Suriname is one of the last places where an opportunity still exists to conserve massive tracts of untouched forest and pristine rivers where biodiversity is thriving,” says Trond Larsen, the Director of the Rapid Assessment Program at Conservation International. “Ensuring the preservation of these ecosystems is not only vital for the Surinamese people, but may help the world to meet its growing demand for food and water as well as reducing the impacts of climate change.”
The biologists visited four sites along the upper Palumeu River watershed, including mountains to lowlands. They catalogued 1,378 species in total (an average of 86 per researcher), of which about sixty are thought new to science.
Suriname is one of the most-heavily forested countries in the world: around 91 percent of the country is still covered in forest according the FAO, while the small country’s population remains small. However, mining, hydropower, and other industries are beginning to take their toll. In fact, the team measured high levels of mercury in the river despite being far from mining sites, but Larsen says the mercury is likely coming from mining and energy operations in other countries.
The region is a part of the Guiana Shield, a massive stretch of rainforest situated above the Amazon, which covers northern South America, including Guyana, French Guiana, Suriname, and portions of Colombia, Venezuela, and Brazil. The Guiana Shield is sometimes considered a part of the Amazon rainforest, though not of the Amazon Basin. Although lesser known than many of the world’s rainforests, the Guiana Shield makes up about a quarter of the world’s total rainforests and is among the world’s least degraded.
“I have conducted expeditions all over the world, but never have I seen such beautiful, pristine forests so untouched by humans. Southern Suriname is one of the last places on earth where there is a large expanse of pristine tropical forest,” noted expedition leader and ant expert Leeanne Alonso. “The high number of new species discovered is evidence of the amazing biodiversity of these forests that we have only just begun to uncover.”
Scientists believe the so-called ‘cocoa’ frog is new to science. Photo by: Conservation International.
The ‘lilliputian beetle’ may not only be a new species, but a new genus. It is the smallest dung beetle yet discovered in the Guiana Shield, and the second smallest in all of South America. Dung beetles are nature’s recyclers, mitigating disease and turning over nutrients. Photo by: Conservation International.
This new katydid is distinct enough to make its own genus. Note its unusually long legs. Photo by: Conservation International.
This larger fruit-eating bat (Artibeus planirostris) was the most commonly sighted of the 28 species bats catalogued. They use their sharp teeth to eat large fruits and may be important seed disperser. Photo by: Conservation International.
Scientists were able to capture what they call a ‘very rare event’: a wolf spider eating a poison dart-frog (Amereega trivitatta). Photo by: Conservation International.
Tiny juvenile leafhopper (only 5 millimeters) with waxy substances coming off its abdomens. Scientists aren’t sure why leafhoppers do this but it may be to confuse predators. Photo by: Conservation International.
Ants, one of 149 species noted, consuming a dead insect. Photo by: Conservation International.
A delicate slender opossum (Marmosops parvidens), one of 39 species of small mammals. Photo by: Conservation International.
Map showing field sites of RAP in Southeastern Suriname. Photo by: Conservation International.
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