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		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/species-discovery/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Tue, 04 Aug 2026 21:41:58 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<title>News on Species Discovery</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/species-discovery/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>24 new species found in ocean zone eyed for battery metals mining</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/24-new-species-found-in-ocean-zone-eyed-for-battery-metals-mining/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/24-new-species-found-in-ocean-zone-eyed-for-battery-metals-mining/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Apr 2026 01:58:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/09014340/CCZ-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317236</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Critical Minerals, Deep Sea, Deep Sea Mining, Environment, Forest Destruction, Mining, New Discovery, Oceans, Species Discovery, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Researchers pulled 24 tiny new creatures from a deep abyss in the central Pacific Ocean, some with long, spindly legs and others with more squat, compact bodies. Some appeared to feed on the sediment itself, while others had large claws suggesting they prey on other creatures living in the mud. The discoveries, published in ZooKeys, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Researchers pulled 24 tiny new creatures from a deep abyss in the central Pacific Ocean, some with long, spindly legs and others with more squat, compact bodies. Some appeared to feed on the sediment itself, while others had large claws suggesting they prey on other creatures living in the mud. The discoveries, published in ZooKeys, come from the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ), a roughly 6-million-square-kilometer (2.3-million-square-mile) expanse of seabed between Hawai‘i and Mexico. The newly described species are all amphipods, a diverse group of crustaceans. The shrimp-like creatures, most about a centimeter long, or less than half an inch, have evolved in the deep sea, some 4,000 meters (13,100 feet) below the surface, over millions of years. Among the finds was a completely new superfamily, Mirabestioidea, and a new family, Mirabestiidae, representing previously unknown evolutionary lineages. &#8220;If you imagine that on planet Earth, we know about carnivorous mammals, we know that bears exist and we know that the families of cats exist, it would be like finding dogs,&#8221; Tammy Horton, a researcher at the U.K.&#8217;s National Oceanography Centre and co-lead of the study, told Inside Climate News. Collage of the 24 new Amphipod species identified in Clarion-Clipperton Zone, CC BY, National Oceanography Centre, Southampton Scientists collected the specimens by extracting large cubes of mud from the seabed, known as box cores, and hauling them up to a research ship. After washing and sieving the cores, researchers found a variety of amphipods nestled among the mud and metallic nodules. During a weeklong&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/24-new-species-found-in-ocean-zone-eyed-for-battery-metals-mining/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/24-new-species-found-in-ocean-zone-eyed-for-battery-metals-mining/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-317236</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Working together, Indigenous peoples &#038; researchers describe new Amazonian palm</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/working-together-indigenous-peoples-researchers-describe-new-amazonian-palm/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/working-together-indigenous-peoples-researchers-describe-new-amazonian-palm/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Apr 2026 14:06:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sofia Moutinho]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Amazon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/01135800/IMG_3106-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316712</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Biology, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Deforestation, Forests, Indigenous Peoples, Plants, Research, Species, Species Discovery, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In 2025, botanists Rodrigo Cámara-Leret and Juan Carlos Copete embarked on a two-hour boat ride down the Vaupés River in the Colombian Amazon, followed by a two-hour hike to the village of Wacará, where about 140 Indigenous Cacua people live in relative isolation. They were aiming to study the medicinal plants used by this Indigenous [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In 2025, botanists Rodrigo Cámara-Leret and Juan Carlos Copete embarked on a two-hour boat ride down the Vaupés River in the Colombian Amazon, followed by a two-hour hike to the village of Wacará, where about 140 Indigenous Cacua people live in relative isolation. They were aiming to study the medicinal plants used by this Indigenous group, one of the smallest in the country. But their plans changed as soon as they had their first meal in the village of thatch-roofed houses, when some children offered them a yellowish-brown fruit the Cacau called táam. Although the duo had been studying tropical plants for more than a decade, they had never seen that drop-shaped fruit before. Initially, they thought the fruit might be from a palm tree introduced to the region from nearby Brazil. However, as they spent more time with the community, they realized it was likely an entirely new species of palm that had not yet been described by scientists. &#8220;We knew most of the plants we would encounter in the forest, so when we saw that fruit, we were extremely shocked and surprised,&#8221; Cámara-Leret, a professor in tropical plant diversity and ethnobotany at the University of Zürich, tells Mongabay. Discovering new palm species in the Amazon is rare, even more so one that is tall-stemmed and used in the human diet like the táam. Palms are among the most well-known species of the region and were extensively studied by European naturalists who explored the jungle between the 16th and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/working-together-indigenous-peoples-researchers-describe-new-amazonian-palm/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/working-together-indigenous-peoples-researchers-describe-new-amazonian-palm/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-316712</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The Turtle Bank: The last of these Asian turtle species find refuge in the Carolina pines</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/the-turtle-bank-the-last-of-these-asian-turtle-species-find-refuge-in-the-carolina-pines/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/the-turtle-bank-the-last-of-these-asian-turtle-species-find-refuge-in-the-carolina-pines/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Jan 2026 16:55:57 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/01/28053204/Rote-Island-snake-necked-turtles-Chelodina-mccordi-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=313417</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Captive Breeding, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Extreme Weather, Global Environmental Crisis, Habitat Loss, Herps, Impact Of Climate Change, Species Discovery, Traditional Medicine, Tropical Deforestation, Turtles, Turtles And Tortoises, Wildlife, Wildlife Rehabilitation, Wildlife Rescues, Wildlife Trafficking, and Zoos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Deep in the coastal woods of South Carolina, behind high fences, guard dogs, and security cameras, is a group of people who know more about turtles than you. Posters and paintings of turtles and tortoises are plastered on every wall in the moss-green classroom where they meet. A turtle-themed library occupies one corner, complete with [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Deep in the coastal woods of South Carolina, behind high fences, guard dogs, and security cameras, is a group of people who know more about turtles than you. Posters and paintings of turtles and tortoises are plastered on every wall in the moss-green classroom where they meet. A turtle-themed library occupies one corner, complete with ceramic turtle decor. Looking around, I count dozens of turtle shirts, turtle hats and turtle stickers on water bottles and laptops. There are more than a few turtle tattoos. This is the Turtle Survival Center in Cross, South Carolina, USA, and it&#8217;s hosting the third annual “Turtle School” (officially the “Chelonian Biology, Conservation, and Management Course”). Imagine Hogwarts, but for turtle nerds. Course participants watch a plumbing presentation during the 2025 Chelonian Biology, Conservation, and Management Course at the Turtle Survival Center in South Carolina. Photo by Liz Kimbrough for Mongabay. Cris Hagen, Turtle Survival Alliance&#8217;s director of animal management and collections sports a turtle tattoo on his ring finger. Photo by Liz Kimbrough for Mongabay. In September 2025, 16 participants from three countries traveled to the Deep South for a weeklong crash course. Most are specialists from prominent zoos across the U.S. But there&#8217;s also a vet from Argentina, a glass artist focused on sea turtle conservation and Madeline Tesolin, a T-shirt seller at concerts from Ontario, Canada, who also drives injured turtles to vets in her spare time. Over the seven-day intensive, they&#8217;ll learn from turtle and tortoise conservation celebrities how to care&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/the-turtle-bank-the-last-of-these-asian-turtle-species-find-refuge-in-the-carolina-pines/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/the-turtle-bank-the-last-of-these-asian-turtle-species-find-refuge-in-the-carolina-pines/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-313417</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Photos: Kew Gardens&#8217; top 10 newly named plants and fungi for 2025</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/photos-kew-gardens-top-10-newly-named-plants-and-fungi-for-2025/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/photos-kew-gardens-top-10-newly-named-plants-and-fungi-for-2025/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Jan 2026 23:24:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/01/12223115/02.-Telipogon-cruentilabrum-CREDIT-L.Baquero-03-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=312879</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Botswana, Brazil, Ecuador, England, Namibia, Peru, and South Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Botany, Conservation, Deforestation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forest Destruction, Forests, Fungi, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, New Discovery, Plants, Rainforests, Species Discovery, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Over the past year, scientists at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in the U.K., officially named 125 plants and 65 fungi. The new-to-science species include a parasitic fungus that turns Brazilian spiders into “zombies,” a critically endangered orchid with blood-red markings from Ecuador&#8217;s cloud forests, and a shrub named after the fire demon from the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Over the past year, scientists at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in the U.K., officially named 125 plants and 65 fungi. The new-to-science species include a parasitic fungus that turns Brazilian spiders into “zombies,” a critically endangered orchid with blood-red markings from Ecuador&#8217;s cloud forests, and a shrub named after the fire demon from the 2004 Hayao Miyazaki film Howl&#8217;s Moving Castle. Each year, Kew releases a list of its “top 10” new plant and fungal species to showcase nature&#8217;s vast diversity, as well as its fragility, as many newly described species are already in danger. According to Kew’s “State of the World&#8217;s Plants and Fungi 2023” report, three out of four undescribed plants are threatened with extinction. One species described in 2025, Cryptacanthus ebo, a bromeliad from the Ebo Forest in Cameroon, may have already gone extinct. Each year, researchers worldwide officially name about 2,500 new plants and even more fungi. An estimated 100,000 plant species and between 2 million and 3 million fungal species remain to be described and named by science. Many of these unnamed fungi are endophytes that live entirely within plant tissues, making up the plants’ microbiomes. &#8220;Describing new plant and fungal species is essential at a time when the impacts of biodiversity loss and climate change accelerate before our eyes,&#8221; Martin Cheek, a senior research leader in Kew&#8217;s Africa team, said in a press release. &#8220;It is difficult to protect what we do not know, understand and have a scientific name for.&#8221; Although a species may be&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/photos-kew-gardens-top-10-newly-named-plants-and-fungi-for-2025/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/photos-kew-gardens-top-10-newly-named-plants-and-fungi-for-2025/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-312879</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The conservation ledger: What we lost and what we gained in 2025</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/the-ledger-what-we-lost-and-what-we-gained-in-2025/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/the-ledger-what-we-lost-and-what-we-gained-in-2025/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Jan 2026 13:18:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/01/01023111/ca_purisma_251227_173850231z-header-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=312472</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Commentary, Conservation, Environment, Extinction, Green, Species Discovery, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Extinction is rarely a moment. It is a process that unfolds offstage, marked by missed sightings, thinning records, and the slow reassignment of hope to footnotes. Discovery, too, is rarely a moment. It is a process of comparison, argument, and waiting—years spent persuading other experts that what you are seeing is, in fact, new. A [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Extinction is rarely a moment. It is a process that unfolds offstage, marked by missed sightings, thinning records, and the slow reassignment of hope to footnotes. Discovery, too, is rarely a moment. It is a process of comparison, argument, and waiting—years spent persuading other experts that what you are seeing is, in fact, new. A year-end review of nature tends to move between those two tempos. One is the closing of accounts. The other is the opening of drawers. In 2025, a small group of species crossed a final bureaucratic threshold and were formally listed as extinct on the IUCN Red List. For science, the change was technical. For everyone else, it read like a set of obituaries that had been delayed for decades. At the same time, hundreds of organisms were described for the first time in the scientific literature—some collected in recent fieldwork, others hiding in plain sight in museum collections, misfiled by earlier assumptions. Between those bookends sits the human work: the people who tried to slow the losses, and the institutional decisions that made progress possible in some places and failure likely in others. In my own corner of this story, 2025 was a year of memorials. I wrote more than 80 short obituaries for people who spent their lives protecting parts of the Earth. The volume was not a badge of productivity. It was a measure of how many lives are spent holding the line—and how often the line keeps moving anyway. The losses that became official&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/the-ledger-what-we-lost-and-what-we-gained-in-2025/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/the-ledger-what-we-lost-and-what-we-gained-in-2025/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-312472</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Deep-sea &#8216;hotels&#8217; reveal 20 new species hiding in Pacific Ocean twilight zone near Guam</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/deep-sea-hotels-reveal-20-new-species-hiding-in-oceans-twilight-zone/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/deep-sea-hotels-reveal-20-new-species-hiding-in-oceans-twilight-zone/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Dec 2025 18:20:28 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/31181314/Screenshot-2025-12-31-at-12.12.53-PM-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=312446</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Guam and Pacific Ocean]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Environment, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, New Discovery, Oceans, Species Discovery, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A transparent goby fish drifted through the darkness, its skeleton visible through paper-thin skin. Nearby, a sea slug wore yellow polka dots like a party dress, while an orange fish with bulging eyes hid among the coral. No human had ever seen these creatures — until now. They live in the ocean&#8217;s &#8220;twilight zone,&#8221; a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A transparent goby fish drifted through the darkness, its skeleton visible through paper-thin skin. Nearby, a sea slug wore yellow polka dots like a party dress, while an orange fish with bulging eyes hid among the coral. No human had ever seen these creatures — until now. They live in the ocean&#8217;s &#8220;twilight zone,&#8221; a dim underwater world between 55 and 100 meters (180 and 330 feet) deep, where light fades and strange life thrives. Hidden in the depths off the coast of the Pacific island of Guam, these animals make their homes on unusual structures that scientists had quietly placed on the seafloor years earlier. In November, Luiz Rocha and his team at the California Academy of Sciences finally returned to collect what those structures had been gathering for eight years: a treasure trove of life never before seen by humans. A few of the species (not to scale) found living in the &#8220;twilight zone&#8221; near Guam. Some are likely new to science, others have not been seen before at this depth. Photos courtesy of California Academy of Science. &#8220;I&#8217;ve wanted to be an explorer ever since I was a kid,&#8221; Rocha told National Geographic, &#8220;and there&#8217;s nothing better for an explorer than going to a place that nobody has ever been, finding a species that nobody has ever seen before.&#8221; The monitoring devices, called ARMS (Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures), are stacks of square PVC plates that act as artificial reefs, like mini-condos for critters. Sea creatures settle on them&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/deep-sea-hotels-reveal-20-new-species-hiding-in-oceans-twilight-zone/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-312446</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A new frog species emerges from Peru’s cloud forests — and it’s already at risk</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/a-new-frog-species-emerges-from-perus-cloud-forests-and-its-already-at-risk/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/a-new-frog-species-emerges-from-perus-cloud-forests-and-its-already-at-risk/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Dec 2025 22:32:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Astrid Arellano]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/30222607/O.shunkusacha-768x466.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=312381</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amphibians, Cloud Forests, Community-based Conservation, Deforestation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forest Loss, Frogs, Green, Habitat Loss, Herps, Montane Forests, New Discovery, Rainforests, and Species Discovery]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Deep within the cloud forests of the San Martín region of Peru lie two places so high, cold and remote that they remained virtually unexplored for decades. In 2022, and again in 2025, monitors from three Indigenous and local associations guided a team of scientists from Peru and France on a series of expeditions to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Deep within the cloud forests of the San Martín region of Peru lie two places so high, cold and remote that they remained virtually unexplored for decades. In 2022, and again in 2025, monitors from three Indigenous and local associations guided a team of scientists from Peru and France on a series of expeditions to unravel their mysteries. It was there, within the Bosques de Vaquero Biocorridor, that one of the most striking discoveries emerged: a small, previously unknown frog hidden among the fallen leaves. They named it Shunku Sacha, which in Kichawa-Lamista means “heart of the forest.” The scientific name of the new species, Oreobates shunkusacha, honors the territory where it was discovered — a place that, along with the frog, is now threatened by the rapid destruction of the forest. O. shunkusacha was formally described in a study recently published in the German journal Salamandra. Due to the threats facing the species and its small known range, the study’s authors say it should be considered endangered. A collaborative effort The research was carried out by local associations and scientists from Nature Conserv’Action and the Ararankha Association–Ecology and Conservation, who have been working in the area since 2022, with the aim of bringing science closer to local organizations that protect the forests. The species has been named Oreobates shunkusacha, with Shunku Sacha meaning “heart of the forest” in Kichawa-Lamista. In their study, researchers propose “Shunku Sacha big-headed frog” as the species’ common name. Image courtesy of Nature Conserv’Action Perú.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/a-new-frog-species-emerges-from-perus-cloud-forests-and-its-already-at-risk/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/a-new-frog-species-emerges-from-perus-cloud-forests-and-its-already-at-risk/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-312381</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Rare bats at risk as iron ore mine advances in Guinea’s Nimba Mountains</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/rare-bats-at-risk-as-iron-ore-mine-advances-in-guineas-nimba-mountains/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/rare-bats-at-risk-as-iron-ore-mine-advances-in-guineas-nimba-mountains/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Dec 2025 14:47:23 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Victoria Schneider]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/01/21181341/Myotis-nimbaensis_2_IMG_3646-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=312281</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Guinea, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Apes, Bats, Biodiversity, Chimpanzees, Conservation, Deforestation, Economics, Endangered Species, Environment, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Great Apes, Infrastructure, Mammals, Mining, Pollution, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Species Discovery, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In 2018, researchers from Bat Conservation International, Cameroon&#8217;s University of Maroua and the American Museum of Natural History entered abandoned mining tunnels in Guinea’s Nimba Mountains as part of an environmental and social impact assessment for an iron ore project. They wanted to better understand the habitat and behavior of the critically endangered Lamotte’s roundleaf [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In 2018, researchers from Bat Conservation International, Cameroon&#8217;s University of Maroua and the American Museum of Natural History entered abandoned mining tunnels in Guinea’s Nimba Mountains as part of an environmental and social impact assessment for an iron ore project. They wanted to better understand the habitat and behavior of the critically endangered Lamotte’s roundleaf bat (Hipposideros lamottei) in order to mitigate the negative impacts of a proposed mining project. As they were prowling in the horizontal shafts of mines left behind in the 1970s and ’80s, they encountered a distinctive and distinctly unknown-to-science bat species. It was joy for the scientists, and potential disaster for U.S. miner Ivanhoe Atlantic (formerly HPX), which is seeking to develop an open-pit iron ore mine amid the rich biodiversity of the Nimba Mountains, part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Residents of the villages around Nimba had previously reported sightings of a bat with bright orange fur here in the mountains, around 1,400 meters (4,600 feet) above sea level, but the 2018 survey was the first formal record of the bat. The scientists searching the abandoned mine shafts were able to trap, examine and release just two individuals on two occasions, one male and one female. They also recorded echolocation at a total of five adits, the access tunnels to the old mines, that matched the vocalizations of the bat they’ve formally named Myotis nimbaensis. In the 2021 paper announcing the bat’s identification, the researchers explained its relationship to other members of the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/rare-bats-at-risk-as-iron-ore-mine-advances-in-guineas-nimba-mountains/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/rare-bats-at-risk-as-iron-ore-mine-advances-in-guineas-nimba-mountains/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-312281</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Photos: Top new species from 2025</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/photos-top-new-species-from-2025/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/photos-top-new-species-from-2025/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Dec 2025 14:22:20 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/29141103/Screenshot-2025-12-28-at-5.12.22-PM-1-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=312133</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Andes, Angola, Atlantic Ocean, Brazil, Cerrado, Global, Himalayas, India, Peru, and Tanzania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Acoustic, Amphibians, Animals, Biodiversity, Captive Breeding, Climate Change, Cloud Forests, Conservation, Deep Sea, Deforestation, DNA, Ecosystem Services, Endangered Species, Environment, Extinction, Farming, Forests, Fungi, Habitat Loss, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Indigenous Peoples, Invasive Species, Marine, Mining, Oceans, Old Growth Forests, Pollution, Protected Areas, Ranching, Research, Science, Snakes, Species, Species Discovery, Swamps, Threatened species, Traditional Knowledge, Traditional People, Trees, Tropical Forests, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The world still holds its secrets. Hidden under wet rocks, in the ocean&#8217;s twilight crevices, and in the minutiae of the genetic code are creatures unknown and unnamed by the human species. Every year, scientists find hundreds of new animals, insects, plants and fungi. This year, researchers described a tiny new marsupial, a new Himalayan [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The world still holds its secrets. Hidden under wet rocks, in the ocean&#8217;s twilight crevices, and in the minutiae of the genetic code are creatures unknown and unnamed by the human species. Every year, scientists find hundreds of new animals, insects, plants and fungi. This year, researchers described a tiny new marsupial, a new Himalayan bat, an ancient tree, a bright blue butterfly, a parrot snake, and a fairy lantern plant, among others. &#8220;I think most people believe that we know most species on Earth,&#8221; Mario Moura, a professor at the Federal University of Paraíba in Brazil, told Mongabay, &#8220;but in the best-case scenario, we know 20% of Earth&#8217;s species.&#8221; Some estimate that only 10% of all the species on the planet have been described. Unfortunately, many species may be threatened with extinction before they’re even formally named — victims of human activities like development and climate change. Some of these species could be food or medicine for humans, but each plays a unique role in Earth’s interconnected web of life. “We’re understanding more and more that every species on the planet has a role, and in one way or another, is linked to our well-being through the part they play in ecosystems,&#8221; said Boris Worm, a marine conservation biologist who co-authored a study that quantifies the number of undescribed species on land and in the ocean. “We can’t protect them … if we don’t know them.&#8221; Atlantic manta ray (Mobula yarae) with a diver off the coast of Mexico. Originally&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/photos-top-new-species-from-2025/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/photos-top-new-species-from-2025/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-312133</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Nepal, the world’s smallest otter continues to elude researchers</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/in-nepal-the-worlds-smallest-otter-continues-to-elude-researchers/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/in-nepal-the-worlds-smallest-otter-continues-to-elude-researchers/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Dec 2025 05:34:20 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/22045750/Z50_7454-min-scaled-e1766379564645-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=311840</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Carnivores, Conservation, Cryptic Species, Ecosystems, Fish, Freshwater, Freshwater Fish, Mammals, New Discovery, Pollution, Rediscovered Species, Rivers, Species, Species Discovery, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — A year ago, the appearance of the Asian small-clawed otter in Nepal created a buzz, given that the species hadn’t been seen in the country in 185 years. Since then, however, it’s disappeared once again, with no confirmed sightings in the past year, leaving researchers flummoxed on the question of whether it’s still [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — A year ago, the appearance of the Asian small-clawed otter in Nepal created a buzz, given that the species hadn’t been seen in the country in 185 years. Since then, however, it’s disappeared once again, with no confirmed sightings in the past year, leaving researchers flummoxed on the question of whether it’s still found in the country. The November 2024 discovery of a juvenile Asian small-clawed otter (Aonyx cinereus) in Dadeldhura district, on Nepal’s western border with India, left researchers hopeful of more sightings would follow. However, limited funding and difficulties in DNA analysis have left them relying on scattered clues rather than certainty, even as the species is formally incorporated into the country’s conservation plans. “Despite multiple reports of suspected signs, such as scats recovered from different river systems, there hasn’t been a second verified sighting of the Asian small-clawed otter anywhere in the country,” Mohan Bikram Shrestha, a leading otter researcher, told Mongabay. “We firmly believe that the animal is present in the eastern river systems as well.” The lone confirmed record from 2024 was remarkable not only for being the first recorded sighting since 1839, but also for raising the possibility that overlooked populations of the world’s smallest otter species might still roam Nepal’s rivers and wetlands. A rescued Asian small-clawed otter with its distinct webbed feet in Dadeldhura, Nepal. Image by Rajeev Chaudhary. Since then, however, there’s only been indirect evidence of a possible otter presence. Community members and researchers have collected suspected otter&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/in-nepal-the-worlds-smallest-otter-continues-to-elude-researchers/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-311840</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Statewide survey aims to put California’s fungi on the conservation map</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/statewide-survey-aims-to-put-californias-fungi-on-the-conservation-map/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/statewide-survey-aims-to-put-californias-fungi-on-the-conservation-map/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Dec 2025 13:08:41 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/19121458/Image_2-LAPTOP-7JODAAGR-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=311724</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[California, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[carbon, Citizen Science, Climate, Climate Change, Conservation, data, DNA, Drought, Ecology, Ecosystems, Environment, Fires, Forests, Fungi, Nitrogen Cycle, Plants, Soil Carbon, Species, Species Discovery, Surveying, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Getting to The Cedars, an ecological preserve in California’s Sonoma county, is a slog. Multiple rivers and creeks must be crossed, and it can be tough going on an often storm-destroyed road. But it’s home to a rich diversity of species found nowhere else on Earth that are uniquely adapted to serpentine soil, composed of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Getting to The Cedars, an ecological preserve in California’s Sonoma county, is a slog. Multiple rivers and creeks must be crossed, and it can be tough going on an often storm-destroyed road. But it’s home to a rich diversity of species found nowhere else on Earth that are uniquely adapted to serpentine soil, composed of decomposed rock and rich in heavy metals. If you’re a fungi collector, it’s well worth the trip. Over the past two years, a dedicated team of mycologists — specialists in the study of fungi — and experienced mushroom collectors have combed California’s forests, rivers and mountains in often remote locations such as this, searching for and collecting fungi. Those making the arduous journey out to The Cedars have identified more than 100 new species, 25 of which are only known from the area. They snapped photos, which were then uploaded with all pertinent data to iNaturalist, a citizen scientist biodiversity database. Collections have been sent to labs where scientists extracted DNA for sequencing. Dried specimens are stored for safe keeping at California State University, East Bay, and the University of California, Los Angeles. This is part of an expansive effort to map the state’s fungal diversity, which has yielded thousands of specimens and is the first of its kind in North America, says Harte Singer, who heads genetic research at the California Fungal Diversity Survey (CA FUNDIS). The CA FUNDIS team collected thousands of fungi species from across California. Many of those collected are undescribed.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/statewide-survey-aims-to-put-californias-fungi-on-the-conservation-map/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-311724</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New study splits giraffe experts on future wild captures for zoos</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/new-study-splits-giraffe-experts-on-future-wild-captures-for-zoos/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/new-study-splits-giraffe-experts-on-future-wild-captures-for-zoos/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Dec 2025 15:05:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shradha Triveni]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/15141413/5.-Southern-giraffe-c-GCF-Billy-Dodson-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=311371</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Kenya, North America, South Africa, and Tanzania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Captive Breeding, Conservation, Environment, Genetics, Giraffes, Mammals, Species Discovery, Wildlife, and Zoos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the vast savanna grasslands of sub-Saharan Africa towers the giraffe, draped in mosaics of brown and tan patches. Long regarded as a single species, this iconic African megafauna was recently reclassified by the global wildlife conservation authority IUCN into four distinct species: the northern (Giraffa camelopardalis), reticulated (G. reticulata), Masai (G. tippelskirchi) and southern [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the vast savanna grasslands of sub-Saharan Africa towers the giraffe, draped in mosaics of brown and tan patches. Long regarded as a single species, this iconic African megafauna was recently reclassified by the global wildlife conservation authority IUCN into four distinct species: the northern (Giraffa camelopardalis), reticulated (G. reticulata), Masai (G. tippelskirchi) and southern giraffe (G. giraffa). The tallest living land animal, giraffes wander the open grasslands of Tanzania, South Africa, Kenya and other African nations, as well as appearing in zoos around the world. But their genetic distinctness is largely limited to the wild, as many giraffes held in zoos are now known to be hybrids. Given the new discovery that giraffes aren’t one species but four, the scientific community remains split on how to proceed with conservation, especially in zoos. Hybrid giraffes and conservation A new study argues that excessive hybridization of captive giraffes in North American zoos diminishes their conservation value. The researchers analyzed the genetics of 52 such giraffes and then compared their genes to 63 wild giraffes in Africa. The results found that most giraffes in North America were of mixed ancestry, primarily between northern and reticulated giraffes. Only a few giraffes retained their species’ unmixed genetics. Alfred L. Roca, professor at the Animal Sciences Laboratory at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and lead author of the study, said decades of interbreeding of giraffes in North American zoos has eroded their value as an insurance population. The study shows that offspring of genetically distant&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/new-study-splits-giraffe-experts-on-future-wild-captures-for-zoos/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/new-study-splits-giraffe-experts-on-future-wild-captures-for-zoos/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-311371</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Peru’s Río Abiseo park yields new marsupial, hinting at more undiscovered species</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/perus-rio-abiseo-park-yields-new-marsupial-hinting-at-more-undiscovered-species/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/perus-rio-abiseo-park-yields-new-marsupial-hinting-at-more-undiscovered-species/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Dec 2025 12:06:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Yvette Sierra Praeli]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/06153627/PNRAB-Marsupial-Pedreo-Peloso-en-Paven-et-al.-2025-1-1-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=310434</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Protected Areas, Research, Species Discovery, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In 2018, Brazilian biologist Silvia Pavan traveled to Río Abiseo National Park, in Peru’s San Martín region, following the trail of a squirrel species first described from there in the 1990s. At the time, Pavan was collecting genetic samples to study the evolution of South American squirrels. She decided to organize an expedition to Río [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In 2018, Brazilian biologist Silvia Pavan traveled to Río Abiseo National Park, in Peru’s San Martín region, following the trail of a squirrel species first described from there in the 1990s. At the time, Pavan was collecting genetic samples to study the evolution of South American squirrels. She decided to organize an expedition to Río Abiseo to search for additional specimens of an individual squirrel kept in the National Museum of Natural History, which had never been formally named or described. “It was a species known from a single specimen collected a long time ago, for which we had no genetic samples,” Pavan tells Mongabay Latam. “So, I proposed to National Geographic that we organize an expedition to where it had originally been found.” Marmosa chachapoya was discovered in Río Abiseo National Park. Image courtesy of the National Service of State-Protected Natural Areas (SERNANP). During the expedition, the team managed to see the mysterious squirrel only once, Pavan recalls. However, the journey resulted in the discovery of a new marsupial: Marmosa chachapoya. Inhabiting cloud forests, this new-to-science mouse possum was observed at an elevation of 2,664 meters (8,740 feet) in an ecosystem renowned for its high level of endemism. M. chachapoya is likely not the only new-to-science species found here. Researchers have encountered at least two other species of mammal unknown to science, and are now analyzing and processing the data. “Marmosa chachapoya, sp. nov., is one of several recently discovered new species from the Parque Nacional del Río Abiseo,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/perus-rio-abiseo-park-yields-new-marsupial-hinting-at-more-undiscovered-species/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-310434</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New cluster of Tapanuli orangutans discovered in Sumatra peat swamp</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/tapanuli-orangutan-sumatra-endangered-ape-conservation-forest-indonesia/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/tapanuli-orangutan-sumatra-endangered-ape-conservation-forest-indonesia/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Oct 2025 02:05:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Junaidi Hanafiah]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Basten Gokkon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/15042253/Orangutan-tapanuli_Junaidi-Mongabay1-1536x1024-1-1-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=307657</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Great Apes]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, North Sumatra, Southeast Asia, and Sumatra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Apes, Deforestation, Environment, Forests, Great Apes, Habitat Loss, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Infrastructure, Logging, Mammals, Orangutans, Primary Forests, Primates, Protected Areas, Research, Species Discovery, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[CENTRAL TAPANULI, Indonesia — Since it was first described by scientists in 2017, the Tapanuli orangutan, one of the world’s rarest great apes, was believed to live only in the Batang Toru forest of Indonesia’s North Sumatra province. But new findings reveal that the species (Pongo tapanuliensis) also inhabits a peat swamp forest some 32 [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[CENTRAL TAPANULI, Indonesia — Since it was first described by scientists in 2017, the Tapanuli orangutan, one of the world’s rarest great apes, was believed to live only in the Batang Toru forest of Indonesia’s North Sumatra province. But new findings reveal that the species (Pongo tapanuliensis) also inhabits a peat swamp forest some 32 kilometers (20 miles) away, adding a new layer to the understanding of its range. On Sept. 26, 2025, a field team from the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Foundation–Orangutan Information Centre (YOSL-OIC), accompanied by Mongabay Indonesia journalist Junaidi Hanafiah, documented a mother and infant orangutan in the secondary forest of Lumut Maju village in Central Tapanuli district. The observation followed hours of trekking through thick vegetation, and the sighting became the first confirmed record of Tapanuli orangutans in this area, which borders the Indian Ocean. The location first drew attention in 2022, when local residents reported orangutan sightings to YOSL-OIC’s Human-Orangutan Conflict Response Unit (HOCRU). Initial verification found no apes, but did reveal five nests. Later that year, HOCRU and the YOSL-OIC research team returned for further monitoring across the 1,234-hectare (3,049-acre) peat swamp. They found 17 nests, several newly constructed, indicating active use of the forest by orangutans. “We found new nests that we categorized as class one nests, which we can confirm to have orangutans,” Rio Ardi, the research manager at YOSL-OIC, told Mongabay. A previously unknown home of Tapanuli orangutans has been discovered in a peat swamp forest in North Sumatra. Image by Junaidi&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/tapanuli-orangutan-sumatra-endangered-ape-conservation-forest-indonesia/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/tapanuli-orangutan-sumatra-endangered-ape-conservation-forest-indonesia/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-307657</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New species of gecko described from Madagascar’s sacred forests</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/new-species-of-gecko-described-from-madagascars-sacred-forests/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/new-species-of-gecko-described-from-madagascars-sacred-forests/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Sep 2025 08:30:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Valisoa Rasolofomboahangy]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Christophe Assogba]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/09/23140705/cb095d1c-2895-4def-8640-3f91df3d41e1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=306436</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa and Madagascar]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Economics, Environment, Forests, Governance, New Discovery, Reptiles, Species Discovery, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[ANTANANARIVO — An international team of biologists has identified a new species of gecko in small forest remnants of southeastern Madagascar. Named Paragehyra tsaranoro, the lizard is microendemic to isolated patches of community-managed forests west of Andringitra National Park, highlighting the remarkable biodiversity found there. Fieldwork to identify the tsaranoro gecko was led by Francesco [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[ANTANANARIVO — An international team of biologists has identified a new species of gecko in small forest remnants of southeastern Madagascar. Named Paragehyra tsaranoro, the lizard is microendemic to isolated patches of community-managed forests west of Andringitra National Park, highlighting the remarkable biodiversity found there. Fieldwork to identify the tsaranoro gecko was led by Francesco Belluardo from the Department of Biosciences at the University of Molise in Italy. The team found the new gecko species in small patches of montane forest in Tsaranoro, Ambatomainty and Iantaranomby. This nocturnal and elusive gecko shows a particular preference for rocky habitats, where its mottled brown skin blends almost perfectly with the surrounding stone. Lead study author Francesco Belluardo and co-author Gonçalo Rosa handling expedition samples. Image courtesy of Javier Lobón-Rovira. The forests around these sites are highly fragmented after decades of deforestation. While Andringitra National Park protects much of the massif, it doesn’t include the western slopes, where only a few patches of forest remain. “It’s not certain that its range is limited to these areas,” said Nirhy Rabibisoa, a lecturer and researcher at Madagascar’s University of Mahajanga, who wasn’t involved in the study. “It often happens that a species is initially thought to be microendemic, but later turns up elsewhere,” he added, citing the case of Blaesodactylus antongilensis, a gecko native to the dense rainforests of northeastern Madagascar. Even so, the study’s authors argue that P. tsaranoro should be listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List — a mournful irony&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/new-species-of-gecko-described-from-madagascars-sacred-forests/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/new-species-of-gecko-described-from-madagascars-sacred-forests/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-306436</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New gecko species findings highlight threats to Cambodia’s limestone hills</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/new-gecko-species-findings-highlight-threats-to-cambodias-limestone-hills/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/new-gecko-species-findings-highlight-threats-to-cambodias-limestone-hills/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Sep 2025 16:38:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Anton L. Delgado]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/09/04153334/A-Battambang-leaf-toed-gecko-Dixonius-noctivagus.-Image-by-Hun-Seiha-with-Fauna-Flora-Cambodia-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=305417</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation Technology, Deforestation, Environment, Forests, Lizards, New Discovery, Protected Areas, Reptiles, Species Discovery, Surveying, Tropical Forests, Wildlife, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Researchers have described three new gecko species in northwestern Cambodia’s limestone hills and are eager to conduct further research, but recent border clashes with Thailand have disrupted their studies. Violent clashes this summer, which killed close to 40 people and displaced nearly 300,000 across the two Southeast Asian nations, cut follow-up field surveys short, researchers [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Researchers have described three new gecko species in northwestern Cambodia’s limestone hills and are eager to conduct further research, but recent border clashes with Thailand have disrupted their studies. Violent clashes this summer, which killed close to 40 people and displaced nearly 300,000 across the two Southeast Asian nations, cut follow-up field surveys short, researchers told Mongabay. The dispute has indefinitely delayed exploration of the landscape, which may host an abundance of creatures yet to be described by science. Pablo Sinovas, Cambodia country director for Fauna &amp; Flora, an international NGO, was leading the surveys in Battambang province near the Thai border in late July when the fighting erupted. He told Mongabay in August that the decision to pull back was taken as a precaution after Thai fighter jets bombed Cambodia. “In Cambodia, systematic exploration [of karst landscapes] has only just begun,” Sinovas said. “We can expect many more [species] discoveries to be made. These findings highlight the extraordinary diversity that can be hidden in karst ecosystems.” When the clash broke out, the research team pivoted to surveying karst towers near where they had found the Kamping Poi bent-toed gecko (Cyrtodactylus kampingpoiensis), Battambang leaf-toed gecko (Dixonius noctivagus) and Khpoh slender gecko (Hemiphyllodactylus khpoh) in 2024. A Kamping Poi bent-toed gecko (Cyrtodactylus kampingpoiensis). Image by Hun Seiha with Fauna &amp; Flora Cambodia. The discoveries of these species, announced in three studies published in 2025, had thrilled these conservationists and made them eager to double down on karst research. “Think of these&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/new-gecko-species-findings-highlight-threats-to-cambodias-limestone-hills/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-305417</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Discovery of dazzling blue butterfly underscores peril facing Angola&#8217;s forests </title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/discovery-of-dazzling-blue-butterfly-underscores-peril-facing-angolas-forests/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/discovery-of-dazzling-blue-butterfly-underscores-peril-facing-angolas-forests/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Sep 2025 06:27:59 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ryan Truscott]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/09/02145151/e0f3ff0a-b3b3-4107-9183-9be85255d203-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=305307</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Angola, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Birds, Community Development, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Deforestation, Drinking Water, Environment, Fires, forest degradation, Forests, Governance, Grasslands, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Montane Forests, Mountains, New Discovery, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Reforestation, Research, Species Discovery, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Francis’s gorgeous sapphire — a new-to-science species of butterfly — has just been described in the high-altitude evergreen forests of western Angola. The identification of Iolaus francisi, with its shimmering blue upper wings bordered with black, and silvery underwings patterned with orange and brown lines highlights once more the rich biodiversity of the country&#8217;s most [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Francis’s gorgeous sapphire — a new-to-science species of butterfly — has just been described in the high-altitude evergreen forests of western Angola. The identification of Iolaus francisi, with its shimmering blue upper wings bordered with black, and silvery underwings patterned with orange and brown lines highlights once more the rich biodiversity of the country&#8217;s most threatened habitat. Ecologist Alan Gardiner recalls the exciting moment he and Zimbabwean lepidopterists (butterfly experts) Jonathan Francis and Shabani Ndarama first saw a male sapphire shining in a forest patch during an expedition to the Namba Mountains in Cuanza Sul province in May 2023. “It&#8217;s always special when you see something like that,&#8221; says Gardiner, head of applied research at the South African Wildlife College. &#8220;It’s so much more vivid than you can get in a picture.” &nbsp; Described recently in the journal Zootaxa, Francis’s gorgeous sapphire is now one of 13 unique butterflies known only from this region. Its caterpillars feed on the leaves of Phragmanthera mistletoes and mimic the hairy buds growing on the stems. Francis had collected two caterpillars of the butterfly in the Namba Mountains during an earlier trip in October 2022. He reared them back home in Zimbabwe, feeding them on the leaves of mistletoe plants he had cultivated in his Harare garden years earlier. “If I didn’t have the [mistletoe] leaves, I would have lost them.” The butterflies that emerged were both females, with distinctive undersides bearing an extra stripe that no other Iolaus butterflies have, he says. But&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/discovery-of-dazzling-blue-butterfly-underscores-peril-facing-angolas-forests/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/discovery-of-dazzling-blue-butterfly-underscores-peril-facing-angolas-forests/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-305307</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>After 160 years, an old drawing leads scientists to a long-lost Sri Lanka orchid</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/after-160-years-an-old-drawing-leads-scientists-to-a-long-lost-sri-lanka-orchid/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/after-160-years-an-old-drawing-leads-scientists-to-a-long-lost-sri-lanka-orchid/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Aug 2025 08:37:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malaka Rodrigo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Dilrukshi Handunnetti]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/08/28082511/Vanda-thwaitesii-3-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=305028</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Botany, Citizen Science, Conservation, Environment, Flowers, Forests, Hunting, Orchids, Plants, Rediscovered Species, Species, Species Discovery, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — In the mist-wrapped folds of Sri Lanka’s Knuckles Mountain Range, a UNESCO-recognized world heritage site, where clouds softly wrap the rugged peaks in a soft embrace, a group of scientists recently stumbled upon a ghost from the island’s colonial past, in the form of a forgotten orchid. Nestled among the branches of forest [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — In the mist-wrapped folds of Sri Lanka’s Knuckles Mountain Range, a UNESCO-recognized world heritage site, where clouds softly wrap the rugged peaks in a soft embrace, a group of scientists recently stumbled upon a ghost from the island’s colonial past, in the form of a forgotten orchid. Nestled among the branches of forest trees near a tributary of the Mahaweli River in Rangala, Kandy district, bloomed Vanda thwaitesii — a delicate orchid unseen in the wild for more than 160 years. The orchid had never been studied alive, even by eminent British botanist Joseph Dalton Hooker, who described it in 1898 based on only two drawings by Haramanis de Alwis, the official draftsman at Sri Lanka’s Royal Botanic Gardens at the time. With no herbarium specimens collected, the plant slipped into obscurity and was widely presumed extinct. “Many assumed it had vanished from the Earth, so we were delighted to find it alive after all this time,” says Bhathiya Gopallawa, a Ph.D. candidate at Sri Lanka’s University of Peradeniya, who co-authored the paper announcing the rediscovery. Vanda thwaitesii is named after George Thwaites, a botanist and administrator who held the post of superintendent of the Royal Botanical Gardens located in Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, for 30 years and also studied the flower through a 1961 drawing. Image by Bhathiya Gopallawa. A scientific twist The return of V. thwaitesii is also a testament to citizen science, a trait of many recent floral rediscoveries and finding of rare plants. Gopallawa and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/after-160-years-an-old-drawing-leads-scientists-to-a-long-lost-sri-lanka-orchid/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-305028</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Sharks didn’t rebound—so Mark Erdmann is putting them back</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/sharks-didnt-rebound-so-mark-erdmann-is-putting-them-back/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/sharks-didnt-rebound-so-mark-erdmann-is-putting-them-back/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Jul 2025 12:42:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/07/11183735/Mark-recovery-swim-thresher-17-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=302225</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Nature conservation Influencers]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, New Guinea, Papua, Southeast Asia, and West Papua]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Carnivores, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Technology, Ecosystems, Ecotourism, Elasmobranchs, Endangered Species, Environment, Fish, Green, Hope and optimism, Marine Conservation, Marine Protected Areas, Oceans, Predators, Protected Areas, Reintroductions, Restoration, Rewilding, shark finning, Sharks, Species Discovery, Technology, Tourism, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For more than three decades, Mark Erdmann has worked where many only dream of diving—on the reefs and in the tangled mangroves of Indonesia’s farthest reaches. A marine biologist by training and a conservationist by necessity, Erdmann has spent much of his life documenting new species, persuading local communities to back marine protection, and fighting [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For more than three decades, Mark Erdmann has worked where many only dream of diving—on the reefs and in the tangled mangroves of Indonesia’s farthest reaches. A marine biologist by training and a conservationist by necessity, Erdmann has spent much of his life documenting new species, persuading local communities to back marine protection, and fighting off the encroachment of extractive industries. His career, by his own account, has spanned more than 220 species discoveries, a handful of close encounters with crocodiles, and the creation of a new model for shark rewilding. Erdmann’s journey began in a remote island village off the coast of South Sulawesi in 1991, where he arrived as a Ph.D. student studying coral reef ecology. His neighbors, he quickly realized, were bomb fishers and shark finners. The shift from science to action was swift. “It was clear that more than science was needed; active protection was critical,” he recalls. That realization became a life’s work. As Vice President of Asia-Pacific Marine Programs at Conservation International and now Executive Director of ReShark and Shark Conservation Director at Re:wild, Erdmann has been at the forefront of efforts to transform marine protection from a top-down regulatory exercise to a bottom-up, community-owned endeavor. Few places showcase this as clearly as Raja Ampat, the archipelago off West Papua that has become the crown jewel of Indonesian marine conservation. Wayag lagoon release site in Indonesia&#8217;s Raja Ampat. Photo by Mark Erdmann. When Erdmann first visited Raja Ampat in 2001, the coral reefs were&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/sharks-didnt-rebound-so-mark-erdmann-is-putting-them-back/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/sharks-didnt-rebound-so-mark-erdmann-is-putting-them-back/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-302225</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>DNA sequencing to meet global biodiversity goals: Interview with Tyler Kartzinel</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/dna-sequencing-to-meet-global-biodiversity-goals-interview-with-tyler-kartzinel/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/dna-sequencing-to-meet-global-biodiversity-goals-interview-with-tyler-kartzinel/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Jun 2025 12:32:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhishyant Kidangoor]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhishyantkidangoor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/06/25113840/Photo1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=301328</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Climate Change, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, data, DNA, Economics, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Policy, Genetics, Interviews, Monitoring, Plants, Research, Social Justice, Solutions, Species, Species Discovery, Technology, Tropical Conservation Science, Wildlife, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Tyler Kartzinel likens protecting biodiversity to enhancing cellphone networks. His analogy is pretty straightforward: look for gaps in coverage, and then do what’s needed to fill them. “Engineers have figured out how to look for dead zones and enhance coverage,” Kartzinel, associate professor of ecology, evolution and organizational biology at Brown University in the U.S., [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Tyler Kartzinel likens protecting biodiversity to enhancing cellphone networks. His analogy is pretty straightforward: look for gaps in coverage, and then do what’s needed to fill them. “Engineers have figured out how to look for dead zones and enhance coverage,” Kartzinel, associate professor of ecology, evolution and organizational biology at Brown University in the U.S., told Mongabay in a video interview. “They look for where the need is and plug the gaps.” That, according to Kartzinel, is exactly what scientists need to do when it comes to DNA sequencing technology. In recent years, DNA sampling and analysis technology have advanced rapidly, with scientists using drones and robots to collect samples from the remotest corners of the world. But a common grouse persists: the lack of extensive reference libraries against which scientists can compare samples to identity species. A study led by Kartzinel and published in the journal Molecular Ecology looks at how reference libraries are faring. While databases were found to cover a quarter of the plant species that the team looked into, they found “coverage gaps in tropical biodiversity hotspots” reflecting “well-documented biases in biodiversity science.” The study found that at least 17% of the plant families they looked into lacked any reference data. “There’s hundreds of years of power asymmetries and economic inequities that have privileged biodiversity studies in some parts of the world versus others,” Kartzinel said. “In areas which could arguably benefit the most from this technology, we&#8217;re actually most limited in the data sets.” He&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/dna-sequencing-to-meet-global-biodiversity-goals-interview-with-tyler-kartzinel/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/dna-sequencing-to-meet-global-biodiversity-goals-interview-with-tyler-kartzinel/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-301328</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Discovery of critically endangered bat in Rwanda leads to conservation talks</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/discovery-of-critically-endangered-bat-in-rwanda-leads-to-conservation-talks/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/discovery-of-critically-endangered-bat-in-rwanda-leads-to-conservation-talks/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Apr 2025 16:17:36 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimable Twahirwa]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Christophe Assogba]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/04/25144732/image1_Bats_roost_Rwanda-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=298201</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Rwanda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Bats, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Habitat Loss, Mammals, Rediscovered Species, Research, and Species Discovery]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KIGALI, Rwanda ― Following the recent rediscovery of the critically endangered Hill’s horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus hilli) at Nyungwe National Park in southwestern Rwanda, researchers are calling for actions and policies aimed at their conservation. Scientists say that this is the first sighting and documentation of the horseshoe bat Rhinolophus webalaiin the park and Rwanda’s first [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KIGALI, Rwanda ― Following the recent rediscovery of the critically endangered Hill’s horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus hilli) at Nyungwe National Park in southwestern Rwanda, researchers are calling for actions and policies aimed at their conservation. Scientists say that this is the first sighting and documentation of the horseshoe bat Rhinolophus webalaiin the park and Rwanda’s first observation of the Damara woolly bat (Kerivoula argentata) since it was last observed in 1981. According to Paul Webala, a senior lecturer in wildlife biology at the department of forestry and wildlife management at Kenya’s Maasai Mara University, scientists consider bats the second-most diverse group of mammals after rodents. In countries like Rwanda, he says, where most of the natural forests and savannah habitats have been lost, altered or degraded, bats may comprise “at least 40% of the overall mammal diversity.” According to a 2022 study that Webala co-authored, insectivorous bats in Rwanda provide critical ecosystem services and also act as pest controllers in agricultural areas. Health concerns, and habitat loss “In Rwanda, one of the [bat] species of concern, although not threatened according to the IUCN Red List, is the Egyptian fruit bat [Rousettus aegyptiacus] because it has been identified by health officials as a natural reservoir host for the Marburg virus disease,” Webala says. In February this year, Rwandan health officials decided to construct a wall in a mining site located in Nyamirambo a suburb of the capital city Kigali separating a working area from the bats’ habitat. “This barrier is intended to reduce&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/discovery-of-critically-endangered-bat-in-rwanda-leads-to-conservation-talks/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/discovery-of-critically-endangered-bat-in-rwanda-leads-to-conservation-talks/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-298201</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Researchers find new killifish species in Kenya</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/researchers-find-new-killifish-species-in-kenya/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/researchers-find-new-killifish-species-in-kenya/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Mar 2025 17:32:38 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gilbert Nakweya]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Ochieng' Ogodo]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/03/28152932/Killifish-1-IMG_6399-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=296586</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Fish, Research, Science, Species, and Species Discovery]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[NAIROBI ― A new killifish species, scientifically known as Nothobranchius sylvaticus, has been documented in seasonal swamps of Kenya’s ancient Gongoni Forest, research shows. In a study published this month in the Zootaxa journal, scientists from Canada, France, Kenya and South Africa say the fish species&#8217; survival is compromised by the severely restricted and declining [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[NAIROBI ― A new killifish species, scientifically known as Nothobranchius sylvaticus, has been documented in seasonal swamps of Kenya’s ancient Gongoni Forest, research shows. In a study published this month in the Zootaxa journal, scientists from Canada, France, Kenya and South Africa say the fish species&#8217; survival is compromised by the severely restricted and declining habitat, which is part of the seasonal Mkurumudzi River in southeastern coastal Kenya. N. sylvaticus, from the Latin phrase meaning “pertaining to the forest,” is also the first known killifish to persist in a forest and was sampled from the Gongoni Forest in 2017 and 2018. Its iridescent blue scales, pronounced red markings on the head and vibrant fins set it apart from other Nothobranchius species. The killifish specimen has been deposited at the National Museums of Kenya in Nairobi and the comparative specimens at the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren, Belgium. According to the study’s lead researcher, Dirk Bellstedt, professor emeritus of biochemistry at South Africa’s Stellenbosch University, in 2017, he was invited by Quentin Luke, a botanist with the National Museums of Kenya and a study co-author, to help in environmental monitoring of the Base Titanium mine in Kwale county near the coastal town of Diani Beach in Kenya. “I have researched forest patch plants far down the east coast of Africa in South Africa and that is why I was particularly interested. On getting there, I noted there were ponds both inside and outside the forest. As I was also&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/researchers-find-new-killifish-species-in-kenya/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/researchers-find-new-killifish-species-in-kenya/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-296586</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Three new gecko species described in Nepal: Interview with herpetologist Santosh Bhattarai</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/three-new-gecko-species-described-in-nepal-interview-with-herpetologist-santosh-bhattarai/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/three-new-gecko-species-described-in-nepal-interview-with-herpetologist-santosh-bhattarai/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Mar 2025 17:56:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/03/21174235/2.-Karans-Bent-toed-gecko-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=296280</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Cryptic Species, Herps, New Discovery, Protected Areas, Reptiles, Species Discovery, Taxonomy, and Wildlife Corridors]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As Nepal’s reptiles are one of the least studied among the country’s diverse flora and fauna, researchers have long been saying that it could be home to numerous species waiting to be discovered by science. Herpetologist Santosh Bhattarai, a PhD student at Federation University Australia, is one of the handful of scientists who have dedicated [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As Nepal’s reptiles are one of the least studied among the country’s diverse flora and fauna, researchers have long been saying that it could be home to numerous species waiting to be discovered by science. Herpetologist Santosh Bhattarai, a PhD student at Federation University Australia, is one of the handful of scientists who have dedicated their careers to studying smaller herps such as lizards, geckos and frogs across Nepal. He has been actively involved in raising awareness about the dark sitana (Sitana fusca), a critically endangered lizard endemic to Nepal. Bhattarai and his team recently discovered three new-to-science species of bent-toed geckos (Cyrtodactylus genus). According to a study documenting the discovery published in the journal Zootaxa, the nocturnal lizards, known for their camouflaging abilities, were found in the forests and rocky terrains of the Chitwan Annapurna Landscape. The newly identified species have been named Cyrtodactylus chitwanensis (Chitwan bent-toed gecko), Cyrtodactylus annapurnaensis (Annapurna bent-toed gecko) and Cyrtodactylus karanshahi (Karan’s bent-toed gecko) — the last one in honor of Nepal’s renowned herpetologist Karan Bahadur Shah. Mongabay’s Abhaya Raj Joshi spoke with Bhattarai, who is currently based in Australia, over the phone to discuss the new findings and their implications. The following interview has been translated from Nepali and edited for clarity. Mongabay: Could you please tell us how you discovered these new species? Santosh Bhattarai: Well, we made the discovery during my PhD field research in the Chitwan Annapurna Landscape in Nepal. My research focuses on amphibians and reptiles in the landscape,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/three-new-gecko-species-described-in-nepal-interview-with-herpetologist-santosh-bhattarai/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/three-new-gecko-species-described-in-nepal-interview-with-herpetologist-santosh-bhattarai/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-296280</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Blob-headed fish and four mammals among 27 newly described species in Peru’s Alto Mayo</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/blob-headed-fish-and-four-mammals-among-27-newly-described-species-in-perus-alto-mayo/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/blob-headed-fish-and-four-mammals-among-27-newly-described-species-in-perus-alto-mayo/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Jan 2025 18:21:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/01/27174634/blob-fish-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=293475</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Fish, Forest Destruction, Forests, Frogs, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Indigenous Peoples, Mammals, New Discovery, Species Discovery, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Scientists and Indigenous community members documented 27 new-to-science species in Peru&#8217;s Alto Mayo region, including four new mammals and a bizarre &#8220;blob-headed&#8221; fish that was already well-known to local people. The findings came from a 38-day expedition conducted in 2022 by Conservation International in collaboration with local Awajún Indigenous communities. “Discovering four new mammals in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Scientists and Indigenous community members documented 27 new-to-science species in Peru&#8217;s Alto Mayo region, including four new mammals and a bizarre &#8220;blob-headed&#8221; fish that was already well-known to local people. The findings came from a 38-day expedition conducted in 2022 by Conservation International in collaboration with local Awajún Indigenous communities. “Discovering four new mammals in any expedition is surprising — finding them in a region with significant human populations is extraordinary,” said Trond Larsen, who leads Conservation International’s Rapid Assessment Program (RAP) in the Moore Center for Science. RAPs are intensive biological surveys designed to quickly document biodiversity in understudied areas. Members of Indigenous Awajun communities assisted the scientists with their research, such as throwing cast nets to capture fish. The RAP expedition was important for collaboratively exchanging traditional knowledge and scientific training. 68 fish species were collected, including eight that are new to science. Image by Trond Larsen courtesy of Conservation International. The team surveyed eight different zones across the 780,700-hectare (1.93-million-acre) landscape, which lies at the intersection of the Andes Mountains and Amazon Rainforest in northern Peru&#8217;s San Martín region. The region is home to more than 200,000 people, including 16 Awajún communities. &#8220;People tend to work more in the protected areas, but we thought, hey, we have this big landscape with all different types of land uses with diverse ecosystem types, and it lies right in the middle between two existing protected areas,&#8221; said Larsen, who led the Alto Mayo expedition, told Mongabay. &#8220;But nothing&#8217;s being done, so this is&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/blob-headed-fish-and-four-mammals-among-27-newly-described-species-in-perus-alto-mayo/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/blob-headed-fish-and-four-mammals-among-27-newly-described-species-in-perus-alto-mayo/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-293475</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Survey uncovers ‘wildlife treasure’ in Cambodian park — but also signs of threats</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/survey-uncovers-wildlife-treasure-in-cambodian-park-but-also-signs-of-threats/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/survey-uncovers-wildlife-treasure-in-cambodian-park-but-also-signs-of-threats/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Jan 2025 21:02:19 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Anton L. Delgado]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/01/20104904/A-Trimeresurus-cardamomesis-photographed-in-Cambodia_s-Samlout-Multiple-Use-Area.-Image-courtesy-of-Jeremy-Holden-with-Fauna-Flora_-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=293135</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Camera Trapping, cameras, Climate Change, Conservation, Conservation Technology, Critically Endangered Species, Deforestation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forestry, Forests, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, New Discovery, Plants, Poaching, Protected Areas, Species Discovery, Surveying, Tropical Forests, Wildlife, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The first biodiversity survey ever conducted in one of northwestern Cambodia’s last forest frontiers has found potentially new-to-science species and recorded direct threats to what conservationists call a “small but precious” ecosystem. Spanning roughly 40 kilometers (25 miles) of the Cambodian-Thai border, the 60,000-hectare (148,300-acre) Samlout Multiple Use Area is part of the greater Cardamom [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The first biodiversity survey ever conducted in one of northwestern Cambodia’s last forest frontiers has found potentially new-to-science species and recorded direct threats to what conservationists call a “small but precious” ecosystem. Spanning roughly 40 kilometers (25 miles) of the Cambodian-Thai border, the 60,000-hectare (148,300-acre) Samlout Multiple Use Area is part of the greater Cardamom Mountain Range and straddles the provinces of Battambang and Pailin. Samlout was one of the three first multiple-use areas declared in Cambodia more than 30 years ago. This designation indicates that the management of the protected area is meant to conserve natural resources, while also developing economic activities. Since then, however, the kingdom’s northwest has experienced deforestation at a rate matching a national, decades-long trend of forest loss. Munichan Kung, country director of the Maddox Jolie-Pitt Foundation, told Mongabay that people had previously thought “Samlout was too small, too remote and too degraded. They didn’t believe there was such a treasure of wildlife inside the area.” The Maddox Jolie-Pitt Foundation — started by U.S. actress Angelina Jolie and named after her adopted son from Cambodia — has funded projects in Samlout for more than two decades. The foundation commissioned the NGO Fauna &amp; Flora to lead surveys on bats, plants, reptiles, amphibians, insects, birds and mammals. The results of the survey found a plethora of wildlife, including more than 140 bird species, nearly 30 mammal species, close to 15 distinct bat species, and 50 types of orchids. These findings set new Cambodia country records, as&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/survey-uncovers-wildlife-treasure-in-cambodian-park-but-also-signs-of-threats/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/survey-uncovers-wildlife-treasure-in-cambodian-park-but-also-signs-of-threats/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-293135</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Four new tarantula species found in India’s Western Ghats mountains</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/four-new-tarantula-species-found-in-indias-western-ghats-mountains/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/four-new-tarantula-species-found-in-indias-western-ghats-mountains/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Dec 2024 15:02:41 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/12/31144013/ZeeshanMirzaNewTarantula-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=292581</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India and Western Ghats]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Forests, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, New Discovery, Pet Trade, Rainforests, Species Discovery, Wildlife, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A researcher described four new species of tarantulas, including one new genus, from India&#8217;s Western Ghats, a chain of mountains running along the country&#8217;s west coast. &#8220;Most people in India are not even aware that there are tarantulas in India when there are more than 60 species in the country,&#8221; Zeeshan Mirza, from the Max [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A researcher described four new species of tarantulas, including one new genus, from India&#8217;s Western Ghats, a chain of mountains running along the country&#8217;s west coast. &#8220;Most people in India are not even aware that there are tarantulas in India when there are more than 60 species in the country,&#8221; Zeeshan Mirza, from the Max Planck Institute for Biology in Germany, who found and described the species, told Mongabay. The large, fuzzy spiders live in tree hollows, along streams and forest paths, and in forest patches. They exhibit interesting behaviors, such as females carrying their egg sacs under their mouth parts (or chelicerae) or creating hammock-like web structures to protect their eggs. Zeeshan Mirza with one of the new tarantula species from the Western Ghats. Mirza has discovered several species of reptiles in India as well. Photo courtesy of Mirza. One of the new species, named Haploclastus bratocolonus (meaning &#8220;tree dweller&#8221;), makes its home in hollow trees along rivers. Another species, Haploclastus montanus, was found living at elevations higher than 2,000 meters (6,600 feet) in mountain forests, making it one of the highest-living tarantulas known from the region. Some of the new species were found in the rare small fragments of remaining shola forest surrounded by tea plantations. Among the species was an entirely new genus of tarantulas called Cilantica, named after the Tamil word for spider. They can be identified by the unique scattered pattern of curved bristles on their bodies, unlike the C-shaped arrangement of bristles found in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/four-new-tarantula-species-found-in-indias-western-ghats-mountains/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/four-new-tarantula-species-found-in-indias-western-ghats-mountains/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-292581</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Photos: Top new species from 2024</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/photos-top-new-species-from-2024/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/photos-top-new-species-from-2024/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Dec 2024 22:47:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/04/01222118/Image-1-Leopardus-tigrinus-pardinoides-Cuenca-3-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=292398</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Amazon, Asia, Atlantic Forest, Australia, Cameroon, Central America, Chile, China, Global, India, Indonesia, Latin America, Malaysia, Mekong Basin, Pacific Ocean, Peru, South America, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birding, Birds, Botany, Charismatic Animals, Climate Change, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Cryptic Species, Culture, Deforestation, DNA, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Endangered Species Act, Environment, Flowers, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Herps, Insects, Islands, Lizards, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, New Discovery, Oceans, Oil Drilling, Plants, Rainforests, Reptiles, Research, Saving Species From Extinction, Snakes, Solutions, Species Discovery, Traditional Knowledge, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A giant anaconda, a vampire hedgehog, a dwarf squirrel, and a tiger cat were among the new species named by science in 2024. Found from the depths of the Pacific Ocean to the mountaintops of Southeast Asia, each new species shows us that even our well-known world contains unexplored chambers of life. This year, in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A giant anaconda, a vampire hedgehog, a dwarf squirrel, and a tiger cat were among the new species named by science in 2024. Found from the depths of the Pacific Ocean to the mountaintops of Southeast Asia, each new species shows us that even our well-known world contains unexplored chambers of life. This year, in Peru&#8217;s Alto Mayo Landscape alone, scientists uncovered 27 new-to-science species, including four new mammals, during a two month expedition. Meanwhile, the Greater Mekong region yielded 234 new species, and scientists from the California Academy of Sciences described 138 new species globally. The ocean depths continued to surprise, with more than 100 potentially new species found on an unexplored underwater mountain off Chile&#8217;s coast. Two new mammal species were found in India this year, including the world’s smallest otter. Scientists estimate only a small fraction of Earth&#8217;s species have been documented, perhaps 20% at best. Even among mammals, the best-known group of animals, researchers think we’ve only found 80% of species.  Most of these hidden species are likely bats, rodents, shrews, moles and hedgehogs. Members of Indigenous Awajun communities in Peru&#8217;s Alto Mayo assist scientists with their research, such as throwing cast nets to capture fish.  68 fish species were collected, including eight that are new to science. Photo courtesy of Trond Larsen/Conservation International. However, while species may be new to Western science, many have been well known to Indigenous peoples and local communities for generations. These communities often maintain sophisticated classification systems and deep ecological&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/photos-top-new-species-from-2024/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-292398</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New frog species show how geology shapes Amazon’s biodiversity</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/new-frog-species-show-how-geology-shapes-amazons-biodiversity/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/new-frog-species-show-how-geology-shapes-amazons-biodiversity/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Dec 2024 11:34:50 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sibélia Zanon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/12/19113144/MTR30991_Neblinaphryne.imeri_-e1733411146885-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=291991</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amphibians, Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Frogs, Research, Species Discovery, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The frog’s loud croaking turned out to be a call to its own demise. The researchers walking along the steep muddy bank on a rainy November day in 2022 in the Imeri Range on the Brazil-Venezuela border were alerted by the unfamiliar sound. They found the frog sitting outside the opening to a tarantula’s burrow [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The frog’s loud croaking turned out to be a call to its own demise. The researchers walking along the steep muddy bank on a rainy November day in 2022 in the Imeri Range on the Brazil-Venezuela border were alerted by the unfamiliar sound. They found the frog sitting outside the opening to a tarantula’s burrow and captured it. They later named the frog Neblinaphryne imeri. “That was the most difficult expedition I’ve ever been on in my entire life,” says Miguel Trefaut Rodrigues, a herpetologist at the University of São Paulo (USP). Rodrigues has been doing fieldwork for more than 40 years, and this time he was leading a team of 14 researchers on a 12-day camping expedition at the top of a nearly 1,900-meter (6,200-foot) peak. Even the region’s Indigenous Yanomami don’t climb to the Imeri peak because of the treacherous route and the fact that there are no large mammals to be hunted at that altitude. Rodrigues’s team only managed to reach the spot with a Brazilian military helicopter. This was the second time Rodrigues had led an expedition of researchers, with the help of the military, in this part of Brazil’s Amazonas state. The first was to the Neblina peak in 2017, some 80 kilometers (50 miles) from Imeri. Both mountains are located inside protected areas: Pico da Neblina National Park and the Yanomami Indigenous Territory, respectively. The Neblina expedition also resulted in the discovery of a previously undescribed frog species, which they named Neblinaphryne mayeri after&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/new-frog-species-show-how-geology-shapes-amazons-biodiversity/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/new-frog-species-show-how-geology-shapes-amazons-biodiversity/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-291991</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Greater Mekong serves up 234 new species in a year, from fanged hedgehog to diva viper</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/greater-mekong-serves-up-234-new-species-in-a-year-from-fanged-hedgehog-to-diva-viper/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/greater-mekong-serves-up-234-new-species-in-a-year-from-fanged-hedgehog-to-diva-viper/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Dec 2024 06:11:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carolyn Cowan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/12/16052538/1-Hylomys-macarong-%C2%A9-Alexei-V.-Abramov-02-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=291689</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Southeast Asia, Thailand, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Conservation, Cryptic Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Fish, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Illegal Trade, Mammals, Mountains, New Discovery, Orchids, Pet Trade, Plants, Reptiles, Research, Rivers, Species Discovery, Tropical Forests, Wildlife, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The dense tropical forests, isolated mountain peaks and limestone karst caverns of the Greater Mekong region yielded a remarkable 234 new-to-science species in 2023, according to a new report compiled by WWF. A striking orange-and-black crocodile newt recorded at the highest ever elevation for its type, a karst dragon lizard that represents an entirely new [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The dense tropical forests, isolated mountain peaks and limestone karst caverns of the Greater Mekong region yielded a remarkable 234 new-to-science species in 2023, according to a new report compiled by WWF. A striking orange-and-black crocodile newt recorded at the highest ever elevation for its type, a karst dragon lizard that represents an entirely new genus, and a shrew mole that tips the scales at only 8 grams, or less than 0.3 ounces, qualifying it among the top 10 lightest land mammals on Earth, feature among the new assortment of species. Nature enthusiasts and researchers in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, along with experts at global museums, described 173 plants, 26 reptiles, 17 amphibians, 15 fish and three mammals previously unknown to science. The 2023 haul brings the total number of newly described species in the region since 1997 to 3,623. “Although these species were just described by science last year, they have been living in the unique habitats of our region for many millennia,” said Chris Hallam, head of wildlife and wildlife crime at WWF-Greater Mekong. “Each of these species is a critical piece of a functioning, healthy ecosystem and a jewel in the region&#8217;s rich natural heritage.” Other new curiosities include a species of wild ginger with roots that smell like mango; a red-and-green pit viper with scales sculpting the appearance of glamorous eyelashes around its eyes; and a soft-furred hedgehog that makes up for its lack of pointy spines with formidable incisors, described by researchers as&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/greater-mekong-serves-up-234-new-species-in-a-year-from-fanged-hedgehog-to-diva-viper/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-291689</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>That Cuban rodent species you never knew about? Turns out it’s two species</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/that-cuban-rodent-species-you-never-knew-about-turns-out-its-two-species/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/that-cuban-rodent-species-you-never-knew-about-turns-out-its-two-species/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Dec 2024 16:26:13 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/12/06121218/Desmarests-hutia-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=291312</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Cuba and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Mammals, New Discovery, Rodents, Species Discovery, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Hutias are a strange group of rodents living on various islands of the Caribbean. Although big, and sometimes looking a little plump, they’re active climbers and spend a considerable amount of their lives in trees. They look almost like a cross between a squirrel and a beaver, but are only distantly related to either. Instead, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Hutias are a strange group of rodents living on various islands of the Caribbean. Although big, and sometimes looking a little plump, they’re active climbers and spend a considerable amount of their lives in trees. They look almost like a cross between a squirrel and a beaver, but are only distantly related to either. Instead, these rodents are in the Cavimorpha group that includes many unusual rodents of the Americas, such as capybaras, guinea pigs and spiny rats. The largest of all the hutias is Desmarest&#8217;s hutia (Capromys pilorides), found only in Cuba. A new study now shows, based on museum specimens, that the Cuban species is actually two distinct species: Desmarest&#8217;s hutia on the eastern part of Cuba, and the western conga hutia (Capromys geayi) on the western side. “We used ancient DNA research methods to investigate the evolutionary relationships between historically old specimens of hutias that had been collected from Cuba in the 19th century, and were now in the collections of museums in Europe,” says study co-author Samuel Turvey, a professor at the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and expert on Caribbean mammals, both alive and extinct. “These included specimens that had originally been named as distinct species by zoologists over a century ago, but had since been largely forgotten.” DNA evidence showed that these two animals split around 1.75 million years ago, long before humans arrived in what is today the Americas. For millions of years, a large, deep-water channel split Cuba into two distinct parts, likely keeping&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/that-cuban-rodent-species-you-never-knew-about-turns-out-its-two-species/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-291312</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In the Pacific depths, an underwater mountain hosts a bonanza of new species</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/10/in-the-pacific-depths-an-underwater-mountain-hosts-a-bonanza-of-new-species/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/10/in-the-pacific-depths-an-underwater-mountain-hosts-a-bonanza-of-new-species/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Oct 2024 17:51:20 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/10/01162558/chaunax-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=288070</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Chile and Pacific Ocean]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Ecosystems, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, New Discovery, Oceans, Species Discovery, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Flying spaghetti monsters, Casper octopus, and a fish that looks like a Muppet are just a few of the rare creatures found on a previously unknown underwater mountain off the coast of Chile. During ocean expeditions in the Southeast Pacific this year, scientists found an underwater wonderland, including more than 100 potentially new-to-science species. &#8220;We [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Flying spaghetti monsters, Casper octopus, and a fish that looks like a Muppet are just a few of the rare creatures found on a previously unknown underwater mountain off the coast of Chile. During ocean expeditions in the Southeast Pacific this year, scientists found an underwater wonderland, including more than 100 potentially new-to-science species. &#8220;We far exceeded our hopes on this expedition,&#8221; expedition leader Javier Sellanes of Chile’s Catholic University of the North (UCN), said in a statement. &#8220;You always expect to find new species in these remote and poorly explored areas, but the amount we found, especially for some groups like sponges, is mind-blowing.&#8221; This is the first time this rare octopus species, informally named the Casper octopus, has been seen in the Southern Pacific. Image courtesy of ROV SuBastian / Schmidt Ocean Institute CC BY-NC-SA Scientists mapped and explored numerous seamounts along underwater mountain ranges like the Nazca Ridge and Salas y Gómez Ridge, venturing into areas that have never been studied in detail. Among the most significant discoveries was an entirely new seamount in international waters, about 1,450 kilometers (900 miles) off the Chilean coast. The underwater mountain rises more than 3 km meters (nearly 2 miles) from the seafloor, reaching its summit 994 m (3,261 ft) below the ocean surface. The seamount discovery came during a 28-day expedition in July and August led by the Schmidt Ocean Institute in partnership with Ocean Census and the Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping/Joint Hydrographic Center at the University of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/10/in-the-pacific-depths-an-underwater-mountain-hosts-a-bonanza-of-new-species/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-288070</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Climate change could threaten newly described ‘shiny’ North American bees</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/climate-change-could-threaten-newly-described-shiny-north-american-bees/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/climate-change-could-threaten-newly-described-shiny-north-american-bees/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Sep 2024 03:55:45 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malaka Rodrigo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Dilrukshi Handunnetti]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/09/18035156/3.-The-genus-Lasioglossum-records-the-largest-number-of-wild-bees-image-shows-Lasioglossum-Dialictus-sp.3-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=287525</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Bees, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Environment, Forests, Impact Of Climate Change, Insects, New Discovery, Research, Species Discovery, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — Sri Lanka, an Indian Ocean island, lies far away from the United States and is just one-sixth the size of California. But interestingly, one of the three newly identified wild bee species described in California has been bestowed with a Sinhala name, a language exclusive to Sri Lanka. All three bees look alike [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — Sri Lanka, an Indian Ocean island, lies far away from the United States and is just one-sixth the size of California. But interestingly, one of the three newly identified wild bee species described in California has been bestowed with a Sinhala name, a language exclusive to Sri Lanka. All three bees look alike and display an unusual metallic sheen on their body, so one of them was named Lasioglossum (Sphecodogastra) dilisena, as the word dilisena means “shining” in the Sinhala language. Thilina Hettiarachchi, a PhD student at the University of Manitoba in Canada and the first author of the study, suggested the inclusion. &#8220;Given that Thilina hails from Sri Lanka, it seemed apt to have a Sinhala word incorporated into one of the names, as scientific names are typically in Latin or Latinized Greek, which most people in North America may not speak. Then there’s no particular reason why Sinhala would be any less understandable,&#8221; said Jason Gibbs, associate professor of entomology at Manitoba University who is Hettiarachchi’s supervisor and a study co-author. &#8220;We strive to find names for new species that are descriptive, easy to pronounce and celebrate diversity, and the word ‘dilisena’ embodies all these features,&#8221; Gibbs told Mongabay. Part Sinhala name Given the metallic sheen that gives the bee&#8217;s body its iridescence, the team has aptly named the second bee as Lasioglossum (Sphecodogastra) iridescens, highlighting its iridescent nature and the color reflected by its metallic sheen. The third bee has been named Lasioglossum (Sphecodogastra) silveirai,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/climate-change-could-threaten-newly-described-shiny-north-american-bees/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-287525</doi>				</item>
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