Criminal
02-07-2006, 09:11 AM
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4688000.stm
A team of international scientists say they have found a "lost world" in an Indonesian jungle, home to dozens of new species of animals and plants.
"It's as close to the Garden of Eden as you're going to find on Earth," said Bruce Beehler, co-leader of the team.
The scientists claim to have discovered 20 frog species, four butterfly species and at least five new types of palms.
But their discoveries will have to be reviewed by peers before being officially classified as new species.
The team - from the US, Indonesia and Australia - surveyed a region near the Foja Mountains in Papua province in eastern Indonesia, which covers an area of more than a million hectares (two million acres) of forest.
"There was not a single trail, no sign of civilisation, no sign of even local communities ever having been there," Mr Beehler told the Associated Press.
He said that even two local tribesmen, who accompanied the scientists, were astonished at the area's isolation.
"As far as they knew, neither of their clans had ever been to the area," Mr Beehler said.
A team of international scientists say they have found a "lost world" in an Indonesian jungle, home to dozens of new species of animals and plants.
"It's as close to the Garden of Eden as you're going to find on Earth," said Bruce Beehler, co-leader of the team.
The scientists claim to have discovered 20 frog species, four butterfly species and at least five new types of palms.
But their discoveries will have to be reviewed by peers before being officially classified as new species.
The team - from the US, Indonesia and Australia - surveyed a region near the Foja Mountains in Papua province in eastern Indonesia, which covers an area of more than a million hectares (two million acres) of forest.
"There was not a single trail, no sign of civilisation, no sign of even local communities ever having been there," Mr Beehler told the Associated Press.
He said that even two local tribesmen, who accompanied the scientists, were astonished at the area's isolation.
"As far as they knew, neither of their clans had ever been to the area," Mr Beehler said.