Remote island home to unknown species
Thursday, 06 Apr 2006 00:01
Remote island home to unknown species
A parrot and a mouse previously unknown to science have been found on a remote island in the Philippines.
Scientists revealed their find in the Fieldiana: Zoology journal and called for the island, Camiguin, to be protected.
The island was once completely covered by rainforest, but that had been reduced to 18 per cent coverage by 2001, as logging, agriculture and human settlement began to erode the island's resources.
"Knowing that at least 54 species of birds and at least 24 species of mammals live on Camiguin, and that some of these animals are found nowhere else on earth, makes us realise how important this island is in terms of conservation," said Lawrence Heaney, the curator of mammals at the Field Museum in Chicago, which publishes the journal.
"For these animals to survive, we've got to save the dwindling forests where they live."
Camiguin, at only 102 square miles, is the smallest of 7,000 Philippine islands known to support endemic bird or mammal species.
The island has always been isolated from its neighbours, which has contributed to the rich diversity of animals it is home to.
The newly discovered parrot is a Hanging-parrot, known as the Colasisi, which is prized by locals for its worth in the pet trade.
It has bright green feathers covering most of the body, a bright blue throat and thighs and a scarlet-orange head and tail.
The Philippine forest mouse, Apomys camiguinensis, has large ears and eyes, a long tail and rusty brown fur.
Both species were identified using a combination of recent field studies in the area.
