New Australian Beasties

The majority of my posts so far have been a tad doom and gloom; either about the loss of resources or about new technologies created to get round these losses. So today I am happy to share a pleasant news story about some "new" biotic resources. 

Cape Melville leaf-tailed gecko (Saltuarius eximius)

Blink and you might miss it but hiding in the above picture is the recently discovered Cape Melville leaf-tailed gecko. No guesses for how it was named! This gecko is just one of three new vertebrate species found in a remote region of northern Queensland in Australia. I remember being fascinated by the BBC series 'Land of the Lost Volcano' in which scientists were dropped into the New Guinea jungle and found many new invertebrate and vertebrate species, including a giant rat. However, I am even more in awe that three new vertebrates have been found in a single expedition in Australia - a relatively well explored country!

Golden-coloured Cape Melville shade skink (Saproscincus saltus) 

Blotched boulder-frog (Cophixalus petrophilus)

This just goes to show that by cutting down our rainforests we could be destroying wonderful species, such as the Cape Melville leaf-tail gecko, that we don't even know exist. More on rainforest depletion coming soon as I am going to be exploring palm oil use in UK products.

For more information on the Cape Melville discoveries head over to the Guardian site.