Attention Game of Thrones: Three new species of “dwarf dragon” have been discovered in Peru and Ecuador, a new study says. Due to political unrest in Ecuador, it took nearly a decade for scientists to identify the reptiles, which are commonly called wood lizards. They are the Alto Tambo wood lizard (Enyalioides altotambo), rough-scaled wood […]
Tag: peru
Extreme birdwatching: Twitching in war zones
Paul Rendell didn’t think he was in trouble. High up in the mountains, in a remote, lushly-forested corner of the Philippines, the pensioner from Dorset had envisaged a peaceful day amid spectacular scenery. Then the bullets started whistling around him. “We all dived to the ground,” Mr Rendell said. “Our guide Carlitos was shot immediately […]
Ornithologists Map Family Tree of Mysterious Cotinga Birds
Yale University ornithologists Prof Richard Prum and Jacob Berv have mapped out the first large-scale evolutionary family tree for the Neotropical cotingas – some of the brightest, loudest, oddest-looking birds in the world. There are more than 60 species of the cotingas, a highly diverse group of birds that make up the family Cotingidae. They […]
Endangered: Peruvian Plantcutter (Phytotoma raimondii) VIDEO
By: Michael Tweddle As a nature lover and wildlife photographer it is always a pleasure to be part in research and conservation activities. Here an example of two livelong friends’ researchers, Monica Romo and Mario Rosina and their hours of commitment studying and protecting the endemic Peruvian Plantcutter. The Peruvian Plantcutter (Phytotoma raimondii), is endemic […]
New bird species discovered in Peruvian cloud forest
A new bird species has been discovered in the montane forests of Peru. The bird, called the Junin Tapaculo, was discovered by a team led by Peter Hosner of the University of Kansas. The species escaped earlier detection due to its similarity to other tapaculos, its elusive nature, and the remoteness of its habitat. Hosner […]
Amazonian students help monitor threatened frog populations
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, amphibians are the most threatened group of animals on Earth: currently around 30 percent of the world’s amphibians are listed as threatened with extinction. However this percentage doesn’t include those species about which too little is known to evaluate (26 percent). Amphibians face many threats but […]
Bird extravaganza: scientists discover 15 new species of birds in the Amazon
From 2000-2009, scientists described on average seven new bird species worldwide every year. Discovering a new bird is one of the least common of any species group, given that birds are highly visible, mobile, and have been scrutinized for centuries by passionate ornithologists and birders. But descriptions this year already blows away the record year […]
Monkeys can identify human hunters
Woolly monkeys can identify human hunters by their behaviour, research has revealed. Poeppig’s woolly monkeys live in the rainforests of Ecuador, Peru and Brazil but are vulnerable to hunting by the local Amazonian people. Scientists investigating how the monkeys respond to threats found that they acted differently depending on the behaviour of humans in the […]