Thousands of New Species are Discovered on a Tiny Island

An expedition to a tiny island in the South Pacific's Republic of Vanatu has yielded hundreds of new species, including possibly 1000 new species of crab. 153 scientists from 20 countries participated in the survey of Espiritu Santo in the South Pacific, scouring caves, mountains, reefs, shallows, and forests collecting species. Out of over 10,000 species collected, the researchers are predicting that as many as 2000 may be previously unknown to the scientific community.

The photos of these creatures in this article are absolutely amazing.

Winkipedia entry on the Republic of Vanatu.

Does this mean that God's Workshop (much like Santa's Workshop) is a very small and secluded place where the artist/creator works in mysterious ways? ...or is this just more evidence on top of the already mountain of existing evidence that evolution is undeniable fact?

I can't help but notice how similar a parallel this discover is
to that of Darwin's notes on the Galapagos Islands.

[edit on 3-12-2008 by The All Seeing I]

I think that is very cool. Kind of like the glass reef that popped up off the west coast. What happened and is probably the case here, is that the waters warmed up a bit providing the best growing environment for that type of reef that had not been seen for 100,000 years. Another cool fact is that there are places in Australia I have read about that the lake only fills up once in a long while. They were confused because they saw a bunch of birds feeding off something there. Turns out they were little shrimp. The shrimp eggs were always there, just waiting for water so they could do their thing.

Climate is warming. That means things will die off, and seemingly new things will pop up. They are most likely not new, but making a comeback after 100,000 years now that their environment is back.

Mother Nature is so cool.

"In Vanuatu, there are no income tax, no withholding tax, no capital gains tax, no inheritance taxes, or exchange controls." -
no wonder these species live there

jokes aside - great post with excellent links.
amazing pics.

Originally posted by The All Seeing I
Does this mean that God's Workshop (much like Santa's Workshop) is a very small and secluded place where the artist/creator works in mysterious ways?

Well, God is like Santa for adults.

reply to post by The All Seeing I


great find ^^

go scientists

it still amazes me people still deny evolution when things like this are found which exactly what it predicts

Ran across...
The Top Ten New Species of 2007
&
Strange New Species Found on Great Barrier Reef
at national geographic today...
thought you guys might appreciate these.


[edit on 12-12-2008 by The All Seeing I]

Here's a strange fish with legs, that clearly shows a key transitional step in evolution.

www.wimp.com...

Don't know the name of it or location...
if anyone by chance knows, please enlighten.

They all look very beautiful, and I'm sorry but honestly, also very deliciouse.

Originally posted by The All Seeing I
Here's a strange fish with legs, that clearly shows a key transitional step in evolution.

www.wimp.com...

Don't know the name of it or location...
if anyone by chance knows, please enlighten.

wow. That was neat footage as you couldn't capture the actual movement of the legs in a still picture. I would like to know more about this odd fish. Google image search didn't turn it up in the first three pages so I gave up looking.

it walks similar to frog fish

may be a species of these fellows

en.wikipedia.org...



[edit on 18/1/09 by noobfun]

thanks noobfun... a frogfish it is. Your video has a much better rez plus the fish/frog has a little fishing lure as a nose. How fascinating these little alien subterranean critters are, and worldly... they definitely get around... very slowly but broadly they have roamed and yet i don't recall ever seeing one before.

Frogfishes are found in almost all tropical and subtropical oceans and seas around the world, the primary exception being the Mediterranean Sea

source: from wikipedia article you provided

Originally posted by The All Seeing I
thanks noobfun... a frogfish it is. Your video has a much better rez plus the fish/frog has a little fishing lure as a nose.

yeah they are closley related to angler fish so they have the lures too but instead of swimming around they lock them selves inbetween rocks or walk around

How fascinating these little alien subterranean critters are,

ummm aquatic ..subterranean means underground

they sure arnt pretty so dont feature in many nature programs poor little ugly fish

I may be completely wrong, but with all these people getting ticked off about how stupid it is to deny evolution, couldn't God have given animals the ability to evolve? Idk it just makes a lot more sense to me to stop everyone from freakin out at eachother

reply to post by noobfun
That's just beautiful! Reminded me strongly of Miyazaki animation like Tortoro or Spirited Away.

reply to post by Kandinsky


that'll be the music used

both good films, deffinatley 2 of the better pieces from ghibli along with howls and monokoe

hadnt noticed until you said that and i rewatched them going for a walk to see what you meant

reply to post by The All Seeing I
I've been looking at new species and ecosystems a lot lately. Some scientists have been using Google Earth to identify potential niche systems. An expedition to an isolated mountain peak in Mozambique has been very successful after...

Scouring satellite images via Google Earth for potential conservation sites at elevations of 1600 meters or more, Julian Bayliss a locally-based conservationist, in 2005 spotted a 7,000-hectare tract of forest on Mount Mabu. The scientifically unexplored forest had previously only been known to villagers. Subsequent expeditions in October and November this year turned up hundreds of species of plants and animals, including some that are new to science.

Source and pictures

The irony that our technology is helping to discover the niche ecosystems that it's helping to destroy Only in the past week or two a critter was discovered, yellowish marsupial/ rodent? It spits some form of venom. I just can't seem to find it to link with... I agree with the point about Evolution. It's a real capital-T 'Theory'. Evidence and everything I look at the colors and shapes of these new critters and am often moved. They are wonderful and give me a moment of connectedness with the world. We are all part of the overall ecosystem. Evolution is an amazing thing of wonder (demonstrated, tested, evidenced, peer reviewed) and long past serious challenge from the stubborn.

Awesome!

Creatures rule! Especially walking fish, they rule extra!

Thank you Kandinsky for the link.

Very interesting points you have made.

As for evolution being a theory with a capital "T"... as much as we may be dazzled by what we would regard as "beautiful", we need to understand that the "beautiful" characteristics are what insure the survival of those species that possess this quality.

We can see the same with our own species, you can be dumb as a rock but if you possess "beauty" then survival, thus procreation is a cakewalk.

reply to post by The All Seeing I
Here is the venomous mammal I couldn't find. It was caught on video late last year in the Caribbean.

It appears to be one of only five mammals that are venomous, none of which are rodent.

thank you kandinsky...

What a bizarre looking little guy, yet looks familiar...
sort of a mix between a rat and mole.
As for the venomous part... maybe shares the internal glans of a snake?

Another prime example of unique evolution taking place on a tiny island.

Makes me wonder how many other creatures like these that are out there, that no one has ever seen before.

...gnomes, leprechauns and pygmy saskwatch?

[edit on 21-1-2009 by The All Seeing I]