COMMENTARY BY DAVE SAMUEL
In November I read that scientists found a new bird species on an Indonesian island. It was a honeyeater species and a rather sizeable, robin-sized bird. Most of the honeyeaters have bright red heads, and honeyeaters often are the most abundant canopy birds across eastern Indonesia. That being the case, how did this particular honeyeater go unnoticed for hundreds of years, especially on a small island where it was the only member of the honeyeater genus found?
I don’t know the answer, but it got me thinking about new species of birds and mammals found every year. I dug around and discovered that we’ve found about 300 new mammal species from 2000-10. Although most are small rodents one was a new whale, and quite a few were primates.
The question then becomes, why are we finding new species of birds and mammals today, and at a higher rate compared to twenty years ago? One reason is that humans are building roads into very remote areas. For example, the Amazon rain forest is being deforested at a rapid rate, and scientists are going into such areas to try and come up with ways to save wildlife, before the habitat is destroyed. In so doing, they are finding tons of new species: Insects, flowers, trees, amphibians, birds and mammals.
The same is true for the deepest parts of the oceans and the highest peaks of the world.
Today, we have countries working together to study and save endangered species. When they are in the field, they find new species as well as the species they are studying.
Another reason is that we now can use DNA analysis to discover that what we thought was one species, is actually two species. For example, the cream-vented bulbul, a drab brown bird found in the rainforests on the island of Borneo, was thought to be a single species. It has white eyes, but for years, it was noted that a few had red eyes. That was the case until LSU Museum researchers discovered, via genetic sequencing technology, that the white-eyed birds were a different species than those with red eyes. One of the white-eye species is found on a wide range of islands, while the other is only found on one tiny island where loss of habitat could wipe them out.
The examples are endless.
Although we’re finding new species, are we also losing some? For some smaller birds and mammals, it’s hard to know whether they are extinct — there could still be a few hiding out there somewhere. In 2019, we have lost two species for sure: Australia’s bramble cay melomes and the Bahamas nuthatches. These two species indicate how vulnerable island species are.
Large tracts of forests can also have “islands” of habitat, making species there vulnerable — such as what’s happening with the deforestation of the Amazon.
Will we gain and lose new bird and mammal species in 2020? We will and the sad part is that once gone, they are probably gone for good.
