New Species Discovered

[Omega Centauri]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/science/06/28/chameleon.snake.ap/index.html

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- Researchers scouring swamps in the heart of Borneo island have discovered a venomous species of snake that can change its skin color, the conservation group WWF announced Tuesday.

The ability to change skin color is known in some reptiles, such as the chameleon, but scientists have seen it rarely with snakes and have not yet understood this phenomenon, the group said in a statement.

"I put the reddish-brown snake in a dark bucket," said Mark Auliya, a reptile expert and a consultant for the group. "When I retrieved it a few minutes later, it was almost entirely white."

Reptiles typically change color to camouflage themselves from predators.

The 1.6-foot-long snake was discovered last year in wetlands and swamp forests around the Kapuas River in the Betung Kerihun National Park in the Indonesian part of Borneo island.

"The discovery of the 'chameleon' snake exposes one of nature's best-kept secrets. Its ability to change color has kept it hidden from science until now," said Bambang Supriyanto, a WWF specialist on Borneo.

Scientists named their find the Kapuas Mud Snake, and speculated it might only occur in the Kapuas River drainage system.

The WWF, the international group formerly known as World Wildlife Fund, said 361 animal and plant species have been discovered since 1996 on Borneo, underscoring its unparalleled biological diversity.

But it said that widespread logging has left Borneo with only half of its former forest cover, down from 75 percent in the mid-1980s.

Indonesia and Malaysia have territory on Borneo, which is also home to the sultanate of Brunei.
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Sweet. They should definately use this for the movie "Snakes on a Plane". Anyway, new species are found quite regularly. Both CNN and FOXNEWS devote pages to science news.

So if there is ever a new species discovered you want to share with us, please do.

[The Ragin' South Asian]

saw one of these the other day

[Samadhi]

What's the plan of attack against this species?
_________________
And he lived happily ever after. Except for the dieing at the end and the heartbreak in between.

[Omega Centauri]

Huh?

[Samadhi]

How do we go about getting it on the endangered species list?
_________________
And he lived happily ever after. Except for the dieing at the end and the heartbreak in between.

[groza528]

Step one: Confine the species to a single island. check.
Step two: Erect a large statue of St. Patrick.
Step three: Watch all snakes flee from the statue, ultimately drowning themselves in the surrounding ocean.