Some 1,060 previously unknown species of mammals, fish and birds have been spotted in the volcanic island over a 10-year period.
The Final Frontier report, which was put together by WWF as part of its 50th anniversary celebrations, marks a brief respite from the escalating rate of animal and plant extinctions which is taking its toll across the planet and has left a quarter of all known mammals on the endangered list.
The species have all been discovered, at a rate of two each week, in the period from 1998 to 2008 by the various teams and researchers who have visited the region and its extensive forests, waters and wetlands.
One team discovered a new bird, the wattled smoky honeyeater, within seconds of leaving their expedition helicopter.
Perhaps the most extraordinary freshwater discovery is the species of river shark which, given its size, has done well to evade discovery until now. The shy fish has been named the Glyphis garricki after the New Zealand zoologist Jack Garrick, who identified it. Because of its rarity it has immediately gone on to the endangered list. Read the full report here.
Source: Tracy McVeigh, The Observer, guardian.co.uk.
