Scientists investigate potential new lemur species

Scientists believe they have discovered a new species of lemur in the forests of Madagascar.

The animal's unique, feathery structure under its tongue – that may be used to gather nectar – distinguishes it as a new species, researchers say. They are waiting for the results of a genetic analysis to confirm the claim.

Primatologist Russ Mittermeier, who is now the president ofConservation International, first glimpsed the lemur in 1995 in Daraina, a forest in north-east Madagascar. It had a black stripe on its back that forked on its face, suggesting to Mittermeier that it was a fork-marked lemur belonging to the genus phaner.

Forked-marked lemurs belong to the genus, or group of species, called Phaner. If confirmed as a new species, this would be only the fifth member of that group.

The shape of the lemur's markings, the size of its limbs and its long, nectar-slurping tongue are familiar facets of all Phaner lemurs. But this one has a slightly different color pattern. It also displayed an unusual head-bobbing behavior that the scientists had not seen in other fork-marked lemurs. This unique head-bobbing move showed up in the flashlight beam as discoverers searched the treetops for a glimpse of the animal.

"I was surprised to see a fork-marked lemur there, since this animal had not yet been recorded from the region," he said. "I immediately knew that it was likely a new species to science."

It was not until October this year, however, that Mittermeier returned to Daraina, along with a film crew from the BBC's Natural History Unit, to investigate. After hearing the distinctive calls of a fork-marked lemur, the team tracked it through the forest and shot it with a tranquillizer gun. They took blood samples from the lemur for genetic analysis and returned it to the wild when it regained consciousness.

Although the results from the genetic analysis have not yet been revealed, Mittermeier is convinced that the creature is a new species of fork-marked lemur that is uniquely adapted to the forests of Dairana. Sandwiched between its tooth-comb and tongue is a "strange structure" (left) that has never been seen before in species belonging to the phaner genus, according to Mittermeier. White and feathery, the structure flicks upwards when the lemur's tongue is extended. He believes that it helps the lemur to capture nectar.

Apart from the strange structure in its mouth, the lemur is otherwise very similar in appearance to other species of fork-crowned lemur. It has a "tooth-comb" – a mesh of incisors that it uses to scrape tree sap off bark – and a long, spindly tongue that it uses to eat nectar and tree sap. It also sounds a loud, high-pitched call just after sunset and leaps between branches without pausing.

There are four known species of phaner – or fork-marked – lemur: the Amber (left), the eastern fork-marked dwarf lemur, the western fork-crowned dwarf lemur and the Sambirano fork-crowned dwarf lemur. Although 42 species of lemur have been discovered in Madagascar since 2000, not a single new species belonging to the phaner genus has been found. "This would be the first, and that's very exciting," Mittermeier said.

If confirmed as a new species, Dr Louis and Dr Mittermeier (left with discovered lemur) would like the animal to be named after Fanamby, the conservation organization that has been instrumental in protecting the forest of Daraina.

"This is yet another remarkable discovery from the island of Madagascar, the world's highest priority biodiversity hotspot and one of the most extraordinary places in our planet," Mittermeier (left) said. "It is particularly remarkable that we continue to find new species of lemurs and many other plants and animals in this heavily impacted country, which has already lost 90% or more of its original vegetation."

And because of its very restricted range, it is likely that this lemur will turn out to be an endangered or critically endangered species.

Source:
The Guardian, "Scientists investigate potential new lemur species", accessed December 14, 2010
BBC, "New species of lemur discovered in Madagascar", accessed December 13, 2010
MSNBC, "New head-bobbing lemur discovered", accessed December 13, 2010
Discovery News, "New lemur has big feet, large tongue", accessed December 13, 2010

Study reveals enormous levels of illegal turtle harvesting in Madagascar

Up to 16,000 of the world's rarest turtles are being caught every year by villages in just one part of Madagascar, a year-long survey has revealed.

The study is the first direct assessment of the level of exploitation of turtles in Madagascar. Until now, measuring information on the small-scale turtle catches in the most remote areas has been tough, because of difficulties accessing these regions.

"Because turtles are an endangered species, it's important for us to know what's going on in the region so we can work with the local community to find a sustainable way forward," said Annette Broderick of the Center for Ecology and Conservation at the University of Exeter, who led the latest survey. The harvesting of turtles is illegal in the region, but the ban is not enforced for various cultural and practical reasons.

Broderick's team trained villagers to monitor turtle catches in Toliara, part of a remote south-western region of Madagascar (right). In 12 major villages along 60km of coastline, locals collected biological and fisheries data and photographed each catch. In total, they documented 699 marine turtle landings. The majority of these were green turtles, the commonest species in the water, but the catches also included the more endangered hawksbill turtle (left).

"When we contextualize our data with those of previous studies elsewhere in the region, we conservatively estimate that the annual turtle catch in the southwestern province of Madagascar is between 10,000 and 16,000," wrote Broderick in a paper published in the journal Animal Conservation.

Even this estimate is likely to be on the low end, Broderick said. "In reality it's likely to be much larger than that. We don't have a good handle on how the in-water populations have changed over the years."

All species of marine turtle have experienced population declines in recent years and are included in the IUCN red list of endangered species. In Madagascar, all marine turtles are protected from domestic exploitation by presidential decree but the laws are not enforced because of lack of capacity for implementation along the enormous length of the coastline, and also the cultural history of turtle harvesting.

Frances Humber of Blue Ventures Conservation said that catching turtles for meat is an important part of Malagasy culture in many coastal populations. "But the villagers also understand the importance of ensuring the future of this resource. This study is a great way of involving communities in the process of finding a sustainable way forward. Obviously we can't be sure every turtle catch is reported, so we view the figures from this study as a conservative estimate which is still nevertheless very valuable for informing policy."

Stopping the decline in turtle numbers would be a matter of working out where the harvested turtles are being used. (right: turtle fishing) "The important thing is whether the harvest is for subsistence use or for commercial exploitation," said Broderick. "If it's for villages for subsistence use, it's quite a different management issue. It's very difficult to tell people that they're going to have to stop using a certain source of food, especially in developing nations where it's an important source of food. There's a danger with these kinds of harvests that these turtles are being taken to larger markets and possibly being exported out of the country."

Humber added that Madagascar should not be singled out in harvesting turtles. "We'd expect similar harvests in many countries in the tropical coastal developing world, so this isn't an isolated issue, but clearly it is a cause for concern when dealing with endangered species. It's possible the model for this study could be used elsewhere to get a better idea of numbers. Until we get more details, it's difficult to draw conclusions about what is sustainable and how we can find solutions. Clearly making turtle fishing (left) illegal hasn't worked, so we need to work with communities to promote sustainable practices."

Source:
The Guardian, "Study reveals enormous levels of illegal turtle harvesting in Madagascar", accessed November 12, 2010

New to Nature No 21: Microcebus macarthurii

Our knowledge of lemurs has grown by leaps and bounds over the past 20 years. The discovery of Microcebus macarthurii brings the number of species of mouse lemurs to 15 (up from three in the mid-90s).

Exploration of Madagascan lemurs has increased the number of known species from 32 to more than 80. Mouse lemurs are small (30-65g), nocturnal, solitary foragers found in forested habitat. This species, like others in the genus, differs from related species by about 10% of genes studied.

Source:
The Guardian, "New to Nature No 21: Microcebus macarthurii", accessed October 16, 2010

From the Inbox - Your role in protecting our Earth

Dear Friend,

We wrote recently to share three of Conservation International’s latest projects in Madagascar, the Sulu-Sulawesi Seascape and Mexico.

Right now, we are working in 31 countries to help find innovative solutions—like the ones we shared—that will protect the natural world from impending threats while also helping people benefit from those efforts.

With your gift today, you can help us begin to protect one more marine area, one more forest, and one more community to name just a few of our efforts.

Here are a few of our flagship initiatives that need your support today.

• Protecting forests to stop climate change - Our team is working with governments in Africa, Asia and Latin America to use emerging international carbon markets to reward forest preservation as a front-line carbon-pollution reduction strategy.
  
  
• Saving the oceans - From Brazil to Indonesia, CI is working to help governments and people balance food and water security with local livelihoods and economic prosperity by protecting the oceans and all the life they support.
  
  
• Protecting species - All life forms are the building blocks upon which our world depends. CI is helping to protect species and preserve their habitats as a means for safeguarding the natural systems that provide for people.

With your support, CI can continue to harness the power of economic development in a sustainable way—creating markets, regulations and community values that recognize and protect the benefits that Earth provides.

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Madagascan bird declared extinct

The Alaotra Grebe, a small diving bird native to Madagascar has been officially classified extinct, according to a leading bird conservation organization. There have been no observations of the bird since 12 were seen in 1982 at Lake Alaotra and two were seen in September 1985.

BirdLife International reported that the species, once found on Lake Alaotra (right), the largest lake in Madagascar, declined rapidly due to carnivorous fish being introduced to the lake and the use of nylon gill nets by local fishermen.

"No hope now remains for this species. It is another example of how human actions can have unforeseen consequences," Dr Leon Bennun, BirdLife International's director of science, policy and information said in a statement.

Invasive alien species are causing extinctions around the globe, Bennun says, and are one of the major threats not just to birds but to other wildlife.

BirdLife International's report is the latest update to the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species for birds and highlights additional cases of the negative impact of invasive species on bird life.

The status of Zapata Rail -- a blue/brown bird native to Southwest Cuba -- was upgraded to "critically endangered" due to the introduction of mongoose and exotic catfish to its marshland habitat.

In Asia and Australia, pollution of coastal wetlands is contributing to the falling populations of wading birds like the Great Knot and the Far Eastern Curlew (right) .

The destruction of inter-tidal mudflats in Saemangeum, South Korea, an important migratory stop-over site, has seen numbers of the Great Knot fall by 20 percent, according to BirdLife.

But the news isn't all bad. Conservation projects are having a positive impact on the survival of bird species.

In particular, the Azores Bullfinch has been downgraded from "critically endangered" to "endangered" thanks to conservation work to restore its natural vegetation on its Atlantic island home.

And in Colombia, the numbers of Yellow-eared Parrot have been rising as its nesting sites are preserved and local communities take part in educational programs to learn about conservation.

Martin Fowlie, communications officer at BirdLife International told CNN: "The overall state of the world's birds is getting worse year on year. But these are two very good examples in the list this year that show conservation works.

"We have the skill and the expertise, so these things can be prevented. But we need commitments from governments to provide money to help birds and animals to survive."

Source:
CNN,"Madagascan bird declared extinct", accessed May 25, 2010