Indonesia’s mountains unveil a ‘Lost World’ | IndyStar.com

Oh, man! I love me some golden-mantled tree kangaroos! I want one for Christmas!

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Soon after scientists landed by helicopter in the mist-shrouded mountains of a remote Indonesian province, they stumbled on a primitive egg-laying mammal that allowed itself to be picked up and brought to their field camp.

Among the things discovered by scientists in Indonesia’s remote Foja mountain range:

Long-beaked Echidna: The largest species of the egg-laying group of primitive mammals called the Monotremes, seen three times during the monthlong expedition. The enigmatic creature has never reproduced in captivity, and scientists have never seen its eggs.

Berlepsch’s Six-Wired Bird of Paradise: Described by indigenous hunters in the 19th century and named for the long wire-like feathers on its head.

Golden-mantled tree kangaroo: An arboreal jungle-dwelling kangaroo new to Indonesia and previously thought to have been hunted to near extinction in New Guinea.

Honeyeater bird: The honeyeater has a bright orange face-patch and a pendant wattle under each eye.

Rhododendron: Largest known rhododendron on record, measuring 5 7/8 inches across the face of the flower.

New species: Four new butterfly species, more than 20 new species of frogs and a series of undescribed plant species, including five new species of palms.

Describing a “Lost World” — apparently never visited by humans — members of the team said Tuesday that they also saw large mammals that have been hunted to near-extinction elsewhere and discovered dozens of exotic new species of frogs, butterflies and palms.

“We’ve only scratched the surface,” said Bruce Beehler, a co-leader of the monthlong trip to the Foja Mountains, an area in the eastern province of Papua with roughly 2 million acres of pristine tropical forest.

The December expedition was organized by U.S.-based Conservation International and the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, and paid for by the National Geographic Society and several other organizations.

Obviously, this area needs to be protected and saved from any future development. And I’m pretty happy that as a National Geographic subscriber, I helped in a small way. Also, this will mean many beautiful photos to look at soon.