Scientists exploring an island in Indonesia have found a bird they believe is new to science. The bird's DNA is soon to be analyzed to determine whether it's a new species or a radically altered subspecies, descended from castaways blown from another island. To complicate things further, the bird could also be an as-yet-unidentified pet trade escapee. This, however, is highly unlikely, according to Nicola Marples, zoology lecturer at Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. "It's almost certainly a new species, or the first ever subspecies of the pale-bellied white eye," she said. "While it could also be a feral escape population from elsewhere, we don't think this is the case as we've found no other bird that matches its description." Marples, as part of a team led by fellow zoologists David Kelly, from Trinity College, and Martin Meads, a freelance researcher, discovered the bird last summer on Wangi Wangi island in southeast Sulawesi. Meads says the bird, known provisionally as the Wangi Wangi white eye, is found only in one area, near the village of Wanci. He added, "Our surveys, which were conducted over a seven-day period, never recorded the species in any other part of the island." Sulawesi is of great scientific interest as it forms part of a zoogeographical zone known as Wallacea. The region marks the boundary between Oriental fauna and distinctive Australasian animals such as marsupials.
View: Full Article | Source: National Geographic
