Three new vertebrate species that have not been seen by human eyes for possibly millions of years have been discovered in Australia. The new species consist of a peculiar leaf-tail gecko, a golden skink, and a mysterious frog.
The new species were found in the mountain range of Cape Melville on the Cape York Peninsula, a James Cook University news release reported. The area has rarely been explored because it is surrounded by walls of giant black boulders the size of houses.
The team was able to get a look at this rugged area using funds from the National Geographic Expedition Council and a helicopter camera crew.
After only a few days the team had already discovered the three previously-unknown species, and several others.
"Finding three new, obviously distinct vertebrates would be surprising enough in somewhere poorly explored like New Guinea, let alone in Australia, a country we think we've explored pretty well," Doctor Conrad Hoskin of James Cook University, said.
"These species are restricted to the upland rainforest and boulder-fields of Cape Melville. They've been isolated there for millennia, evolving into distinct species in their unique rocky environment," he said.
Cap Melville's upland is a "thoroughly isolated rainforest island in a 'sea' of hot, dry forest." The newly discovered species have been living there undisturbed for what is believed to be millions of years.
The leaf-tailed gecko is believed to be the most exciting discovery.
"The second I saw the gecko I knew it was a new species. Everything about it was obviously distinct," Hoskin said. The researcher named the creature Saltuarius eximius, which means "exceptional", "extraordinary" or "exquisite."
The team believes the gecko hides in the boulders during the day, where they are perfectly camouflaged. It waits for insects and spiders to pass by, and ambushes them as they pass. Some of the gecko's distinct features the researchers noticed were its giant eyes and unusually "slender" limbs.
"The Cape Melville Leaf-tailed Gecko is the strangest new species to come across my desk in 26 years working as a professional herpetologist. I doubt that another new reptile of this size and distinctiveness will be found in a hurry, if ever again, in Australia," Patrick Couper, Curator of Reptiles and Frogs at the Queensland Museum, said.
The Cape Melville Shade Skink (Saproscincus saltus) has incredible golden skin; it is also believed to reside mostly on the region's large boulders. The species is believed to be more active than the leaf-tailed gecko, and runs across the boulders during the day pursuing its next meal. Its name means "leaping."
The Blotched Boulder-frog's (Cophixalus petrophilus) name mean "rock-loving." The frog hides in the moist isolated boulder field during dry spells, and then comes to the surface for the wet season to breed and hunt in the rain.
"You might wonder how a frog's tadpoles can live in a 'hollow' boulder-field with no water sitting around." Hoskin said. "The answer is that the eggs are laid in moist rock cracks and the tadpoles develop within the eggs, guarded by the male, until fully-formed froglets hatch out. As for the gecko, its eyes are very large - once again an adaptation for life in the dimly lit boulder-piles."
The team is excited to find out what future discoveries the region could hold.
"The top of Cape Melville is a lost world. Finding these new species up there is the discovery of a life time - I'm still amazed and buzzing from it," Hoskin said.
