New Species: Pinocchio Frog
Scientists have discovered a new species which they have called the "Pinocchio" frog because of its long nose which grows when the animal calls to others.
An international team of researchers was camping in the Foja mountains of Indonesia when one of them, Paul Oliver, spotted a frog sitting on a bag of rice in the campsite.
On closer inspection it turned out to be a previously unknown type of long-nosed frog. When the frog is calling, its nose points upward, but it deflates when the animal is less active.
"We were sitting around eating lunch," recalled ornithologist Chris Milensky. Oliver "looked down and there's this little frog on a rice sack, and he managed to grab the thing."
"Herpetologists have good reflexes," Mr Milensky observed.
The researchers also report finding the smallest kangaroo, a big woolly rat, and a bent-toed gecko with yellow eyes.
The Foja Mountains are in the western side of the island of New Guinea, a part of Indonesia that has been little visited by scientists over the years.
So the environmental group Conservation International, with the support of the National Geographic Society and Smithsonian Institution, began investigating the area. The results of their 2008 expedition were announced on Monday.
Mr Milensky said the expedition was incredibly difficult.
Kristofer Helgen, curator of mammals at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, said one of the most amazing animals the researchers observed was the rare golden-mantled tree kangaroo.
Most people think of kangaroos as creatures that live on the flatlands of Australia, he said, but this one has adapted to forest life.
"It can jump into a tree and scurry right up it," Mr Helgen said. "But on the ground it hops around like any kangaroo."
Picture gallery featuring some of their discoveries.
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