Scientists discover monster cockroaches

Scientists discover monster cockroaches

Agence France Presse/Jakarta

Monster cockroaches and dwarf crabs are among a rich and exotic
menagerie of new species discovered by a team of international
scientists exploring caves deep inside Indonesia's teeming
jungles.

More than a dozen previously unknown types of fish, insect,
snail and plant were found in a limestone cavern system in the
remote East Kalimantan region of Indonesian Borneo, expedition
organisers Nature Conservancy said this week.

Scott Stanley, programme manager for the US-based ecology
group, said even rarer species could be awaiting discovery among
the almost inaccessible cliffs, caves and waterfalls, but he
warned their existence was under threat.

"In just five weeks, the expedition team discovered numerous
new species previously unknown to science. Who knows what else is
out there?" he said on the group's website.

"If something is not done soon to protect these areas, dozens
of species could disappear before anyone knew they ever existed."

The five-week expedition, which ended in September, saw
scientists dangling on ropes to access dark limestone chambers
where they were met by scuttling creatures including the huge
cockroach, a giant millipede and a micro-crab.

"Nearly all of the insects we collected are new to science,"
said Louis DeHarveng, an entomologist of the French Academy of
Science who took part in the mission to Kalimantan's Sangkulirang
limestone peninsula.

"Sangkulirang appears to have some of the most diverse cave
species on Earth," he said.

Stanley said the new finds emphasised the need to halt
activities such as illegal logging, which have seen the
disappearance of vast swathes of Indonesia's jungle over the past
few decades.

An area almost the size of Belgium is lost to unauthorised
felling every year in Indonesia, driving many species to the
brink of extinction.

"The teams discovery of such a wide variety of plants and
animals, and particularly the high number of rare species found
nowhere else on Earth, shows the critical need to protect this
area from the growing threats of logging, mining and fire,"
Stanley said.