The Daily Star, AFP, February 14, 2013
 |
| This undated photo taken by independent researcher Philippe Verbelen and released by online scientific journal PLOS ONE, shows a Rinjani Scops owl perching on a tree on Lombok island, Indonesia. (AP Photo/PLOS ONE, Philippe Verbelen) |
JAKARTA:
Researchers in Indonesia unwittingly identified a new species of owl believed
to be unique to the country, raising hopes of further new bird discoveries, a
scientist said Thursday.
The
brown-and-white Rinjani Scops owl was first spotted in 2003 on the island of
Lombok, while researchers were looking for another nocturnal bird. It was
formally identified by four scientists Wednesday in the online "Plos
One" journal.
Prior to
that, the bird had been mistaken for the related Moluccan Scops owl, found in
the Maluku islands in central Indonesia.
"Ornithologists
have long patted themselves on the back, believing that the taxonomy of birds
was almost complete," researcher George Sangster from the Swedish Museum
of Natural History, told AFP.
"Our
study shows that even after more than 250 years of taxonomic research, we can
still find new species, even of birds."
Sangster
discovered the bird days before another researcher, Ben King made the same
discovery independently when both were on the island to collect sounds of
large-tailed Nightjars.
They
noticed the owl's songs were "completely different" from the Moluccan
Scops owl.
He said
further research should be carried out on the nearby island of Sumbawa to
verify if the bird was unique to Lombok.
Ornithologists
have often overlooked Lombok during field work in the region, believing there
were no endemic bird species there, Sangster said.
Sangster
has called for more research on birds in Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago of
around 17,000 islands that he calls "a treasure trove for
taxonomists".
The Rinjani
Scops owl was named after the volcano in the heart of Lombok island.
No comments:
Post a Comment