A few weeks ago you may have heard about the December 2005 expedition to the Indonesian island of New Guinea, which, led by Conservation International (CI), uncovered several new animal and plant species.  Penetrating deep into the forests of the Foja Mountains, a team co-led by Bruce Beehler and Steve Richards found a pristine environment that has rarely been visited by humans--including the local natives, known as Kwerba.  Beehler is an ornithologist (bird expert) and vice president of Conservation International's Melanesia Center for Biodiversity Conservation.  While Beehler did not respond to my interview request, I did get permission to publish photos of the species documented on this expedition.

 Papua Province is part of the country of Indonesia, a large group of islands between Australia and southeast Asia.  The east half of the island of New Guinea is Papua New Guinea, a separate nation.  Image copyright Conservation International.  Used by permission.

A view of the Foja Mountains forest, taken near the native village of Kwerba, which served as a base and a source of local guides for the expedition.  Copyright Stephen Richards.  Used by permission.

 "Within minutes" of reaching the expedition site, according to a National Geographic News story, team members found a new bird, black with an orange facial wattle (that's the skin part), and determined it to be an unknown species of smoky honeyeater.

 Smoky honeyeater species.  Copyright Bruce Beehler/CI.  Used by permission.

 Forest Camp in the Foja Mountains.  Copyright Stephen Richards.  Used by permission.

While in most cases it could be argued that an "undiscovered" species is only called undiscovered because Westerners haven't found it, in spite of indigenous' people's long-standing knowledge of it, this expedition could be different.  The local Kwerba people say they rarely visit the deep interior of the forest, probably in part because of the 10-day trek it would take to journey there.  For all we know, this New Guinea biosphere may not have entertained human travelers more than a half-a-dozen times since it began, whenever that was.

There is at least one Western explorer, though, who has already visited this remote wilderness.  Sometime in the 1970s Jared Diamond, who is now the best-selling author of "Guns, Germs, and Steel" and "Collapse," penetrated the region and discovered the home range of the golden-fronted bowerbird, photographed for the first time on the CI expedition.

The golden-fronted bowerbird, standing next to its bower, a tower or chamber of brush it builds for its mating ritual.  Copyright Bruce Beehler/CI.  Used by permission.

The home range of the Berlepsch’s six-wired bird of paradise above was unknown until the November-December expedition, when on the second day after making camp, a pair of the birds performed a mating dance in front of team members.  Copyright Bruce Beehler/CI.  Used by permission.

Previously known, the feline owlet-nightjar (Aegotheles insignis) belongs to a family of birds that normally hunt insects at night, and roost during the day.  Many nightjars cannot walk or hop.  Copyright Bruce Beehler/CI.  Used by permission.

Beside birds, the expedition discovered the golden-mantled tree kangaroo (photo here), 20 new species of frogs, four new insects (all butterflies), and at least five new woody plants.

 This undiscovered frog (Choerophryne species) was noticed when explorers heard its soft call from among the steep forest floor.  It is only half an inch long.  Copyright Stephen Richards.  Used by permission.

Undescribed Callulops species.  Copyright Stephen Richards.  Used by permission.

Undescribed Albericus species.  Copyright Stephen Richards.  Used by permission.

At six inches across, this newly discovered "giant white" rhododendron may be the largest rhododendron in the world.  Copyright Wayne Takeuchi.  Used by permission.

Undescribed palm (Pholidocarphus species).  Copyright Johannes Mogea.  Used by permission.

Fruit from the new species of palm.  Copyright Johannes Mogea.  Used by permission.