New Leopard species found in Borneo

[Norelco]

Damn, this thing looks so fucking badass...



KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (March 15) - The clouded leopard of Borneo - discovered to be an entirely new species - is the latest in a growing list of animals and plants unique to the Southeast Asian country's rainforest and underscores the need to preserve the area, conservationists said Thursday.

Genetic tests by researchers at the U.S. National Cancer Institute revealed that the clouded leopard of Borneo and Sumatra islands is a unique cat species and not the same one found in mainland Southeast Asia as long believed, said a statement by WWF, the global conservation organization.

"Who said a leopard can never change its spots? For over a hundred years we have been looking at this animal and never realized it was unique," said Stuart Chapman, WWF International Coordinator of the Heart of Borneo program, which is dedicated to preserving the flora and fauna in the deep jungles on Borneo.

The secretive clouded leopards are the biggest predators on Borneo, growing sometimes to the size of a small panther. They have the longest canine teeth relative to body size of any cat.

http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a ... 0000000001

[Kiro]

I give it 10 years until it goes extinct. 5 if hollywood finds out.

[Kaylia]

Those animals are pretty cool, but am I the only one who think finding those new eco-systems has very little impact on anything. It's not like it will make us reconsider any of our theories about biology.

[GRT]

did assault jerkin drop?

[Ace-o-fire]

Those animals are pretty cool, but am I the only one who think finding those new eco-systems has very little impact on anything. It's not like it will make us reconsider any of our theories about biology.

It might, i mean no one knew about deep sea life 50 years ago and no one really had a clue where we came from. Theories are still coming up today. Everything that we can find can help us define an idea.

[Avé]

Those animals are pretty cool, but am I the only one who think finding those new eco-systems has very little impact on anything. It's not like it will make us reconsider any of our theories about biology.

Who knows? There may some flower sitting in a dark rain forest somewhere just waiting to be used to cure cancer.

I remember reading somewhere that some scientists recently found some kind of organism on the ocean floor that produces a ton of hydrogen. And if they can study it, we could come up with an easier/cheaper way to mass produce hydrogen to take over gasoline. The only problem is that the organism dies by the time the scientists resurface.

[Boyiee]

Those animals are pretty cool, but am I the only one who think finding those new eco-systems has very little impact on anything. It's not like it will make us reconsider any of our theories about biology.

If you read the article, it's not a new eco system at all. In fact they mention that for over a hundred years they've been looking at the animal and never realized it was a different species. They did gene testing and realized it was a completely different species from the ones on the mainland. However I was reading that they found like 50 new species of all different things in that area so it's semi-new but still something they knew was there.

[Xchelsx]

Those animals are pretty cool, but am I the only one who think finding those new eco-systems has very little impact on anything. It's not like it will make us reconsider any of our theories about biology.

If you read the article, it's not a new eco system at all. In fact they mention that for over a hundred years they've been looking at the animal and never realized it was a different species. They did gene testing and realized it was a completely different species from the ones on the mainland. However I was reading that they found like 50 new species of all different things in that area so it's semi-new but still something they knew was there.

how did they not realize that?

[Kaylia]

Those animals are pretty cool, but am I the only one who think finding those new eco-systems has very little impact on anything. It's not like it will make us reconsider any of our theories about biology.

It might, i mean no one knew about deep sea life 50 years ago and no one really had a clue where we came from. Theories are still coming up today. Everything that we can find can help us define an idea.

There is a big difference between deep sea and a leopard who have slightly different spot. In one case, it's species with ability that we might have never seen, in the other, it's just more of the same thing we have everywhere.

Who knows? There may some flower sitting in a dark rain forest somewhere just waiting to be used to cure cancer.

People always say that, but in reality, the chance we discover a "magical" protein is about as high on species we know than the one we don't know.

If you read the article, it's not a new eco system at all. In fact they mention that for over a hundred years they've been looking at the animal and never realized it was a different species. They did gene testing and realized it was a completely different species from the ones on the mainland. However I was reading that they found like 50 new species of all different things in that area so it's semi-new but still something they knew was there.

I read it quickly, but I thought they were refering to the same region they found 50 new species of bird/bugs and the like a few months ago.

[Boyiee]

I read it quickly, but I thought they were refering to the same region they found 50 new species of bird/bugs and the like a few months ago.

Yeah, thats what bothers me. It's the same group of islands, but they said they have been watching these leopards for a while and didn't realize they were different.