A previously unknown sub-species of bird has been discovered in the southern grasslands of Nepal, scientists say.
The bird is a warbler with a very long tail and slender beak and has been named the Nepal Rufous-vented Prinia.
Scientists say the bird provides an important geographical link between previously-known varieties in Pakistan and India.
But they warn its tiny population means the sub-species is endangered.
The bird was first spotted in 2005 in a wetland area.
But it is only now that taxonomists have decided it is distinctive enough to be described as a separate sub-species.
'Exciting find'
It has different dimensions from the two other types of Rufous-vented Prinia, and in colour comes between the rich chestnut of its western neighbour and the grey of the one to the east.
Hem Sagar Baral of Bird Conservation Nepal said the find is exciting because while the other two types belong to Pakistan's Indus river basin and the Brahmaputra of north-east India, this Nepalese sub-species fills the gap.
The latest find "appears to form the link" between the two pre-existing sub-species, he said.
The new find brings the number of bird species spotted in Nepal to an exceptionally high 862.
But the conservationists are warning that with habitat loss and degradation, the newly-identified variety is highly threatened, with at most 500 birds currently alive.
They are however elated that it has been found in a reserve which is well monitored by bird-watchers, and are now speculating that there may be more species waiting to be found - new to Nepal, or even to the world.
This is just so cool. There are bird species in Pakistan and India that are pretty different, so what do we expect to find? A missing link. What do we find? A missing link. Science is awesome.
Also, in my (admittedly short) experience, people arguing for evolution tend to ignore the geographic distribution of species to focus on the fossil record. The geographic distribution is much less fragmented than the fossil record and therefore provides very convincing evidence that evolution did occur.
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Wasn't the geographical distribution of species what clued Darwin in to evolution in the first place?
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Drooling Iguana wrote:Wasn't the geographical distribution of species what clued Darwin in to evolution in the first place?
That was a large part of it, although he also had glimpses of the fossil record in South America. The big breakthrough, though, was when he read Malthus' essay on food production and population growth and put two and two together to arrive at the mechanism of natural selection. Everything after that was dogged evidence-gathering.
Fun fact: Origin is an abstract of a larger work that was never published, because Wallace forced his hand.
A Government founded upon justice, and recognizing the equal rights of all men; claiming higher authority for existence, or sanction for its laws, that nature, reason, and the regularly ascertained will of the people; steadily refusing to put its sword and purse in the service of any religious creed or family is a standing offense to most of the Governments of the world, and to some narrow and bigoted people among ourselves.
Drooling Iguana wrote:Wasn't the geographical distribution of species what clued Darwin in to evolution in the first place?
That was a large part of it, although he also had glimpses of the fossil record in South America. The big breakthrough, though, was when he read Malthus' essay on food production and population growth and put two and two together to arrive at the mechanism of natural selection. Everything after that was dogged evidence-gathering.
Fun fact: Origin is an abstract of a larger work that was never published, because Wallace forced his hand.
I would have loved to see that. Darwin was almost prophetic in a lot of ways
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Drooling Iguana wrote:Wasn't the geographical distribution of species what clued Darwin in to evolution in the first place?
That was a large part of it, although he also had glimpses of the fossil record in South America. The big breakthrough, though, was when he read Malthus' essay on food production and population growth and put two and two together to arrive at the mechanism of natural selection. Everything after that was dogged evidence-gathering.
Fun fact: Origin is an abstract of a larger work that was never published, because Wallace forced his hand.
Drooling Iguana wrote:Wasn't the geographical distribution of species what clued Darwin in to evolution in the first place?
That was a large part of it, although he also had glimpses of the fossil record in South America. The big breakthrough, though, was when he read Malthus' essay on food production and population growth and put two and two together to arrive at the mechanism of natural selection. Everything after that was dogged evidence-gathering.
Fun fact: Origin is an abstract of a larger work that was never published, because Wallace forced his hand.
Are abstracts typically that long?
No. A typical abstract for a scientific paper is about a paragraph long...
GALE Force Biological Agent/
BOTM/Great Dolphin Conspiracy/ Entomology and Evolutionary Biology Subdirector:SD.net Dept. of Biological Sciences
There is Grandeur in the View of Life; it fills me with a Deep Wonder, and Intense Cynicism.
Surlethe wrote:
That was a large part of it, although he also had glimpses of the fossil record in South America. The big breakthrough, though, was when he read Malthus' essay on food production and population growth and put two and two together to arrive at the mechanism of natural selection. Everything after that was dogged evidence-gathering.
Fun fact: Origin is an abstract of a larger work that was never published, because Wallace forced his hand.
Are abstracts typically that long?
No. A typical abstract for a scientific paper is about a paragraph long...
Well this is back when pamphlets were 50 pages long...
