123 Quirky New Species Found in Borneo

World Wildlife Fund hails success of conservation project
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 22, 2010 7:24 AM CDT
123 Quirky New Species Found in Borneo
This flame-colored Borneo snake has an aggressive disposition and a painful bite, zoologists warn. It has been named "Kopstein’s bronzeback" in honor of a late Austrian snake expert.   (WWF/Gernot Vogel)

A color-changing flying frog, a slug that fires "love darts" into potential mates during courtship, and the world's longest insect are among the 123 new species discovered in central Borneo over the last three years. The World Wildlife Fund has issued a report on the amazing finds to mark Earth Day and celebrate the success of a project to conserve the "Heart of Borneo" region, NBC reports.

Scientists say untold numbers of species still remain to be found in the remoter parts of the rainforest region Charles Darwin called "one great luxuriant hothouse made by nature for herself." The WWF warns, however, that it will be a huge challenge to continue preserving the area—which is split between Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia—by protecting it from loggers and developers.
(More Borneo stories.)

123 Quirky New Species Found in Borneo
This long-tailed Borneo slug fires calcium carbonate 'love darts' to inject hormones into potential mates.   (WWF/Menno Schuithuizen)
123 Quirky New Species Found in Borneo
This frog, one of four species of 'flying' frog found in Borneo, changes both its eye and skin color by night.   (WWF/Stefan Hertwig)
123 Quirky New Species Found in Borneo
"Chan's megastick" is, at 22 inches, the world's longest insect.    (WWF/Orang Asli)
123 Quirky New Species Found in Borneo
This wild orchid, found high up a mountain, is one of 37 new orchid species found in the 'Heart of Borneo' since 2007.   (WWF/Peter O'Byrne)
123 Quirky New Species Found in Borneo
Scientists spotted this newly discovered bird species, the "Spectacled Flowerpecker," from a walkway through rainforest canopy.   (WWF/Richard Webster)