WHO KNOWS WHAT IS YET TO BE DISCOVERED AT THIS UNIQUE REMOTE PLATEAU AND WHAT CLIMATIC CONDITIONS ENABLED THESE RELICT POPULATIONS TO SURVIVE ONLY 900 MILES NW OF BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA? (Sources: Daily Telegraph, UK and Christian Science Monitor )
Unfortunately, the survival of all of the high-altitude Queensland rainforests are under threat from climate warming because as temperatures rise with altitude, the changing climatic zones will cause extinctions.
High on a remote 1.8 mile square upland plateau of Cape Melville, Queensland, accessible only by helicopter, three reptile species isolated for millions of years have been discovered: a strange leaf-tailed gecko, a golden hued skink and a boulder-dwelling frog - ancient animals that have survived in this tiny niche since the Gondwana Rainforest!
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The Blotched Boulder Frog |
The 20 cm nocturnal long leaf-tailed gecko emerges at nightfall to hunt on rocks and trees; the shade skink hunts insects in the mossy boulders. The blotched boulder frog lives in cool, damp cracks of the boulders during the dry season, only emerging during summer rains to breed and feed on insects.
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The 20 cm noctural leaf-tailed gecko |
“That this gecko was hidden away in a small patch of rainforest on top of Cape Melville is truly remarkable. What makes it even more remarkable is that two other totally new vertebrates were found at the same time,” Dr Hoskin announced. He believes the Gecko's long legs are an evolutionary adaptation so the creature can scurry through the unusual, rocky environment looking for prey, while its eyes are likely to help it navigate the deep, dark crevices between boulders.
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| The golden-hued skink hunts for insects between boulders
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Nothofagus, the Southern Beech Forests evolved 100 MYA, during the Dinosaur era when Australia was part of the supercontinent Gondwana. Between 160 and 65 MYA, Gondwana split apart, forming today's southern hemisphere land masses: Antarctica, South America, Africa, Madagascar, Australia and New Zealand, New Guinea and New Caledonia. The current distributions of Nothofagus are evidence of the continental drift. The forests are found only in S. America (Chile and Patagonia), New Zealand, Australia, New Guinea and New Caledonia.
 Nothofagus Forest |
