Why Are New Species So Glorious?

This week the Foja Mountains of western New Guinea, Indonesia, have (again) been revealed to be a treasure trove of new species, including the world’s smallest known wallaby, a Pinocchio-nosed frog, a pink-blue pigeon, a blossom bat and a yellow-eyed gecko.

Why does it seem that photographs of new species are almost always so remarkably beautiful? Is it because they are “new” or merely just striking? Are the dull new species’ photos not widely disseminated? All are significant, of course.

Can you find the Latin names of all the new species in thirty seconds on the Internet? Think about how long it took scholars to hear about the discovery of the mountain gorilla in 1902 and learn its scientific name.

Loren Coleman About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct). Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015. Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.

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