Discoveries from the 'Lost World'

Just a very quick overview about the possible new discoveries that The Lost World Expedition uncovered during August 2010 - potentially four new species have been found! We will upload images of each of these finds in future blogs.

1. A new hybrid pitcher plant, which has never before been found on the summit of Mount Roraima. This plant is particularly interesting because although it is a hybrid, the population we found were clearly stable and reproducing, giving rise to a new species. This find not only reveals a plant that is new to science on Roraima, but also exemplifies how many species first develop, including in the 21st century, as is the case here.

2. A new, unnamed species of pitcher plant on Mount Roraima. We have obtained some footage filmed during a helicopter journey from Mount Roraima to a neighbouring plateau called Yuruani. We filmed Stewart McPherson jumping out of the helicopter and searching for the plant on the summit of the mountain, to find the plant which had never been filmed before. We captured some fantastic shots of the plant and also material showing how the plant captures animal prey.

3. We filmed a weasel on the summit of Mount Roraima. Absolutely no mammals in any way related to, or resembling weasels are currently known from the summit of Mount Roraima, and for certain this is a completely new record. We still do not know if it is a new species or not, but this may be a supplemental point showing how little explored the lost worlds are, and how still today, we do not know the range of animal life found atop of the plateaus.

4. The plated millipedes, which have a black body, with scarlet plates, which we found atop Roraima have not been identified by the leading millipede expert of North America, and he has suggested that these represent a whole new genus!