- An expedition with Conservation International’s Rapid Assessment Program will survey the species in the Alto Mayo landscape in Peru in 2024.
- The mission recorded more than 2,000 species during the 38-day survey
- Among the creatures recorded, 27 species are new to science
A scientific expedition focused on preserving the well-known fauna of the Alto Mayo natural area in Peru has discovered 27 new species that need protection.
In 2024, Conservation International Rapid Assessment Programme RAP has launched a 38-day survey of the Alto Mayo landscape — “a complex mosaic of ecosystems and communities, including indigenous territories, towns and cities” stretching from the Andes to the Amazon, according to the organization.
Trond Larsen, Ph.D., the scientific leader of the expedition, tells PEOPLE that the mission was to “assess and monitor biodiversity and ecosystem health” in this region.
Trond is a “conservation ecologist, but also an explorer and naturalist at heart.” He is also the Senior Director for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Science at Conservation International and leader of the organization’s Rapid Assessment Programme.
“For more than a decade, Conservation International has worked with the Awajón people and local communities in Alto Mayo to reduce deforestation by supporting sustainable livelihoods, such as the sale of medicinal tea and vanilla, and sustainable agriculture using cocoa and coffee beans,” Trond explains. The collaboration that led to his final journey.
“These efforts now culminate in a vision to create a conservation corridor across the Alto Mayo landscape linking the most degraded areas to existing protected areas,” he adds. “This will help preserve the unique biodiversity of Alto Mayo while ensuring that people continue to receive the benefits of nature on which they depend.”
Ronald Diaz
Before creating such a corridor, Conservation International needs to know “where the most important species live, especially those new to science, rare, or threatened with extinction.”
The Trond Expedition went to the Alto Mayo Natural Area to fill these “knowledge gaps” so that the corridor could develop a land use plan that supports biodiversity conservation, agricultural sustainability, and habitat connectivity across the broader region.
During the mission’s five-week survey, scientists recorded more than 2,000 species, a “shocking” number for a “human-dominated” area of Peru’s rainforest. Even more unexpected is that among the hundreds of documented species, 27 were new to science, including four new mammals, eight fish, three amphibians, and ten butterfly species. In addition, “there are potentially 48 species new to science awaiting further research, and at least 49 species are threatened with extinction,” Trond said.
Trond Larsen
“Our team was very surprised by the extremely high levels of biodiversity we encountered, especially the number of species new to science. While the discovery of new invertebrates, such as insects, is very common, the discovery of many vertebrate animals, including mammals, amphibians and fish “The new one, it was shocking.”
The environmentalist admits he has a favorite among the newly discovered species.
“My personal favorite, and also the most unusual, is the bubblehead fish,” Trond says.
This creature is a type of armored catfish, and is distinguished from other armored catfish by a large, inflated “bubble” extending from the end of its head.
Other new species discovered by science during the expedition include a new species of bat, an amphibious mouse, a climbing salamander and a squirrel.
“Although this fish is familiar to the local Awajon indigenous people, it is completely new to scientists, and the function of this strange bubble-like structure remains a mystery,” Trond adds.
Ronald Diaz
“Scientific experts continue to study the newly discovered species in more detail, and eventually, each species will be formally described and named, with details published in a scientific journal,” he says of the next step for the new animals.
Conservation International is working with the regional government and local communities to restore areas of the Alto Mayo landscape that are critical to the fauna recorded by the expedition.
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According to Trond, the Alto Mayo landscape is the most “densely populated and human-impacted” landscape in which RAP has worked.
The “shocking and unexpected” discovery of several new species and the overall “tremendous diversity” of the landscape at Alto Mayo shows RAP and Conservation International that populated areas “largely ignored” by scientists are still teeming with natural life.
RAP’s next Trond expedition will launch in northeastern Bolivia in the first half of 2025. To learn more about Conservation International and how the organization protects nature, visit www.conservation.org.
