Amphibians and reptiles of Northern PNG

In the footsteps of Benoit Mys...

Jonathan Clegg, Peter Taylor and Merlijn Jocque

December 2014

Introduction

The team

Outline Introduction

– How it all began

– Benoit Mys and his 1980's PNG collections

–

Expedition account

– What we do

– Amphibians and reptiles in West New Britain/Manus/province comparison

– Perceived nature threats

Conservation in PNG

– Short term contributions

– Long term aims

Collection Findings and Expedition Rationale

Introduction

How it all began.............

Museum Internship, September 2011, Brussels, Belgium

Introduction

Benoit Mys

Belgian PhD Student; Studied the Biogeography of Reptiles of Northern PNG in 1985

Introduction

–Benoit's research area in Northern PNG in the mid 1980s

Introduction

The Benoit Mys/University of Antwerp Collections

One of the most significant, yet unstudied collections of PNG reptiles and amphibians in the world

15,000 frogs, lizards, snakes and rodents were collected from over 50 localities across Northern PNG

Introduction

Collection findings: Expedition Rationale

We found some snake specimens from New Britain and Manus Island to be potentially new

Formed the basis of award of a Winston Churchill Fellowship to lead a first expedition to recover fresh specimens

Stored in Formalin – No opportunity to do genetic analysis!