| This articles about information wild species. | | | | Suriname Aluminum, which has a government |
| A FROG with fluorescent purple markings and 12 | | | | concession to explore gold in the area, will include the |
| kinds of dung beetles are among two dozen new | | | | data in its environmental assessment study, said |
| species discovered in the remote plateaus of eastern | | | | Haydi Berrenstein, a Conservation International ofIicial |
| Suriname, scientists said. | | | | in Suriname, which borders Brazil, Guyana and French |
| The expedition was sponsored by two mining | | | | Guiana. About 80 per cent of Suriname is covered |
| companies hoping to excavate the area for bauxite, | | | | with dense rainforest. |
| the raw material used to make aluminum, and it was | | | | Thousands of Brazilians and Surinamese are believed |
| unknown how the findings would affect their plans. | | | | to work in illegal gold mining, creating mercury |
| Scientists discovered the species during a 2005 | | | | pollution that has threatened the health of |
| expedition led by the US-based nonprofit | | | | Amerindians and Maroons in Suriname's interior. |
| Conservation International in rainforests and swamps | | | | This discovery is surprising because no previous |
| about 130 km southeast of Paramaribo, the capital of | | | | theories of how the frogs arrived had predicted a |
| the South American country, organisation spokesman | | | | single origin for Caribbean terrestrial frogs and |
| Tom Cohen said. | | | | because groups of close relatives rarely dominate the |
| Among the species found were the atelopus frog, | | | | fauna of an entire continent or major geographic |
| which has distinctive purple markings; six types of | | | | region," said biology Professor Blair Hedges, who |
| fish; 12 dung beetles, and one ant species, he said. | | | | directed the research. |
| The scientists called for better conservation | | | | The field work for the study required nearly three |
| management in the unprotected, stateowned areas, | | | | decades and some species included in the study are |
| where hunting and small-scale illegal mining is common. | | | | now believed extinct because of habitat degradation |
| The study was financed by Suriname Aluminum | | | | and possibly other causes, such as climate change. |
| Company LLC and BHP Bniton Maatschappij Suriname. | | | | |