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mozambique

Google Earth instrumental in discovery of new chameleon species

Back in 2005 Julian Bayliss, a biologist at London’s Kew Gardens, discovered a brand new rainforest that had previously never been studied — and he found it using Google Earth. We told you about it in May this year, and you can watch a short video about the discovery below.

Since then, many new species have been discovered at the location, known as Mozambique’s ‘sky islands’, including a snake, a butterfly, and most recently, the recent discovery of four new pygmy chameleon species.

Rhampholeon nebulauctor. Credit: Julian Bayliss.
Rhampholeon nebulauctor. Credit: Julian Bayliss.

Rhampholeon tilburyi. Credit: Krystal A. Tolley.
Rhampholeon tilburyi. Credit: Krystal A. Tolley.

Rampholeon Maspictus. Credit: William R. Branch.
Rampholeon Maspictus. Credit: William R. Branch.

Rhampholeon Bruessoworum. Credit: Julian Bayliss.
Rhampholeon Bruessoworum. Credit: Julian Bayliss.

Find the full story on Fauna & Flora International.

The story of how Google Earth helped to find a long-lost forest

Back in 2005 Julian Bayliss, a biologist at London’s Kew Gardens, discovered a brand new rainforest that had previously never been studied — and he found it using Google Earth.

mount mabu

According to author Ken Jennings:

Julian Bayliss, a British scientist specializing in plant conservation, was browsing for possible African rainforest sites on Google Earth when he stumbled on aerial photographs of Mount Mabu, a lush peak rising above the savannah of central Mozambique. He was surprised to find 27 square miles of medium-altitude rainforest—the largest in Africa—that, to his knowledge, no one had ever studied.

How could a whole rainforest hide in plain sight for so long? Locals in the area knew about Mount Mabu, of course, but the combination of a lack of roads in the area and a long-running civil war had kept outsiders away. Mount Mabu—the “Google Forest,” as it came to be called—had never been logged. It had never even been mapped.

It’s a fascinating story, as we always tend to assume that the world has been fully explored and tools like Google Earth are simply a way to see it again, but that’s not always the case. I encourage you to read Ken’s fully story to learn more.