Totally awed - New species discovery

Totally awed by the read from this website. Somehow feel extremely estacstic that the world is still so beautiful.... but sadly, disappearing fast.

From:
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/*:newspecies&template=new_species

How many species are there?
There are approximately 4,500 species of mammals, 5,500 of amphibians, 8,000 reptiles, 10,000 birds and 30,000 marine species currently recognised by science, and that doesn’t include the untold numbers of invertebrates, bacteria and smaller beings (it is believed that there are 15000-20000 species of butterfly).

On average, 2 new species of fish are found every week, and it is thought that the jungles of the world contain many more amphibians and reptiles than have yet been named. Even now we still get a few new bird species discovered every year, and, amazingly, new species of mammal are still found occasionally.

New discoveries
Recent finds include a new Genus of monkey in Tanzania, a new parrot and forest mouse on a small Philippine island, a 'hairy' lobster (This was a whole new family, not species), a new snake in Vietnam, 5 new frogs and a new newt in Laos, a new stingray in Thailand, a new monkey in India, an unusual spitting spider in Madagascar that lives in family groups, and new sharks off Mexico and Indonesia. Borneo is a hotspot for new discoveries; from 1994-2004 361 new species were found there: 260 insects, 50 plants, 30 fish, 7 frogs, 6 lizards, 5 crabs, 2 snakes and a toad.

Sharing with you one of the links from this website:

Extinct bird, not seen for 100 years, photographed and eaten in The Philippines
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/worcesters-buttonquail.html

March 2009. A rare bird that was believed to be extinct as it had not been seen for more than 100 years has turned up in the Philippines and been photographed for the first time, the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines (WBCP) has reported.

Unfortunately, the bird was eaten shortly after being photographed as no one at the time realised the bird's importance.

The bird, known as Worcester's buttonquail (Turnix worcesteri), was recorded on both video and still photography by a TV documentary team at Dalton Pass in Nueva Vizcaya in January before it was cooked and eaten.

The WBCP hailed the discovery of the Worcester's buttonquail. "We are ecstatic that this rarely seen species was photographed by accident. What if this was the last of its species?" WBCP president Mike Lu said.

Jill Lowe and her killer cookie!

Not that I would have given up by weekend Phuket trip over watching Jill's guest appearance in S Factor, but missing this episode was a tad disappointing. Thanks to You-tube, I can see how Jill killed her participants with her "nice cookie". Hey, was she inspired by Hansel and Gretel?