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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!