Biological hunters find treasures in Borneo

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Constantijn Mennes / NaturalisAn atlas moth shows off its colors during the Sabah Parks / Naturalis expedition to Borneo.By Alan Boyle

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A Dutch-Malaysian expedition to the remote "Heart of Borneo" have turned up more than 160 species previously unknown to science — and perhaps more importantly, enough DNA samples to figure out how more than 1,400 species in one of the world's hottest hot spots for biodiversity are related.

"It has been a successful expedition," the project's leader, Menno Schilthuizen of the Naturalis Biodiversity Center, said in a news release from the center, based in the Dutch city of Leiden. Forty researchers from Naturalis and from Sabah Parks, a Malaysian conservation group, journeyed to Borneo's Mount Kinabalu last month to survey the area.




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