TEMPO english edition: unearthing the nature

17/03/2015 05:51

Until recently, scientifi c research in Indonesia tended to be dominated by foreign practitioners. Increasingly, however, our scientists are making their mark

studying and discovering the infi nite variety of Indonesia’s rich fl ora and fauna. Last December, herpetologist (amphibian specialist) Djoko Tjahjono Iskandar

announced his discovery of a ‘scientifi c anomaly’ in the jungles of West Sulawesi—a species of frog (Limnonectes larvaepartus) which gives birth to tadpoles,

instead of laying eggs. In West Papua, ichthyologist (fi sh expert) Kadarusman successfully proved that the rainbow fi sh (Melanotaenia) originated

not from Australia, but Indonesia. Botanist Charlie Danny Heatubun in Manokwari, Papua, managed to save an almost extinct species of palm tree (Areca unipa).