“Unearthed Mysteries: Newly Discovered Creatures in Honduras’ ‘Lost City of the Monkey God’ Spark Excitement and Speculation”
Overall, the team of scientists discovered 246 species of butterflies and moths, 30 species of bats, and 57 species of amphibians and reptiles. Twenty-two of these had never been spotted in Honduras before, such as the Great Green Macaw. And scientists believe one fish species is entirely new to science.
RAP Director Trond Larsen said he and his team were “shocked” at the sheer amount of animals they found. They even found three species thought to have vanished from the country: the pale-faced bat, the False Tree Coral Snake, and a tiger beetle thought to be entirely extinct.
“The ‘White City’ is one of the few remaining areas in Central America where ecological and evolutionary processes remain intact,” he said.
Conservation InternationalThe worm salamander is high on the list of endangered species.
Experts believe an ancient civilization predating the European conquest of the Americas existed in the White City. Explorers spent decades looking for it — made all the more difficult to the region’s lack of infrastructure, abundance of natural predators, and a dangerous presence of drug traffickers.
According to CNN, renowned aviator Charles Lindbergh said he spotted the “lost city” during a flyover in the 1920s. Larsen, of course, actually traversed the region on foot — and got into direct contact with some of the more dangerous elements.
“I was on a walk by myself in a very small tight narrow ravine and turned around and my head lamp illuminated these big glowing eyes — and I didn’t know what it was at first,” he said. “And they came very close to me and I realized it was a big puma.”
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