Field Museum captures Amazon animal selfies

Sunday, April 24, 2016, 4:18 PM - The Field Museum is taking the animal selfie game to a whole other level.

A team of 25 scientists travelled to the remote area of Medio Putumayo-Algodón, a vast Peruvian amazon to study the diversity and abundance of life. They spent 17 days collecting a rapid inventory, recording 1,820 animal and plant species on land and water. About 19 of those are believed to be new discoveries. Researchers recorded the largest number of frogs and snakes of any Field Museum rapid inventory.

While indigenous groups living in the region want to protect the lands, the area is under threat from illegal mining and logging.

"You can't argue for the protection of an area without knowing what is there," Corine Vriesendrop, director of the Field Museum's rapid inventory program said in a statement. "We discovered an intact forest inhabited by indigenous people for centuries and teeming with wildlife. We want it to survive and thrive long after our cameras are gone."

The team set up 14-motion-activated camera traps and a drone to capture the region's biodiversity. Their results are nothing short of incredible.

The drone footage helped illustrate the overall landscape of the forest, which is only accessible via helicopter.

"No scientists have ever explored this area, let alone document it with cameras and drones," said Jon Markel, the Field Museum's Geographic Information Systems specialist. "These images are the first time this remote wilderness and the species that call it home are being recorded for science."

The Field Museum's rapid inventory program has helped governments establish 18 new protected areas totaling 26.5 million acres.

Here are some more animal selfies posted on the Field Museum's Facebook page.

SOURCE: Science Daily | Facebook

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