Misplaced Pages

#934065

51-613: The lakes are in the New Guinea Highlands , between the Weyland Mountains on the west and the Sudirman Range or Snow mountains to the east. Lake Paniai is the largest of the lakes, with an area of approximately 154 km. The lake's elevation is 1,752 metres, and it has an average depth of 44 metres. There are wetlands along the eastern shore of the lake, including around the town of Enarotali . The lake

102-521: A cuscus possum, an antechinus , and Doria's tree-kangaroo ( Dendrolagus dorianus ). Four of these are endemic: the small marsupial black-tailed antechinus ( Murexechinus melanurus ), western shrew mouse , glacier rat , and alpine woolly rat . There are nearly 100 birds of which 28 are considered endemic or nearly so, including the vulnerable long-bearded honeyeater ( Melionyx princeps ), ribbon-tailed astrapia ( Astrapia mayeri ), and Macgregor's giant honeyeater , which although endangered generally

153-699: A bite and then swallow it whole. Despite being voracious hunters at times, all species pose no threat to humans and will generally avoid interaction in the wild. Being neither poisonous or venomous, their bites are also mild and minor. Skinks are generally carnivorous and in particular insectivorous . Typical prey include flies , crickets , grasshoppers , beetles , and caterpillars . Various species also eat earthworms , millipedes , centipedes , snails , slugs , isopods ( woodlice etc), moths, small lizards (including geckos ), and small rodents . Some species, particularly those favored as home pets, are omnivorous and have more varied diets and can be maintained on

204-492: A general rule, the longer the digits, the more arboreal the species is likely to be. A biological ratio can determine the ecological niche of a given skink species. The Scincidae ecological niche index (SENI) is a ratio based on anterior foot length at the junction of the ulna/radius-carpal bones to the longest digit divided by the snout-to-vent length . Most species of skinks have long, tapering tails they can shed if predators grab onto them. Such species generally can regenerate

255-491: A large Leptomys , the eastern shrew mouse , and the lesser small-toothed rat . There are 55 bird species endemic to the mountains from a total of 348 birds found here. There are several endemic butterflies, particularly in the Weyland Mountains and the Wahgi Valley. Apart from the cultivated valleys, the montane forests are largely intact, although the logging industry is a constant threat as more and more access to

306-462: A microscope, all major skink lineages share an old XY system that is over 80 million years old. These X and Y specific regions are highly divergent and contain multiple chromosomal rearrangements and repetitive sequences. Many genera, Mabuya for example, are still insufficiently studied, and their systematics are at times controversial, see for example the taxonomy of the western skink , Plestiodon skiltonianus . Mabuya in particular,

357-559: A purely reptilian placenta directly comparable in structure and function, to a eutherian placenta. Clearly, such vivipary repeatedly has developed independently in the evolutionary history of the Scincidae and the different examples are not ancestral to the others. In particular, placental development of whatever degree in lizards is phylogenetically analogous , rather than homologous , to functionally similar processes in mammals. Skinks typically seek out environments protected from

408-440: A regimen of roughly 60% vegetables/leaves/fruit and 40% meat (insects and rodents). Species of the genus Tristiidon are mainly frugivorous, but occasionally eat moss and insects. Although most species of skinks are oviparous , laying eggs in clutches, some 45% of skink species are viviparous in one sense or another. Many species are ovoviviparous , the young (skinklets) developing lecithotrophically in eggs that hatch inside

459-498: A relatively conserved chromosome number, between 11 and 16 pairs. Skink genomes are typically about 1.5 Gb, approximately one-half the size of the human genome. The Christmas Island blue-tailed skink ( Cryptoblepharus egeriae ) was sequenced in 2022, representing the first skink reference genome. Skinks were long thought to have both genetic sex determination (GSD) and temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD). Despite having sex chromosomes that are not distinguishable with

510-477: A variety of habitats worldwide, apart from boreal and polar regions. Various species occur in ecosystems ranging from deserts and mountains to grasslands. Many species are good burrowers. More species are terrestrial or fossorial (burrowing) than arboreal (tree-climbing) or aquatic species. Some are "sand swimmers", especially the desert species, such as the mole skink or sand skink in Florida . Some use

561-463: A very similar action in moving through grass tussocks. Most skinks are diurnal (day-active) and typically bask on rocks or logs during the day. Raccoons , foxes , possums , snakes , coatis , weasels , crows , cats , dogs , herons , hawks , lizards , and other predators of small land vertebrates also prey on various skinks. This can be troublesome, given the long gestation period for some skinks, making them an easy target to predators such as

SECTION 10

#1732776219935

612-597: Is a cultural icon of the Ketengban people of the Star Mountains and therefore protected in some areas. Almost half of these remote grasslands are protected in national parks and they are in good condition although in recent times more people are accessing the highlands as visitors or through involvement in mining. There are several protected areas in the highlands. They include: Skink For genera , see text . Skinks are lizards belonging to

663-591: Is drained by the Jawej River, which flows southwards to join the Oeta River , which empties into the Arafura Sea . Lake Tage is immediately south of Lake Paniai separated by a narrow strip of land, and is approximately 8 km long east to west and 3 km wide north to south. It has an elevation of 1758 metres and a maximum depth of 52 metres. Lake Tage empties into Lake Paniai via the short Dimija River, which

714-644: Is home to many intermountain river valleys , many of which support thriving agricultural communities. The highlands run generally east-west the length of the island, which is divided politically between Indonesia in the west and Papua New Guinea in the east. These mountains stretch from the Weyland Mountains starting in Wondama Bay Regency in the west to the Milne Bay Province in the east. The Central Cordillera, some peaks of which are capped with ice , consists of (from east to west):

765-515: Is partly subterranean. Tigi Lake is south of Lake Tage, and has a surface elevation of 1640 metres. It is roughly triangular in shape with a maximum distance across of 8 km. It drains into the Jawej River via underground streams. Despite their considerable size (Lake Paniai alone is larger than Lake Como ), they were not known outside New Guinea until 1937. On 31 December 1936, the Dutch navy pilot Frits Julius Wissel , just weeks after first ascending

816-571: The Australian Plate collides with the plates to the northeast, marking the southern boundaries of the Maoke and Woodlark plates. The width of the mountain range varies considerably, with a central thin segment near the borders of the two nations. The surface geology of the highlands is made up of metamorphic and intrusive igneous rocks. The metamorphic rocks were Cretaceous and Eocene ocean sediments that were uplifted and folded between

867-488: The Miocene . Skink genera known from fossils include the following: A trait apparent in many species of skink is digging and burrowing. Many spend their time underground where they are mostly safe from predators, sometimes even digging out tunnels for easy navigation. They also use their tongues to sniff the air and track their prey. When they encounter their prey, they chase it down until they corner it or manage to land

918-628: The Papua New Guinea – Indonesia border; and the Maoke Mountains or Snow Range in Indonesia, where perpetual snow was found by H. A. Lorentz in 1909 at 4,461 m (14,635 ft), and whose highest peaks are Puncak Jaya (Mt. Carstensz) at 4,884 m (16,024 feet), Puncak Mandala (Mt. Juliana) at 4,760 m (15,610 ft) and Puncak Trikora (Mt. Wilhelmina) at 4,750 m (15,580 ft). Although some valleys such as

969-515: The Papua conflict , the surrounding forests were burned down by the military so that they could not harbor separatists. Illegal or informal mining operations in Baya Biru also exacerbated the pollution and environmental degradation. However, it was difficult for local authorities to stop because of its remote location, which is only accessible by helicopter, and mining activities employ 7,000 people in

1020-499: The Solomon Islands skink ( Corucia zebrata ) is the largest known extant species and may attain a snout-to-vent length of some 35 cm (14 in). Skinks can often hide easily in their habitat because of their protective colouring (camouflage). Skinks in the genus Prasinohaema have green blood because of a buildup of the waste product biliverdin . The oldest known skink is Electroscincus zedi described from

1071-609: The Waghi Valley in the Western Highlands , Papua New Guinea are heavily cultivated and support urban settlements most of the mountains have traditional tribal village communities in the grassy mountain valleys. The PNG highland provinces are Eastern Highlands Province ; Simbu Province (or Chimbu) whose centre is the small coffee-growing town of Kundiawa on the Wahgi River near Mount Wilhelm; Jiwaka Province ;

SECTION 20

#1732776219935

1122-666: The Western Highlands ; the rugged Enga Province the home of the Enga people with its administration in the very small town of Wabag on the Lai River , and containing the large Porgera Gold Mine ; Hela Province ; Southern Highlands Province , with its centre in the small town and airport of Mendi , and containing the Huli wigmen area around the town of Tari ; and parts of West Sepik Province and Western Province . The Highlands Highway connects many of these towns. Larger urban areas in

1173-408: The family Scincidae , a family in the infraorder Scincomorpha . With more than 1,500 described species across 100 different taxonomic genera, the family Scincidae is one of the most diverse families of lizards. Skinks are characterized by their smaller legs in comparison to typical lizards and are found in different habitats except arctic and subarctic regions. The word skink , which entered

1224-514: The highest mountain of New Guinea , and his crew flew over the lakes while making an aerial survey for the Dutch New Guinea oil company. He took photos and noticed many people in canoes, establishing that this mountainous region was populated. During a follow-up flight by E.L.J. Haak on 15 February 1937, it was established that there were many settlements around the lakes, indicating a thriving agricultural society. In November of that year,

1275-597: The mongoose , which often threaten the species to at least near extinction, such as the Anguilla Bank skink . Invasive rodents are a major threat to skinks that have been overlooked, especially tropical skinks. Skinks are also hunted for food by indigenous peoples in New Guinea , including by the Kalam people in the highlands of Madang Province , Papua New Guinea. Despite making up 15% of reptiles, skinks have

1326-511: The red-eyed crocodile skink have a head that is very distinguished from the body. These lizards also have legs that are relatively small proportional to their body size. Skinks' skulls are covered by substantial bony scales, usually matching up in shape and size, while overlapping. Other genera, such as Neoseps , have reduced limbs and fewer than five toes ( digits ) on each foot. In such species, their locomotion resembles that of snakes more than that of lizards with well-developed limbs. As

1377-531: The 90 mammals found on the island, 44 are endemic, a very high proportion. The birds and animals include many Australasian species such as tree-kangaroos , bowerbirds , Australasian robins , honeyeaters , and birds of paradise. Four of the endemic mammals are critically endangered: the Bulmer's fruit bat , with only tiny communities remaining in the Papua New Guinea end of the island, and three rodents;

1428-517: The Australian mainland. The culture of inter-tribal warfare and animosity between the neighboring tribes have long been present in the Highlands. The New Guinea Highlands are home to a great variety of Australasian plant and animal communities, distinct from the surrounding lowlands to the north and south of the central ranges and varying up and along the mountain ranges. The habitats of

1479-826: The Central Highlands and Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea including the Owen Stanley Range in the southeast, whose highest peak is Mount Victoria at 4,038 metres (13,248 feet), the Albert Victor Mountains, the Sir Arthur Gordon Range, and the Bismarck Range , whose highest peak is Mount Wilhelm at 4,509 metres (14,793 feet), which is an extinct volcano with a crater lake; the Star Mountains on

1530-747: The Dutch Indies government named the group of lakes after Wissel. A small Dutch outpost was established here in 1938, but contact was cut off during the Second World War . The region of the Paniai Lakes, consisting of a depression between the Weyland and Sudirman ranges, is heavily populated. The indigenous peoples of this area are the Ekagi , also called the Mee. Around the year 2001, as part of

1581-504: The English language around 1580–1590, comes from classical Greek skinkos and Latin scincus , names that referred to various specific lizards. Skinks look like lizards of the family Lacertidae (sometimes called true lizards ), but most species of skinks have no pronounced neck and relatively small legs. Several genera (e.g., Typhlosaurus ) have no limbs at all. This is not true for all skinks, however, as some species such as

Paniai Lakes - Misplaced Pages Continue

1632-557: The Eocene and early Miocene periods. There are also Pleistocene stratovolcanoes in the highlands, including Mount Hagen and Mount Giluwe . The fertile Highlands have long been inhabited and artifacts uncovered in the Ivane Valley indicate that the Highlands were first settled about 50,000 years ago. The inhabitants were nomadic foragers but around 10,000 years ago began developing a fairly advanced agricultural society. Before

1683-877: The Indonesian border including Telefomin and Strickland Gorge ; the Hunstein Range ; Mount Giluwe , a major birdwatching area for birds-of-paradise ; the volcanic limestone Kubor Range ; the Bismarck Range/Mount Wilhelm/ Schrader Range /Mount Gahavisuka , of which Mount Wilhelm is particularly rich in endemic species; and finally the Crater Mountain and Mount Michael in the Eastern Highlands. The montane rain forests (from 1,000 to 3,000m) can be further categorised into three broad vegetation zones on

1734-556: The PNG Highlands include the Western Highlands capital and PNG's 3rd largest city Mount Hagen (near the extinct Mount Hagen (volcano) ), the Eastern Highlands capital and former colonial town of Goroka , and the mining town of Tabubil . The climate is humid as you would expect of the tropical rainforested island of New Guinea, but the higher mountain slopes are of course cooler than the lowlands. The Highlands are

1785-601: The Wahgi Valley and Mount Hagen , and Richard Archbold in the 1930s. It was found that the highland valleys explored in the 1930s were inhabited by over a million people. During World War II , the eastern highlands saw the Kokoda Track campaign in which Australian and New Zealand soldiers, along with native guides who were pressed into service, fought and ultimately stopped the Japanese from advancing south towards Port Moresby and, ultimately, northern Queensland on

1836-540: The area. Combined, these resulted in increased sedimentation of Lake Paniai, and in 2011, the lake overflowed, flooding the surrounding area with up to 4 meters of water. There are few fish in the lakes, but the Paniai gudgeon ( Oxyeleotris wisselensis ) is endemic to the lake system. The common carp ( Cyprinus carpio ), Nile tilapia ( Oreochromis niloticus ) and Mozambique tilapia ( O. mossambicus ) are non-natives that have been introduced by humans. In contrast to

1887-401: The elements, such as thick foliage, underneath man-made structures, and ground-level buildings such as garages and first-floor apartments. When two or more skinks are seen in a small area, it is typical to find a nest nearby. Skinks are considered to be territorial and often are seen standing in front of or "guarding" their nest area. If a nest is nearby, one can expect to see 10-30 lizards within

1938-450: The high mountain forest extends from 2,500 to 3,000 metres in elevation. Conifers ( Podocarpus , Dacrycarpus , Dacrydium , Papuacedrus , Araucaria , and Libocedrus ) and broadleaf trees of the myrtle family ( Myrtaceae ) form a thin canopy, with a prominent understory. The montane forests are home to a rich wildlife, a great deal of which is unique to these mountains including many plants, reptiles, and over 100 birds and animals. Of

1989-556: The introduction of the sweet potato , the Highlands had distinct forms of division of labor . In the Eastern Highlands the economy was mixed, with men hunting and cultivating, and women gathering and tending crops. Populations were small, dispersed, and focused on immediate consumption. In the Western Highlands , women were focused on producing large amounts of taro , while men abandoned hunting and were instead focused on animal husbandry and trading. The introduction of

2040-501: The lost part of a tail, though imperfectly. A lost tail can grow back within around three to four months. Species with stumpy tails have no special regenerative abilities. Some species of skinks are quite small; Scincella lateralis typically ranges from 7.5 to 14.5 cm (3 to 5 + 3 ⁄ 4  in), more than half of which is the tail. Most skinks, though, are medium-sized, with snout-to-vent lengths around 12 cm ( 4 + 1 ⁄ 2  in), although some grow larger;

2091-412: The low fish diversity , there is a very high diversity of Parastacid crayfish of the genus Cherax . Of the eight species known from the lake system, two ( C. longipes and C. solus ) are endemic Lake Tigi, five ( C. boschmai , C. buitendijkae , C. murido , C. pallidus and C. paniaicus ) are endemic to Lake Paniai, and a single species ( C. communis ) is found both in the lakes and

Paniai Lakes - Misplaced Pages Continue

2142-410: The mid-Cretaceous (late Albian to early Cenomanian ) Burmese amber from Myanmar , dating to around 100  million years ago . Based on the presence of osteoderms , Electroscincus appears to belong to the Scincidae crown group , indicating that some divergence among the extant skink subfamilies must have already occurred by 100 million years ago. Other definitive skink fossils are known from

2193-461: The mother's reproductive tract , and emerging as live births. In some genera, however, such as Tiliqua and Corucia , the young developing in the reproductive tract derive their nourishment from a mammal-like placenta attached to the female – unambiguous examples of viviparous matrotrophy . Furthermore, an example recently described in Trachylepis ivensi is the most extreme to date:

2244-450: The mountains have been separated into two ecoregions , depending on their elevation, the tropical montane forests and alpine grasslands, but within these broad bands there is a variety of wildlife along the island as some of the mountains stand quite a distance from others with some species of plant or animal existing on only one or two mountains. Particular centres of plant diversity are the Star Mountains area of western Papua New Guinea near

2295-671: The mountains is achieved by road building. 20% of this ecoregion is contained within protected areas, mostly in the Indonesian half of the island, including the largest protected area in Southeast Asia , the huge Lorentz National Park in the highlands, a section of which is a montane forest ecosystem. Above 3,000 metres elevation, the high mountain forest transitions to remote sub-alpine habitats including alpine meadows, conifer forest, tree-fern ( Cyathea ) grasslands, bogs, and shrubby heaths of Rhododendron , Vaccinium , Coprosma , Rapanea , and Saurauia all quite different from

2346-438: The mountains, distinguished by elevation. The lower montane forests extend from 1,000 to 1,500 metres elevation. They are dominated by broadleaf evergreen trees, including Castanopsis acuminatissima , Lithocarpus spp., elaeocarps , and laurels . Coniferous Araucarias may form thick stands. The upper montane forests, which extend from 1,500 to 2,500 metres in elevation, are dominated by moss-covered Nothofagus . Finally,

2397-400: The period of a month. In parts of the southern United States, nests are commonly found in houses and apartments, especially along the coast. The nest is where the skink lays its small white eggs, up to 4-8 at a time. Skinks are very specific in their habitat as some can depend on vegetation while others may depend on land and the soil. As a family, skinks are cosmopolitan ; species occur in

2448-705: The source of several important rivers including the Sepik River and Ramu River in the north and the Fly River in the south, and lakes including Lake Kutubu , near which oil has been extracted since 1992 by Chevron . Mining is also very active in the region to the detriment of indigenous groups, with frequent friction. List of highest peaks in New Guinea Highlands by elevation. List of rivers in New Guinea Highlands by length. This chain of mountains continues to rise (with corresponding quakes) as

2499-549: The surrounding area. A species of skink ( Emoia paniai ) , is endemic to and named after the area. New Guinea Highlands The New Guinea Highlands , also known as the Central Range or Central Cordillera , is a long chain of mountain ranges on the island of New Guinea , including the island's highest peak, Puncak Jaya , Indonesia , 16,024 ft (4,884 m), the highest mountain in Oceania . The range

2550-573: The sweet potato had a significant impact on animal husbandry in the area. As it could be used as pig fodder without the need for cooking, societies that adopted this new staple food were able to rapidly amass pigs. These pigs were then traded with surrounding societies, becoming the centerpiece of early economies in the area. The Highlands were not settled by the Western powers during the early colonial period and they were first visited by western zoologists and explorers, such as Mick Leahy , who opened

2601-432: The tropical rain forest that covers most of New Guinea. The alpine habitat above 4,000 metres consists of compact rosette plants and cushion herbs, such as Ranunculus , Potentilla , Gentiana , and Epilobium , grasses ( Poa and Deschampsia ), bryophytes , and lichens . While there are several endemic plants there are few animals on the higher slopes, with only nine mammals found here: four rodents, two bats,

SECTION 50

#1732776219935
#934065