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160 new species found on Malaysian peak

About 160 new species have been discovered on a mountain in Borneo, researchers reported Thursday.

Fungi and spiders dominate the new species on Mount Kinabalu, the Malaysian and Dutch researchers said, but there are also new beetles and snails on the creature list and ferns on the plant list.

A frog the researchers found may also prove to be new once DNA testing is done, they said.
"While the detailed scientific work will take years, we already know that many of these species are new to science," researcher József Geml said in a press release.
The research was conducted by Sabah Parks, a Malaysian conservation organization, and Naturalis Biodiversity Center in the Netherlands.

They went to the mountain to collect DNA samples and try to determine whether species there evolved recently or long ago on the Malaysian peak.
At 13,435 feet, Kinabalu is the largest mountain in the Malay archipelago. It is a Malaysian national park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
All told, about 3,500 DNA samples were collected from more than 1,400 species. Researchers plan a publication on how evolution works in Borneo by the middle of next year.