• Joris van Alphen
    1 of 9

    According to National Geographic, thousands of new species were recorded during a recent biodiveristy survey of Mount Kinabalu in northern Borneo. "Mount Kinabalu carries quite a high proportion of species that are found nowhere else on earth," said expedition leader Menno Schilthuizen of the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden, the Netherlands.

    Some 160 species of the Borneo Horned Frog were discovered during the expedition.

  • Constantijn Mennes
    2 of 9

    Researchers spent two weeks scouring the rich forests of Malaysia's Mount Kinabalu. The study raised hopes to highlight the evolutionary relationships between isolated and endemic mountain species and those are that are more widespread in the lower parts of the mouton region. "Some of the species that live on top of the mountain are actually ancestral — they are older than their relatives in the lowlands," said Schilthuizen. "They aren't newly evolved species but rather relics."

  • Peter Koomen
    3 of 9

    Between 10 and 15 new species of the Big-Fanged spider were captured in Kinabalu Park in September. "Normally [the fangs] are used for hunting, but in some cases they are also used in courtship and mating." 

  • Constantijn Mennes
    4 of 9

    The Atlas moth is considered the largest in the world, with its wingspan of up to 12 inches. DNA analysis of specimens collected by the expedition team will be used to construct detailed evolutionary trees. 

  • Joris van Alphen
    5 of 9

    While the Giant Millipede is not new to science, the team estimates that it uncovered up to 60 previously unknown invertebrate species in total. 

  • Luis Morgado
    6 of 9

    This glowing fungi was among hundreds of fungi species recorded during the recent expedition. The brightly glowing mushrooms emit bioluminescent light to attract bugs, which then disperse the fungi's spores in the forest.

  • Luis Morgado
    7 of 9

    This new and unusual species of mushroom was one one of 300 different fungi species collected during the two-week survey. 

  • Joris van Alphen
    8 of 9

    Frederic Lens, a Dutch botanist, collects plant samples in Malaysia's Kinabalu Park. They discovered at least one suspected new species of begonia. 

  • Joris van Alphen
    9 of 9
    Next: Sheep Has An Upside Down Head

    Jozsef Geml of the Naturalis Biodiversity Center sorts through samples collected from Mount Kinabalu. He is a fungi expert. "Kinabalu has remained terra incognita for scientific studies on fungi. While the detailed scientific work will take years, we already know that many of these species are new to science."