New Amazon species found every three days

SPECTACULAR species previously unknown to the outside world are being discovered in the Amazon rainforest at a rate of one every three days, according to environment group WWF (World Wildlife Fund).

An anaconda as long as a limousine, a giant catfish that eats monkeys, a blue-fanged spider and poisoned dart frogs are among the 1,220 animals and plants to have been found from 1999 to 2009, according to the study.

The report was released on the sidelines of a United Nations summit in Japan that is being held to try to stem the mass extinction of species around the world, and the WWF said it highlighted why protecting the Amazon was so vital.