Scientists discover six new species of rain frogs in Ecuador

Six new species of rain frogs were discovered on the eastern slopes of the Ecuadorian Andes, according to a statement from Ecuador’s Ministry of Environment, Water and Ecological Transition.

The ministry claims that three researchers from the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador and the National Institute of Biodiversity made the discoveries in Ecuador’s Llanganates and Sangay National Parks, which protect rich and ecologically diverse Amazonian mountain forests found on mountain slopes.

Professor Santiago Ron, one of the three researchers, told CNN on Wednesday (26) that the discovery of six new species of frogs took four years.

“The discovery took place during several expeditions to remote places in the Amazon rainforests in 2008, 2015 and 2017. After that, we analyzed the data and wrote the publication,” he said.

All frogs belong to the genus Pristintis, which includes more than 569 species that live north from eastern Honduras and Panama through the Andes to Bolivia, northern Argentina and Brazil, according to a study of the discovery published in the journal PeerJ. Unlike many frogs, they do not rely on bodies of water for reproduction, laying eggs on land.

Ron said they named one of the frogs “resistencia” (resistance) as a tribute to environmental defenders who were killed in Latin America for defending nature. “For the last 10 years, Latin America has been the most dangerous region for environmental defenders,” he said.

Given the lack of information on the populations of these rain frogs, the researchers recommended assigning these new species to the Data Deficient category on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List — a system for classifying species at high risk of extinction, the ministry said. .

Ecuador has 669 species of amphibians, making it the third most diverse country in the world after Brazil and Colombia, Ron said.