6 new species of rain frogs discovered in Ecuador
Ecuador has lost around 100 species since 1979, half of them in the last decade.
But new species are being discovered in every month, according to the National Geographic documentary “The Life and Death of a Tropical Forest”.
Scientists have found around a hundred species of frogs in the country in the last couple of decades. Of these 100 new ones discovered, 40 are new species. The most recent species discovered was a new species of rain frogs in Esmeraldas province.
In the past two decades, around 100 new species have been discovered in the nation.
“The number of species discovered and confirmed has been increasing since the 1980s, but it has been more rapid in the last two decades,” said Dr. Eduardo Ponce Ramos, a biodiversity scientist at the National University of Esmeraldas (UNUES).
UNUES is the only institution in Ecuador teaching and researching environmental knowledge and biodiversity.
“We are on the brink of having a complete inventory of the diversity of the amphibian species in Ecuador,” said Ramos, who described the species of rain frog he discovered as the Ecuadorian “golden frogs”.
A new species of frog discovered in Esmeraldas province in Ecuador
Dr. Ramos’s discovery was made in the northern coast of Esmeraldas province, on the mountain of Chama. After a month of investigation, he discovered a new species of rain frog during a visit in a local village.
“When I arrived I saw three new frogs,” said Ramos. “I had never seen so many new frogs before.”
Scientists first discovered rain frogs in the country in the 1960s and 1970s, but they were previously considered as synonyms of other species.
“There are still many synonyms of rainfrog species in the world,” said Ramos. “But new species of rain frogs are constantly being discovered. It’s a sign of progress and it’s the future of the rain frogs community.”
Ramos described the new species as
