New Striped Rain-Frog Species Discovered in Ecuadors Cloud Forests
By Kacey Deamer, Staff Writer | March 24, 2017 09:45am ET
A yellow-green frog with eye-catching stripes that was discovered recently in Ecuador's cloud forests has now been deemed a new species of rain frog, according to a new study.
Across the U.S. and Canada, there are about 110 described frog species. By comparison, Ecuador — which is about the size of Colorado — is home to 570 frog species, and counting, according to the researchers. The latest species discovery in Ecuador came from an expedition that focused on studying a similar, threatened frog called the ornate rain frog (Pristimantis ornatissimus).
Scientists previously thought the ornate rain frog population was a single species. [Cute and Colorful Frog Images]
"We were characterizing the genetic differences among populations of the ornate rainfrog, which was thought to be a single species of frog until we uncovered one population that was strikingly different from all others and turned out to be a distinct species," co-author Chris Funk, a biologist at Colorado State University, said in a statement.
The new rain frog species, named the Ecuadorian rain frog (Pristimantis ecuadorensis), is already considered "endangered" based on guidelines from the International Union for Conservation of Nature. An "endangered" classification means the recently discovered rain frog is at a very high risk of extinction in the wild. The researchers said the frog is at risk due to habitat loss within its already-small range.
More:
http://www.livescience.com/58400-new-endangered-rain-frog-species-discovered.html
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Pristimantis ecuadorensis
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