The poison frog that lives on a single mountain
The world has been enriched by a newly discovered frog species. The colourful amphibian possibly only lives on a few hectares of a mountain in eastern Ecuador.
The region between Ecuador's Sangay and Llanganates National Parks is one of the most biodiverse - and humid - regions on earth. Over time, many animals and plants that only exist here have developed on the rugged mountain ridges. And because the region is very difficult to access, it sometimes takes years to find enough individuals of a species to be able to describe it scientifically, as is the case with the tree frog Hyloscirtus sethmacfarlanei, which a team led by Juan Reyes-Puig of the Fundación Ecominga in Baños describes in PeerJ. . In 2018, the Fundacíon's rangers Darwin and Fausto Recalde had found and photographed a female of the amphibians for the first time in the highest areas of the Machay Nature Reserve near the Andean town of Baños: "the most beautiful frog" the organisation's staff had seen in its protected areas, as founder Lou Jost writes. But the species seems to live only in a narrowly defined area on the ridge line of Cerro Mayordomo, which is decidedly steep and hardly accessible.
It therefore took four years for the rangers to find and measure enough animals so that they could scientifically describe the species together, Jost said. Among the animals was only one female, which, unlike the males, had a red spot pattern on black skin instead of a yellow one.
This lively female had a red spot pattern on black skin instead of a yellow one.
This vivid pattern likely serves as a warning sign of toxicity, the researchers write. In fact, the rangers felt the effects first-hand. After collecting the first frog, they noticed symptoms, Jost writes: "Their hands and fingers began to itch and tingle, and the pain continued for several hours after they released the frog."
The juveniles, which are bright yellow and secrete an unpleasant substance from their skin, are probably also toxic.
The exact status of the species is unknown, but Reyes-Puig and co suspect they only occur in a very small area and are rare. Cerro Mayordomo is located in a nature reserve and is closely monitored by rangers; the area also borders a national park. To further improve protection, various conservation organisations are raising money so that additional land can be purchased locally. . The frog was named after TV producer Seth MacFarlane, of "Family Guy" fame. He is considered a passionate conservationist and regularly donates to relevant projects.
Spectrum of Science
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Originalartikel auf Spektrum.deTitelbild: © Lou Jost / EcoMinga (Ausschnitt)
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