Environment

An expedition to the coastal rainforests of western Ecuador has discovered 30 new species of frog and a slug-sucking snake.

The team of scientists, who work for Reptile and Amphibian Ecology International, also identified four new species of stick insect, three species of lungless salamanders, a tiny, scaly-eyed gecko known as Lepidoblepharis buschwaldii and a bushmaster – the longest viper in the world.

Most of the new animals were discovered in the forests of Cerro Pata de Pájaro, a mountain overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Its cloud forests are particularly fecund: 14 of the 30 new species of frog discovered were found in a patch of cloud forest just a couple of miles wide, according to the press release.

The newly-discovered frogs are "rain" frogs of the genus Pristimantis, which lay their eggs in trees. As the eggs hatch, miniature versions of the adult frogs – some the size of a pinhead – fall into the water below.

One of the frogs is a so-called glass frog that has a transparent chest.

"There is obviously a great concern that these species will disappear as soon as, or even before, they are formally described by science," says team leader Paul Hamilton.

In addition to deforestation, the cloud forests of Pata de Pájaro are threatened by climate change, the press release says.

See them in our gallery: Transparent frogs, tiny geckos and snail-sucking snakes

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