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Federico Rios

The scientists hope the region can be studied, and ultimately protected, before threats like mining and logging encroach.

Ornithologist Maria Isabel Castaño works at a makeshift bird station in the middle of the forest.

A 'Machaeropterus regulus' or striped manakin (left), and a 'Ceratopipra erythrocephala', also known as golden headed manakin, rest upon a researcher's hand.

Scientists use traps like these to catch the butterflies for study.

Carolina Velez, an entomologist on the expedition, examines a brilliant blue morpho butterfly known as 'Morpho helenor peleides'.

Scientists caught this cricket in the 'Tettigoniidae' family in the act of molting.

A 'Bothrops punctatus', or spotted lancehead, is a venomous pitviper.

Scientists photograph a 'Xenodon rabdocephalus', or 'false fer-de-lance', a venomous, rear-fanged snake.

Juan Camilo Arredondo, a herpetologist on the expedition, examines a tiny frog that he believes is in the family Centrolenidae, but which requires more research.

Bats are some of the least well understood mammals, yet they play vital roles in the ecosystem.