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Tropical Herping

The Manduriacu glass frog (Nymphargus manduriacu) lives in a reserve in northern Ecuador and is threatened by mining.

Like all glass frogs, the newfound creature has somewhat translucent skin and lives in trees.

The tropical rainforests of western Ecuador are part of the Chocó region, a biodiversity hotspot. Below these clouds, the area is home to at least 25% of global plant diversity, along with species of animals found only here.

The horned marsupial frog ('Gastrotheca cornuta') is a nocturnal amphibian that lives high in the canopy of well-preserved tropical rainforests. Its persistence in western Ecuador is becoming more challenging due to habitat loss, mainly due to oil palm crops, timber, and mining.

The horned marsupial frog had not been seen in Ecuador since 2005—until 2018. Its horn-shaped 'eyebrows' and its capacity to carry its eggs in a pouch on its body, skipping the tadpole stage, make it highly unusual.

According to a report by the UN's FAO and the World Bank in 2006, Ecuador's deforestation rate ranks ninth in the world and the highest in South America. Ecuador is also the second producer of oil palm in Latin America and the seventh on a global scale.