<p style="margin: 5pt 0pt;">A new species, this as yet unnamed rain frog looks toward an uncertain future.</p><p style="margin: 5pt 0pt;">The frog is one of 30 unknown species found in <a id="yt_3" title="Ecuador" href="http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/countries/ecuador-guide/">Ecuador</a>'s highland forests by a team of U.S. and Ecuadorian researchers, the nonprofit, Arizona-based <a id="tk3m" title="Reptile & Amphibian Ecology International" href="http://www.reptilesandamphibians.org/">Reptile & Amphibian Ecology International</a> announced January 14, 2010. As Central and South America’s increasingly isolated "islands" of mountaintop forest fall to the ax, and heat up with <a id="lbdi" title="global warming" href="http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/">global warming</a>, scientists fear many such species will be lost before we ever knew they existed, the organization says.</p><p style="margin: 5pt 0pt;">(Also see: <a id="g14j" title=""&squot;Ugly&squot; Salamander Among New Species Found in Ecuador."" href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/06/090616-ecuador-newspecies-video-vin.html">"'Ugly' Salamander Among New Species Found in Ecuador."</a>)</p><p><em>—Brian Handwerk</em></p>
New Species
A new species, this as yet unnamed rain frog looks toward an uncertain future.
The frog is one of 30 unknown species found in Ecuador's highland forests by a team of U.S. and Ecuadorian researchers, the nonprofit, Arizona-based Reptile & Amphibian Ecology International announced January 14, 2010. As Central and South America’s increasingly isolated "islands" of mountaintop forest fall to the ax, and heat up with global warming, scientists fear many such species will be lost before we ever knew they existed, the organization says.
(Also see: "'Ugly' Salamander Among New Species Found in Ecuador.")
—Brian Handwerk
New Species Photos: Slug-Sucking Snake, Mini-Gecko, More
A see-through frog and a gecko the size of a pencil eraser are among rare and new species spotted in Ecuador.
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