Two new species of see-through frog named in Ecuador
The amphibians, which live only 13 miles apart, look completely alike but are genetically diverse—a surprise to scientists.
Barely 10 miles from Ecuador’s capital city Quito, the wrinkled slopes of the Andes shelter one of the most biologically diverse and threatened spots in the tropics.
At the foot of the Andes here lies a valley. The river running through it, called the Guayllabamba, is at the heart of a remarkable tale of two newly identified species of glass frogs.
One of them, Hyalinobatrachium mashpi, lives on the southern side of the river, in the Mashpi and Tayra Reserves, two private, adjacent rainforest oases that together encompass 6,200 acres. The other frog species, Hyalinobatrachium nouns, dwells in the northern flank of the valley in the Toisan Range, a steep complex of
