Venezuelan and Colombian scientists have identified a new species of frog in the Perija mountain range shared by both countries that is home to unusual species like this small amphibian.
With multi-colored skin and a distinctive song, the Hyloscirtus japreria was discovered during expeditions over the past decade living in rivers and cascades at altitudes above 1,000 meters (3,280 feet).
It was named in honor of the Japreria, a disappearing indigenous ethnic group in the Perija in the northwestern Venezuelan state of Zulia.
The frog's discovery—published in February in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Zootaxa—brings to 37 the number of species identified as belonging to the Hyloscirtus genus.
Small in size, the males measure between 2.8 and 3.2 centimeters (up to 1.25 inches) in length and the females from 3.5 to 3.9 centimeters.
The journey that led to their discovery began in 2008.
"Several years went by before we found enough evidence that it was a new species," biologist Fernando Rojas-Runjaic, the coordinator of the study, told AFP.
Once they determined it was a "stream frog, we had to verify that it wasn't a Hyloscirtus platydactylus, another species found in the Perija in 1994," he added,
The scientists recorded the find with cameras and high-definition sound recorders to capture its distinctive coloring and analyze its song.
Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2018-03-frog-species-venezuela-colombia.html#jCp
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