New Frog Species Discovered in Costa Rica

University of Costa Rica scientists discovered a new species of frog in a mountainous region of their country. The frog is about 2 cm. in length and lives in the Altamira-Valle de Silencio area at an altitude of around 8,000 feet. The habitat there is rainforest with cool temperatures.

The frog was named Diasporus ventrimaculatus. Females are black and the males are orange, or grey. 

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“This differentiation in the skin of males and females was a feature that had only been detected in the country in the late golden toad of Monteverde,” said the biologist from the UCR, Gerardo Chaves.

Males typically make their calls in the early evening. Females don’t vocalize in exactly the same manner, but respond with vocalizations that sound like hissing. Currently the population is estimated at at least 1,000. They live at ground level between bromeliads and shrubs.

Image Credit: University of Costa Rica

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