New species found in Ecuador: Glass frog with transparent body

Rain Frog

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.

A new species, this as yet unnamed rain frog looks toward an  uncertain future.

Slug-Sucking Snake

Just 20 minutes of nighttime searching in a rare patch of coastal dry forest in Ecuador enabled scientists to spot this new species of snake—on a branch just above biologist Paul Hamilton’s head.

The slug-sucking snake is one of a small group that feasts on gastropods such as slugs and snails. Not only is the snake an unknown species, but its closest relative lives almost 350 miles (560 kilometers) away in Peru.

Slug-Sucking Snake