Two-Week Scientific Expedition In Bolivia Finds 20 Unknown Species - Pit Viper, 10mm Frog Among Them
An “ecological Swat team” has discovered 20 previously unknown species in the misty cloud forests and cascading waterfalls that flank Bolivia’s Zongo valley. Among the animals found were a minuscule 10mm-long frog, a pit viper, two metalmark butterflies and an adder’s-mouth orchid. The pristine forests are just 30 miles (48km) from the capital, La Paz, but the expedition also rediscovered the devil-eyed frog, seen just once before, and a satyr butterfly not seen for nearly a century. Alongside these were threatened species including the spectacled bear and the channel-billed toucan.
The high, steep-sided peaks of the Andes harbour enormous biodiversity because movement between them is difficult for wildlife and results in isolated hotspots of evolution that are known as “sky islands”.
The scientists spent two weeks hiking up and down the 2,000-metre slopes and, while expecting to find some new insects, were surprised by what they encountered. “We certainly did not expect to find new vertebrates, like the two snakes and the frog, so that was very exciting,” said Trond Larsen, of Conservation International, who co-led the expedition with Claudia Cortez, the head of conservation for the municipal government of La Paz.
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The 17-strong team of scientists hiked into their study area over a long, high suspension bridge that spans the Zongo River. As well as the highly venomous pit viper, they found another new snake which had the red, yellow and green colours of the Bolivian flag. The flowers of the new adder’s-mouth orchid appear to mimic an insect and may serve to fool unwitting pollinators, while a new cup orchid displayed striking purple and yellow flowers. A bamboo species found by the team was new to science but already well known by indigenous communities who use it to make musical instruments called sikus, or panpipes. Another plant, in the arrowroot family and which closes its leaves at night, similar to hands in prayer, was rediscovered after 125 years.
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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/dec/14/tiny-frog-species-among-series-of-finds-in-andean-sky-islands
