They discover a new species of frog in Loja

Researchers from the Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja (UTPL) presented a new species of frog in Loja, of the species called “Pristimantis lojanus”, whose name honors the town from which it comes.

The Pristimantis lojanus frog is a small amphibian between 26 and 44 millimeters, whose males emit a high-pitched sound, usually when the rain is coming. These animals live on branches, leaves of shrubs and trees, in the interior of forests.

“It is surprising that less than ten minutes from an urban area located in the Ecuadorian Andes, new species can be found for science. And that, despite being very abundant in their habitat, their presence had not been known until now. “, said the researcher Armijos Ojeda.

“This is a clear indicator of the biological wealth that southern Ecuador has, like a treasure to be discovered, constituting a challenge for researchers, who need to intensify their work of inventorying the existing fauna and thus propose adequate measures for its conservation”, the UTPL indicated in a statement.

He recalled that frogs and toads are harmless animals that provide important benefits to humans and their crops, mainly pest control.

The discovery of the new species was in charge of a team of specialists from the “Museum of Zoology” and the research group “Laboratory of Tropical Ecology and Ecosystem Services” of the Private Technical University of Loja (UTPL).

This is made up of research professors Paul Székely, Diana Székely, Leonardo Ordóñez Delgado and Diego Armijos Ojeda together with Judit Vörös, curator of the amphibian collection of the “Natural History Museum” of Hungary.

The formal description of this finding was published on October 27 in the North American magazine PlosOne, one of the most prestigious in the world, under the title: Our unknown neighbor: a new species of rain frog of the genus Pristimantis (Amphibia: Anura: Strabomantidae) from the city of Loja, southern Ecuador. (I)