Craugastor escoces-UCR
After 30 years without being seen, a species of neo-tropical frog, now known as the red-bellied frog, reappeared after being declared extinct by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
The animal was presented at the University of Costa Rica (UCR) in the framework of the Environment Week, by the School of Biology.
The rediscovery of this species, whose scientific name is Scottish Craugastor, occurred in the National Park Juan Castro Blanco, located in the province of Alajuela, near Ciudad Quesada.
In the 1990s, many species of amphibians disappeared from the country and today some are considered to be extinct. In 2004, IUCN announced the extinction of three species, two of which have reappeared: the red-bellied frog and the deaf toad or toad of Holdridge, which inhabited Cerro Chompipe in Heredia.
In addition, the golden toad or Monteverde toad, which became a symbol of amphibian declines and is considered the first victim of global warming.
The red-bellied frog was found by researchers Gilbert Alvarado Barboza from the UCR, and Randall Jiménez, PhD student at the University of Ulm, Germany.
According to Alvarado, this species had disappear before the beginning of the amphibian declines from 1989.
The finding occurred on September 19th 2016, during routine amphibian sampling as part of a research project. The specimen found is an adult female that measures a little more than 6 centimeters.
It is an animal of nocturnal habits and its main predators are the herons and the snakes.