A new species of bell frog was discovered in Costa Rica, as revealed in an article published on May 23rd, 2019, in the “Zootaxa” scientific journal.
It is an amphibian of the genus Diasporus, which was named amirae, according to the document prepared by researchers Erick Arias, Gerardo Chaves, Stanley Salazar, José Andrés Salazar, and Adrian García.
The species is native to the very humid tropical forest at the foot of the mountain. They found it on the northeast slope of the Talamanca mountain range, in Limón, at an approximate elevation of 1,000 meters, according to the study.
To confirm the discovery of the amirae, the authors conducted a series of sequence analysis of their genes, as well as their morphology, morphometry, and acoustics. This allowed us to show distances with other members of the Diasporus genus.
Among its differences with respect to the other bell frogs, its unique chromatic characteristics stand out. It has a brown-grayish-brown back and a bluish-gray belly with light spots.
The lineage is related to the Diasporus vocator of the southern Pacific of the national territory, as well as an unnamed taxon from western Panama.
The publication details that the name amirae was inspired by Amira, the daughter of Salazar, an amphibian lover who is not a biologist by profession, but who had the problem once she watched the frog for the first time, García commented.
