Tag: to be safe

currentsinbiology:

New species of frog from the Neotropics carries its heart on its skin

In the Neotropics, there is a whole group of
so-called glassfrogs that amaze with their transparent skin covering
their bellies and showing their organs underneath. A recently discovered
new species from Amazonian Ecuador, however, goes a step further to
fully expose its heart thanks to the transparent skin stretching all
over its chest as well as tummy.

The new amphibian is described by a team of scientists led by Dr.
Juan M. Guayasamin, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Ecuador, in the
open access journal ZooKeys.

It can also be distinguished by the relatively large dark green spots
at the back of its head and the foremost part of the body.
Additionally, the species has a characteristic long call.

The new frog is named Hyalinobatrachium yaku, where the species name (yaku)
translates to ‘water’ in the local language Kichwa. Water and, more
specifically, slow-flowing streams are crucial for the reproduction of
all known glassfrogs.

Juan M. Guayasamin, Diego F. Cisneros-Heredia, Ross J. Maynard, Ryan L. Lynch, Jaime Culebras, Paul S. Hamilton. A marvelous new glassfrog (Centrolenidae, Hyalinobatrachium) from Amazonian Ecuador. ZooKeys, 2017; 673: 1 DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.673.12108

The new glassfrog species (Hyalinobatrachium yaku) in life. Credit: Jaime Culebras and Ross Maynard