Lima (EFE).- A new species of frog that inhabits the high jungle of central Peru and lives at more than 1,000 meters above sea level has been discovered in the Yanachaga Chemillén National Park, confirmed to EFE the National Service of Natural Areas Protected by the State (Sernanp), attached to the Ministry of the Environment.
It is the “Osteocephalus vasquezi”, a new species of spiny-backed tree frog belonging to the genus “Osteocephalus”. It groups around 30 known species that are widely distributed in the Amazon basin and that have been described in recent years.
“According to our record, there are 95 species of amphibians in the park, of which 30 species are endemic to the area. Now, with this new species, the number increases to 96,” the head of the Yanachaga Chemillén National Park, Salomé Antezano, told EFE.
This park, located in the province of Oxapampa, in the department of Pasco, in the center of the country, has a conservation area of more than 92%, a richness and diversity, which according to its director, allows the presence of of new species that constitute a contribution “from Peru to the world”.
new species of frog
This new species can be distinguished “by having a creamy or creamy tan belly with a well-defined pattern of chocolate-brown spots and speckles and its tadpole has a very large mouth and is adapted to life in rushing water.”
According to the research, this is the sister species of Osteocephalus mimeticus, endemic to the Peruvian Andes and inhabiting tropical montane forests. According to the research time tree, Osteocephalus vasquezi diverged from its sister species in the early Pleistocene. About 2.5 million years ago.
The finding dedicated to Professor Pedro Vásquez, pioneer of wildlife management in Peru. And found specifically in the Quebrada Honda sector near the Huampal surveillance and control post, in the province of Oxapampa.
It inhabits the premontane forest ecosystem of the Cordillera del Yanachaga in the central Andes of Peru. At elevations between 1,000 and 1,150 meters of altitude.
Yanachaga Chemillén National Park
According to the investigations carried out within the scope, the Yanachaga Chemillén National Park is considered “a hot spot” for the discovery of new species.
This occurred within the study of researchers Pablo Venegas, Luis García-Ayachi, Eduardo Toral, José Malqui and Santiago Ron, from institutions such as the Rainforest Partnership, the Peruvian Institute of Herpetology and the Museum of Zoology of the School of Biology of the Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences of the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, together with the support of Sernanp.
“We as Sernanp have been promoting research within protected natural areas since 2015 for free and granting facilities, transportation, refuge and help from experts, in addition to working on the change of mentality in the population because outside the natural area there is the possibility of expanding the agricultural frontier,” warned Antezano.
This probability that crops close to the National Park will expand would be a factor that would harm the species. But if they are within the protected territory, their conservation is somehow guaranteed.
“Promoting research for free can mean that this number of species can increase. What is a contribution for science, and for us as managers of natural protected areas, means having data that helps to make better management decisions and at the same time bring conservation tasks closer to the population through education”, concluded Antezano.