Tiny Frog Discovered in the Peruvian Andes Named after David Attenborough

In the past decades, a large number of living and extinct wildlife species, including reptiles, mammals, invertebrates and plants have been named after Sir David Attenborough— the world famous British broadcaster, naturalist and host of the BBC Natural History’s Life series. However, for the first time, a new species of fleshbelly frog discovered in the Peru’s Andean forests has been named after the famous naturalist.

The scientific name of the new frog species is Pristimantis attenboroughi, although it will be commonly referred as the Attenborough’s rubber frog.

The details of the frog are given in the journal ZooKeys.  It was discovered by Dr Edgar Lehr (from the Illinois Wesleyan University) and Dr Rudolf von May (from the University of Michigan). Both these researchers explored the forests of central Peru between 2012 and 2014 to assess the conservation status of local reptiles and amphibians, and eventually discovered the tiny frog in the forests. Several new frog species were found as well during their two years’ of work.

“We dedicate this species to Sir David Frederick Attenborough in honor for his educational documentaries on wildlife, especially on amphibians (such as Life in Cold Blood and Fabulous Frogs), and for raising awareness about the importance of wildlife conservation,” explain the study’s authors.

The Attenborough’s rubber frog is found at several areas across the Pui Pui Protected Forest, which is located at elevations between 3400 and 3936 m a.s.l. in central Peru. The adult male frog can grow up to a size of 14.6-19.2 mm in length, smaller than the females that measure between 19.2 and 23.0 mm. Their color ranges from pale to dark gray, or reddish brown to brownish olive. The younger ones are paler (yellowish to reddish brown).

The scientists say they were confident that they had discovered a new frog species when they saw it for the first time. They note that more terrestrial-breeding frogs from the surveyed montane forests will be described in the near future.