We share the story behind our September 2022 expedition to Reventador Volcano on the Amazonian slopes of the Andes in Ecuador, in collaboration with @TheExplorersClub and @Discovery.
The goal was to rescue two species of amphibians that have been declared extinct, the Flat-spined Harlequin-Toad (Atelopus planispina) and the Río Azuela Poison-Frog (Andinobates abditus), as well as to find a new species of snake and a new species of leaf-litter lizard.
The research expedition was complex: it involved planning for months, putting together a team of biologists, long hikes, carrying heavy gear, and trying to find the target species every day.
The success rate of finding a “lost” species is extremely low. We spent a lot of time looking for them in a wide range of microhabitats: under rocks, beneath moss, in water, on trees, inside bromeliads, among grass, under logs... almost anywhere.
We discovered three species new to science.
Discovering a new species is a useful tool for the conservation of vulnerable ecosystems. It gives hope, not only to scientists but to the general population. Hope that we have not yet lost an emblematic animal. There is still hope to save it.
Негізгі бет Ғылым және технология Reventador Volcano expedition field report in Ecuador
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