Credit: Brian Kubicki, Costa Rican Amphibian Research Center
By Megan Gannon
Already dubbed a real-life Kermit, a new species of frog has been identified in the rainforests of Costa Rica.
The inch-long creature, scientifically namedHyalinobatrachium dianae, joins Costa Rica’s 13 other glass frogs, named for their translucent bodies through which you can view their organs. (Not all glass frogs, however, sport such translucent undersides.) Despite its bright-green skin and bulging white eyes, H. dianae had evaded biologists until a few specimens were collected by scientists with the Costa Rican Amphibian Research Center.
One of the characteristics that sets the new species apart from other glass frogs is the advertisement call males use to attract females. The researchers recorded this frog call in the field and found that it consists of “a single tonal long metallic whistle-like note,” according to a description of the new species published earlier this year in the journal Zootaxa.
Study leader Brian Kubicki told CBS News that this frog “sounds more like an insect than most other frogs,” which might be why it went unnoticed for so long.
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