An “ecological Swat team” has discovered 20 previously unknown species in the misty cloud forests and waterfalls that flank Bolivia’s Zongo Valley.
The animals found included a miniscule 10 mm long frog, a pit viper, two metalmark butterflies and a viper mouth orchid. The pristine forests are only 48 km from the capital, La Paz, but the expedition also rediscovered the devil’s eye frog, which we have only seen once before, and a satyr moth that has not been seen for nearly a century. In addition, there were endangered species, including the spectacled bear and the trench-billed toucan.
The high, craggy peaks of the Andes are home to tremendous biodiversity as mutual movement is difficult for wildlife and results in isolated hotspots of evolution known as “sky islands”.
The scientists hiked up and down the slopes of 2,000 meters for two weeks and, while they expected to find new insects, they were surprised by what they encountered. “We certainly didn’t expect to find new vertebrates like the two snakes and the frog, so that was very exciting,” said Trond Larsen of Conservation International, who, along with Claudia Cortez, the head of conservation for conservation. , led the expedition. municipal administration of La Paz.
“What’s so amazing is that you could hear the little frog’s signature call all over the forest, but you get close and they stop calling,” said Trond. “It was an enormous task to find it when it is silent and hidden in the moss.”
The team rediscovered the devil-eyed frog that had only been seen once 20 years earlier by Steffen Reichle, a Bolivia-based scientist who was also on the new expedition. “That was really exciting – it was believed to be extinct, but we found it to be relatively common,” said Larsen.
The expedition was part of Conservation International’s Rapid Assessment Program, which describes Trond as an “ecological SWAT team” that responds when information about an unfamiliar area is urgently needed.
In the Zongo Valley, the evaluation supports a new protected area that will protect not only wildlife, but also the clean water, building materials and forest food that locals rely on. The ecosystem also regulates water flow to the small dams in the valley that power Bolivia’s capital. The protected mountain slopes will additionally be vital refuges for species migrating uphill to escape the rising heat caused by the climate crisis.
The 17-person team of scientists walked into their study area on a long, high suspension bridge that spans the Zongo River. In addition to the highly venomous groove viper, they found another new snake with the red, yellow and green colors of the Bolivian flag.
The flowers of the new viper-mouthed orchid appear to mimic an insect and can serve to fool unwitting pollinators, while a new head orchid displayed showy purple and yellow flowers.
A bamboo species found by the team was new to science, but already well known to indigenous communities who use it to make musical instruments called sikusor pan flute. Another plant, from the arrowroot family, that closes its leaves at night, similar to hands in prayer, was rediscovered after 125 years.
“This truly beautiful and diverse landscape has become a safe haven for amphibians, reptiles, butterflies and plants found nowhere else on Earth,” said Larsen.