Tag Archives: Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Ecuador

Prometheus (a tiny rain frog) emerges from Ecuadorian forest

Caption: Adult female Prometeo Rain Frog in its natural habitat. Credit: Dan Cog?lniceanu [sic]

Caption: Adult female Prometeo Rain Frog in its natural habitat. Credit: Dan Cog?lniceanu [sic]

I’m not sure why Prometheus was considered an appropriate inspiration for the Promoteo program but more about the Greek mythological character and the program later. First, in honour of this blog’s name, here’s the announcement of a ‘new’ frog in a July 21, 2016 news item on phys.org (Note: Links have been removed),

Prometheus, the mythological Greek heroic deity, has been given a namesake in a new species of tiny rain frog, discovered in southwestern Ecuador. The name was chosen by the international team of scientists, led by Dr Paul Szekely, Ovidius University, Constanta, Romania, in acknowledgement of the Prometeo program, funded by the Ecuadorian government.

The description of this new species (Pristimantis prometeii) is the result of the cooperation between three Romanian Prometeo investigators affiliated with the Universidad Tecnica Particular de Loja and Universidad Nacional de Loja, and two Ecuadorian specialists from Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Ecuador. …

A July 21, 2016 Pensoft Publishers news release on EurekAlert, which originated the news item, provides more information about this ‘promethean’ frog,

During the day, frogs of the new species were found hiding in flowering plants, while at night — perching on leaves at low heights in well preserved cloud forests. They grow to 2-3 cm with the females being larger than the males.

The newly described species is part of a group of frogs called Terrarana (meaning ‘Land or terrestrial frogs’). This is a lineage of frogs that has evolved directly developing eggs, which are deposited in terrestrial habitats. Unlike other frogs, these ones do not have an aquatic tadpole stage and the embryos develop directly into froglets on land.

The newly described species is only known from Reserva Biologica Buenaventura, southwestern Ecuador, at elevations between 878 and 1082 m. This reserve is privately owned by the Jocotoco Conservation Foundation. The reserve has at least another four endemic species of amphibians, reptiles, and birds.

With more than 470 species, the directly developing rain frogs of the genus Pristimantis continue to surprise everyone.

“While new species are described every year, there are over a hundred discovered over the last decade only,” remind the authors.

Here’s a link to and a citation for the paper,

A new species of Pristimantis from southern Ecuador  (Anura, Craugastoridae) by Paul Székely, Dan Cogălniceanu, Diana Székely, Nadia Paez, Santiago Ron.  ZooKeys 606: 77-97 (21 Jul 2016) DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.606.9121

This article is open access.

Finally getting to Prometheus, here’s a description from the mythological figure’s Wikipedia entry (Note: Links have been removed),

Prometheus (/prəˈmiːθiːəs/ prə-MEE-thee-əs; Greek: Προμηθεύς [promɛːtʰeús], meaning “forethought”)[1] is a Titan in Greek mythology, best known as the deity in Greek mythology who was the creator of mankind and its greatest benefactor, who stole fire from Mount Olympus and gave it to mankind.

That’s a lot to hang on a tiny frog, eh? Also, you can find the Prometeo program here but you will need your Spanish language skills.