New Splendid Species Discovered

Posted on July 30, 2018 by Andrew Gray

New species discovery means iconic animal could be much closer to extinction than we thought!

Sylvia Gray holds Sylvia’s Tree Frog, Cruziohyla sylviae (c) University of Manchester

One of the world’s most spectacular frogs has remained under the radar of zoologists for almost 100 years. Sylvia’s Tree Frog, Cruziohyla sylviae sp n.was originally collected in Panama in 1925 but has remained confused with the Splendid Tree Frog, Cruziohyla calcarifer, ever since.

The discovery of the new species has been the accumulation of over 20 years work specialising in this unusual group of frogs from Central and South America, both in the wild and in the live amphibian collection at Manchester Museum. I am honored to have the pleasure of naming it after my beautiful first grandchild, Sylvia Beatrice Gray.

Sir David Attenborough with Sylvia’s Tree Frog at Manchester Museum (c) Andrew Gray

The discovery highlights that the original Splendid Tree Frog, first collected in 1902, remains much rarer than anyone ever realised. It is remarkable that such a distinctive new species has remained undetected for such a long time, but more importantly this work highlights that an assessment of the conservation needs for each species of Cruziohyla is also urgently required to ensure these amazing creatures are still around in another 100 years.