© Taran Grant/AMNH

Black-Legged Poison Frog Phyllobates bicolor

More species of amphibians live in Colombia than any other country on the planet, and scientists continue to discover new species. In 1997, AMNH scientists discovered an abundant new frog species, Colostethus atopoglossus, found only on the slopes of the western Andes at El Boquerón. On a return field trip to this pristine site in 2004, researchers found no evidence of this and other previously common frog species. Were the species in hiding? Did they succumb to disease, climate change or some as yet unknown pressure? This sort of mystery is not unique to El Boquerón; rather it points to a growing global trend of unexplained declines in frog populations in many different regions.