Southern Illinois University Carbondale researchers have identified and named three new species of poison dart frogs from the Amazon rainforests of Peru and Brazil, according to a June 2 announcement. The research was led by Jason Brown, associate professor in the School of Biological Sciences, whose work on poison frogs spans over two decades.
Brown said his interest began as a teenager keeping poison frogs as pets. “I became obsessed with creating naturalistic terrariums that were tiny replicas of the rainforest,” Brown said. Over time, this interest evolved into fieldwork in South America where he and his team collected genetic samples, measurements, photographs, and behavioral observations from wild frog populations.
Recent SIU graduate BreAnn Geralds joined Brown on several expeditions and is listed as an author on two of the three journal articles describing the new species: Ranitomeya ichapama (Yaminawá Poison Frog), Ameerega kuriiniti (Inti Poison Frog), and Ranitomeya hwata (Taboca Poison Frog). The official publication of these descriptions is required by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature to recognize them as distinct species.
The Yaminawá Poison Frog is described as “incredibly rare,” with only six specimens ever collected during biodiversity surveys. “When samples are difficult to obtain, it can be hard to determine if something is a new species or a strange morph of something we already know,” Brown said. Distinctive features include its thin yellow stripe that splits at the snout—a pattern unique among related frogs.
The Inti Poison Frog had been misidentified for fifty years before Brown and Geralds established its separate identity through genetics and vocalization analysis. Geralds said, “Inti Poison Frogs have a call sound that is statistically unique… We can see differences in the notes and frequencies.” The scientific name honors the Kichwa-Lamista indigenous people; ‘kuriinti’ combines words meaning ‘golden’ and ‘sun.’
Ranitomeya hwata (Taboca Poison Frog) features a black throat band and uses bamboo for breeding—traits distinguishing it from relatives. Its name references both indigenous language (‘hwata’ meaning bamboo) used by Manxineru people and Portuguese (‘taboca’) for spiny bamboo habitats.
Brown and Geralds agree that their discoveries underscore ongoing threats to biodiversity from deforestation. “How do we know what we’re losing if we don’t know what’s there?” Geralds asked. Both say further research will be needed to answer questions about population sizes, undiscovered or misclassified frog species, and potential medicinal uses.
