Story at a glance
- A new species of rainfrog was officially named in a scientific article published on Monday.
- The new species, Pristimantis gretathunbergae, has been named the Greta Thunberg Rainfrog.
- The Greta Thunberg Rainfrog, identifiable by its “distinctive black eyes,” has additional links to its namesake as climate change threatens its habitat.
A new species of rainfrog was officially named in a scientific article published on Monday.
The new species, Pristimantis gretathunbergae, has been named the Greta Thunberg Rainfrog and described in a new article in the Pensoft scientific journal ZooKeys.
The new rainfrog species was discovered by an international team headed by Abel Batista and Konrad Mebert and funded by a number of organizations, including Rainforest Trust, a nonprofit environmental organization. The frog was discovered on the sky island of Cerro Chucantí in eastern Panama, a reserve established by the conservation organization AdoptaBosque with support from Rainforest Trust.
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In 2018, Rainforest Trust auctioned off naming rights for some newly scientifically identified species for the organization’s 30th anniversary. An auction winner decided to name this new rainfrog species in honor of Greta Thunberg and her work combating climate change.
“Rainforest Trust is deeply honored to sponsor the naming of this exquisite and threatened frog species for Greta Thunberg,” Rainforest Trust CEO James Deutsch said in a press release. “Greta more than anyone reminds us that the future of every species on Earth depends on what we do right now to end climate change.”
The Greta Thunberg Rainfrog, identifiable by its “distinctive black eyes,” has additional links to its namesake as climate change threatens its habitat. While deforestation continues to destroy its habitat, increasing temperatures due to climate change and a deadly chitrid fungus are further decimating the area. In the past 10 years, Cerro Chucantí has lost more than 30 percent of its forest cover.
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