 | Cara presented her research on thermal limits and range expansion of the introduced caecilian Typhlonectes natans in Florida during the Miccosukee Arts & Science Symposium at the Miccosukee Casino & Resort on October 2nd. |
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 Jeremiah presented his research on frog-biting midges and their potential role as carriers of the amphibian fungal disease chytridiomycosis during the Office of Undergraduate Research and Internships's Summer Research Poster Showcase on September 25th. Congrats Jeremiah!
  A small, golden-yellow frog that carries its eggs in a pouch on its back has been described as a new species from the humid montane forests of the lower Mantaro Basin in central Peru. The discovery was published September 25 in the journal Zootaxa with collaborators Víctor J. Vargas and Kevin Rivera of Asociación Pro Fauna Silvestre Ayacucho. The team found the frog in May 2024 during an expedition to the Amaru-Huachocolpa-Chihuana Cloud Forest Regional Conservation Area in Huancavelica Department. This protected area covers roughly 5,000 hectares and is administered by the Regional Government of Huancavelica. Calling males were perched on ferns and low shrubs, 1.5 to 3 meters above the ground, at about 2,590 meters elevation. The researchers named the species Gastrotheca amaru after Bosque Amaru, the forest where it lives. According to the authors, "The herpetofauna of these forests has barely been studied. Finding a new species within a few days of fieldwork tells us how much remains to be documented in the inter-Andean valleys of central Peru."  Marsupial frogs in the genus Gastrotheca get their name from the way females brood their eggs in a closed pouch on their backs. The new species can be told apart from its relatives by several features together: a head as wide as it is long, a squared-off snout, smooth skin on the back, and golden-yellow coloring on the back, sides, and belly. Adult males measure about 36 millimeters from snout to vent. The team believes that, like other tree-dwelling marsupial frogs in cloud forests, G. amaru gives birth to fully formed froglets instead of tadpoles, such as the froglet seen in this picture of G. excubitor from Manu National Park near Cusco, but no females of G. amaru have been found yet to confirm this.  The researchers recorded the male's advertisement call. It is a trill just under one second long, followed by up to five short "tok" notes, with a dominant frequency around 2,070 Hz. Automated recorders left at the site showed that the frogs call most in the early evening and again in mid-morning. The call's pitch falls between those of larger and smaller relatives, which matches the general pattern in which bigger frogs call at lower frequencies.  Gastrotheca amaru is currently the only marsupial frog found only in Huancavelica, and just the second Gastrotheca species recorded in the department. The forest inside the Amaru-Huachocolpa-Chihuana Cloud Forest Regional Conservation Area is in generally good condition, but parts of it face overgrazing by cattle, forest fires, and agricultural expansion. The authors say continued biological surveys are needed to guide management of the reserve and of the fragmented cloud forests around it, which may hold more undocumented species. The work was supported by Synchronicity Earth through the project "Ultu: Conservation program for endangered amphibians in the central Andes of Peru." The team also thanks the Regional Government of Huancavelica, the reserve's park rangers, and the Comunidad Campesina de Amaru. Research permits were issued by Peru's National Forest and Wildlife Service (SERFOR). Citation: Vargas, V.J., Rivera, K. & Catenazzi, A. (2026). A new species of marsupial frog (Anura: Gastrotheca) from the humid forests of the Mantaro basin in the central Andes, and first record of Hyloscirtus armatus and Rhinella leptoscelis in Huancavelica, Peru. Zootaxa 5884(1): 97–118. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5884.1.4
El equipo de Pro Fauna Silvestre nos lleva en este video hasta la comunidad de Anchihuay, donde la exploración herpetológica nos permite descubrir la increíble diversidad de anfibios y reptiles que habitan estos bosques. Entre montañas, neblina y bosques exuberantes, cada expedición es una oportunidad para conocer y valorar la biodiversidad que aún se esconde en estos ecosistemas. ¡Disfruten del viaje!  A new study and Catenazzi lab collaboration, alongside lead author Pablo J. Venegas and international collaborators, describes four previously unknown species of direct-developing frogs from the Peruvian Andes. Published in Diversity, the research (https://doi.org/10.3390/d18080458) draws on extensive fieldwork across the departments of Amazonas, San Martín, and Huánuco. By combining morphological analyses, skin texture details, color patterns, and mitochondrial DNA sequencing, the team expanded the genus Oreobates within the family Strabomantidae.  The newly described taxa exhibit distinct morphological features and narrow geographic ranges across Peru's eastern Andean slopes. Oreobates azulensis from Huánuco features a tan-to-cream belly with faint brown reticulations and heavily tuberculate skin, while Oreobates chirimoto in Amazonas stands out with a bright yellow underside and an absence of vocal slits. In the San Martín region, Oreobates foliaspectrum displays cryptic leaf-like dorsal patterning over a mottled orange-brown belly, and Oreobates nigrumcompletum is named for its striking, near-solid dark brown to black ventral coloration. Like other terraranan frogs, these species bypass the free-swimming tadpole stage entirely through direct development. Females deposit eggs in damp leaf litter or soil, where embryos develop directly into fully formed miniature froglets. This life history strategy drives high levels of micro-endemism across the Peruvian Yungas. Because adults have limited dispersal capabilities and cannot travel along river systems, deep, dry inter-Andean valleys act as formidable barriers to gene flow. Isolated on individual mountain ridges or narrow elevational zones, populations rapidly diverge over evolutionary time into distinct species.  Establishing precise taxonomic identities for these localized populations is a crucial prerequisite for regional conservation. By formalizing the descriptions of O. azulensis, O. chirimoto, O. foliaspectrum, and O. nigrumcompletum, the Catenazzi lab and their collaborators provide essential baseline data to help protection efforts target fragile, highly specialized cloud forest habitats. Citation: Venegas, P.J., J. W. Ttito, L. A. García-Ayachi, M. Gulman, J. D. Valencia, A. Catenazzi. 2026. Four new species of direct-developing frogs, genus Oreobates (Anura: Strabomantidae), from Peru. Diversity 2026, 18(8). doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/d18080458
 Congratulations to Cara Giordano, who received the Behavior & Ecology award in the 16th Annual SSAR Victor Hutchison Student Poster Competition at the 2026 Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists & Herpetologists in New Orleans, Louisiana. Cara was recognized as the top presenter in the Behavior & Ecology category for her poster, "Investigating Thermal Physiological Traits of a Nonnative Amphibian, the Rio Cauca Caecilian (Typhlonectes natans)." The SSAR Victor Hutchison Student Poster Awards recognize outstanding graduate student research while honoring Victor Hutchison's lasting contributions to herpetology and his dedication to mentoring future generations of herpetologists.
The lab presented posters and talks at the JMIH in New Orleans from 8-12 July 2026.  Cara by her award-winning poster Investigating Thermal Physiological Traits of a Nonnative Amphibian, the Rio Cauca Caecilian (Typhlonectes natans).  Gustavo gave a poster titled Tank bromeliads as refugia or ecological traps for the bromelicolous salamander Bolitoglossa helmrichi.  Jon presented a poster about Testing Alternative Sampling Methods for Detection of Ophidiomycosis and also...  ...gave a talk Elucidating the Role of Shed Skins in the Persistence of Ophiodiomyces ophidiicola in Soils.
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