While CafeCuriosity has been off exploring what triggers tourists' curiosity, an expedition to Columbia's Tacarcuna area of the Darian (a biological 'hot spot') near the Panama border has found curiosities of its own. Better known for its notoriously anti-curiosity drug cartels and endemic violence, the wild Darian region proved to harbor 10 amphibian species believed to be new to science
Amongst the curious lot, biologists discovered a spikey skinned, orange-legged rain frog, (Pristimantis genera), three poison dart frogs (my favourites - Dendrobatidae genus) one Harlequin frog (Atelopus genus), three glass frogs (Nymphargus, Cochranella and Centrolene genus) (ok, so I like them too!) and a salamander (Bolitoglossa genus). Equally curious was the diversity of other fauna. In three weeks, expedition members identified 60 amphibians, 20 reptiles and almost (but not quite) 120 birds. They also found Baird's tapir, 4 species of monkeys and a species of white-lipped pecarrary - enough to satiate even CafeCuriosity's curiosity!
If you find yourself feeling curious about the mysteries of tropical Columbia, go to: http://www.conservation.org/newsroom/pressreleases/Pages/Amphibian-species-discovered-Colombia.aspx
Image: 1. Harlequin frog (Atelopus), 2. Glass frog (Nymphargus), 3. Rain frog (
), Conservation International, Marco Rada
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