(Photo from USAID Philippines)
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Philippines has commended biologists Kier Mitchel Pitogo and Aljohn Jay Saavedra for rediscovering a rare frog that was last seen almost three decades ago.
The brightly colored Guttman’s stream frogs were believed to be extinct until they were rediscovered living in the forest of Mount Busa. They were first seen in the wild in 1993.
“USAID supports Filipino scientists who are making discoveries in Philippine biodiversity,” the agency said in a statement posted on Facebook March 12.
“Deep in the forests of Busa mountain range in southern Mindanao, Kier Mitchel Pitogo and Aljohn Jay Saavedra rediscovered Guttman’s stream frog an amphibian so rare, it was thought to be extinct for decades since it was first recorded,” it reported..
Rare frog thought to be extinct rediscovered in Mindanao
Published March 12, 2021 11:18am A pair of Filipino biologists has rediscovered in Mindanao a rare frog species that was thought to be extinct decades ago. Guttman s stream frog (
Pulchrana guttmani), first seen in 1993, was rediscovered by Kier Mitchel Pitogo and Aljohn Jay Saavedra in the forests of Mount Busa, according to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The Guttman s stream frog is an amphibian so rare, it was thought to be extinct for decades since it was first recorded, USAID said in a Facebook post. In a paper published in Herpetological Notes, Pitogo and Saavedra said the Guttman s stream frog is possibly the rarest amphibian in the Philippines.
One-hit wonder frog makes a comeback in the southern Philippines
by Leilani Chavez on 1 March 2021
A pair of Filipino biologists have rediscovered Pulcharana guttmani, a rare Philippine stream frog first collected by biologists in 1993 and never seen again until now.
Experts consider the blue-bellied frog among the rarest in the Philippines; the sole specimen was only described as a new species in 2015, more than 20 years after its collection.
Its close resemblance to the more common granducola has hidden P. guttmani from science, eluding even herpetologists and Indigenous guides.
Very little is known about guttmani, but its rediscovery emphasizes the need to protect its habitat, the Allah Valley Watershed Forest Reserve, a biodiverse yet rarely surveyed area in Mindanao that is threatened by security and illegal logging issues.