‘Long’-limbed creature with ‘metallic’ eyes found on forest trail. It’s a new species
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Thousands of feet up on a mountain in Vietnam, a bumpy creature with “long” limbs stopped on a darkened trail. Its “metallic” eyes scanned the surrounding bamboo forest, but it wasn’t the only one searching that night.
Visiting scientists spotted the “surprising” animal — and discovered a new species.
“Our initial goal on this trip was to find a Sterling’s toothed toad,” herpetologist Luan Thanh Nguyen said in an Oct. 2 news release from the Zoological Society of London.
With this goal in mind, a team of researchers hiked up Mount Po Ma Lung, a 9,700-foot-tall peak along the Vietnam-China border, in August 2023. The trek took 12 hours, and researchers encountered “very challenging weather conditions,” Nguyen said.
One night during their surveys, researchers spotted a trio of unfamiliar-looking frogs on the trail, according to a study published Oct. 2 in the peer-reviewed journal Zootaxa. They captured the animals and quickly realized they’d discovered a new species: Oreolalax adelphos, or the Mount Po Ma Lung toothed toad.
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Mount Po Ma Lung toothed toads are considered “small sized,” reaching about 2 inches in length, the study said. They have bumpy skin with many “large warts,” “long” limbs and “prominent” teeth. Their eyes are a mosaic of “metallic silver” and “copper.”
Photos show the “rough”-textured toad. Its coloring is a mix of light brown, dark brown and white blotches.
Mount Po Ma Lung toothed toads live in bamboo mountain forests above elevations of 9,500 feet. The toads were found at night “on a path well-trodden by tourists,” per the news release.
“The discovery of Oreolalax adelphos is a surprising finding and the result of a truly unforgettable day of searching, climbing to the mountain’s highest summit,” Nguyen, the study’s lead co-author, said in the release.
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Researchers said they named the new species after the Greek word “adelphos,” meaning “brother,” because it shares a habitat with and is genetically linked to the Sterling’s toothed toad.
The new species’s common name refers to the Mount Po Ma Lung area where it was discovered and, so far, the only area where it has been found, the study said. This peak is in Phong Thổ District of northern Vietnam.
“This is a very exciting new discovery, and one that highlights the need to protect the forests of the (surrounding) Hoàng Liên Range and their remarkable biodiversity,” co-author Ben Tapley said in the release.
The new species was identified by its DNA, size, body shape, coloring, texture and other subtle physical features, the study said.
The research team included Luan Thanh Nguyen, Benjamin Tapley, Daniel Kane, Tuyet-Dzung Thi Tran, Jiaxin Cui and Jodi Rowley.