Researchers have discovered a new species of glassfrog in Ecuador – the Dajomes glassfrog – named after Neisi Dajomes, the first Ecuadorian woman to receive an Olympic gold medal, which she won in Tokyo 2020 in women's 76 kg weightlifting. Mylena Masache, a Biology student of the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, and colleagues, describe the frog in a new study published April 8, 2026 in the open-access journal PLOS One.
Glassfrogs are a group of about 167 species of frogs that live in trees in tropical forests in Central and South America. While most glassfrogs are green on top, they get their name from the transparent skin that covers the underside of some species in the group. This see-through skin sometimes reveals their heart and other organs in great detail.
Researchers encountered the Dajomes glassfrog in 2017 and 2018 during biological surveys conducted in El Quimi Nature Reserve, which is located in a mountainous region in southern Ecuador. The new species has uniformly green skin with a pebbly texture across the top of its body. On its underside, it has a white membrane covered in specialized light-reflecting cells that covers its heart, esophagus, stomach and kidneys, but other internal membranes are clear. Based on comparisons of its DNA to related species, Masache's team estimated the new species likely originated during the Pliocene Epoch, about 4.5 million years ago.
Currently it is unknown whether the frog is threatened or endangered. The first Dajomes glassfrog was found just a few miles from an agricultural region and a large-scale mining operation. Mining in the area has caused a decline in local amphibian populations and may threaten this species in the future.
During the two expeditions to El Quimi Nature Reserve that yielded the Dajomes glassfrog, more than 85% of the amphibian species observed were previously unknown. The researchers suggest this region could be a "lost world of amphibian diversity," and call for continuing biodiversity surveys and species identification efforts in southeastern Ecuador and across the border in northeastern Peru.
The authors add: "We were astonished by the high number of new species found at the site. Few places in the tropical Andes harbor amphibian assemblages as novel as the one found at El Quimi."
Author Dr. Diego Cisneros adds: "It is especially meaningful that this discovery is led by a young woman scientist and honours an Ecuadorian Olympic champion—this species becomes a symbol of how science and society can recognise and celebrate women shaping the future."
In your coverage, please use this URL to provide access to the freely available article in PLOS One: https://plos.io/4rUU9fl
Citation: Masache-Sarango MV, Cisneros-Heredia DF, Ron SR (2026) A secret from a hidden world: A new glassfrog of the genus Nymphargus (Anura: Centrolenidae) from Cordillera del Cóndor, Ecuador. PLoS One 21(4): e0345097. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0345097
Author countries: Ecuador.
Funding: Field and laboratory work in Ecuador was funded by Secretaría Nacional de Educación Superior, Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación del Ecuador SENESCYT (Arca de Noé initiative; SRR). URL funding agency: https://www.educacionsuperior.gob.ec/ The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
