Discovery at project site means range expansion for Ecuadorian frog species

by Carlos R. Garcia, Senior Program Director, Mar. 2025.

Researchers with ICFC's field partner FCAT recently documented the presence of the Bilsa white-chested frog (Leucostethus bilsa) within the FCAT Reserve, which straddles the boundary of the Mache-Chindul Ecological Reserve in the Ecuadorian Chocó (Esmeraldas province).

This may represent a distinct population separate from the one found at the type locality in the Bilsa Biological Reserve 5 km to the south-west. The new records increase the species’ known range, with the "extent of occurrence" (a minimal meaure based on known records) increased to 4.78 km² and "area of occupancy" to 16.0 km². The discovery of this additional population may also represent a distinct IUCN location for this poison-dart frog species, thereby downgrading its IUCN threat level from Critically Endangered to Endangered. 

These findings highlight the importance of primary forest patches and small forest reserves for the conservation of forest-dependent amphibians and other threatened species in the Ecuadorian Chocó and elsewhere.

Read the peer-reviewed paper.