Lost worlds: New species found in Ecuador

A glass frog from western Ecuador shows its beating heart through its transparent chest
Photograph: Paul S Hamilton/RAEI

This tiny scaly-eyed gecko, Lepidoblepharis buschwaldii, never gets much larger than this one
Photograph: Paul S Hamilton/RAEI

An unidentified rain frog of the genus Pristimantis from Cerro Pata de Pájaro in western Ecuador
Photograph: Paul S Hamilton/RAEI

An unidentified snail-sucking snake of the genus Sibon recently found in western Ecuador. A similar species is found nearly 600 miles away in Panama
Photograph: Paul S Hamilton/RAEI

An unidentified rain frog of the genus Pristimantis which is distinguished by others from a red streak through the iris
Photograph: Paul S. Hamilton/RAEI

Salamanders of the genus Bolitoglossa lack lungs, and instead breathe entirely through their skin. This one was encountered in a recent expedition to western Ecuador
Photograph: Paul S Hamilton/RAEI

Rain frogs, like these unidentified Pristimantis, are dependent on moist habitats to lay their eggs in trees. Warming and drying trends from human-caused climate change may interfere with these frogs' ability to reproduce
Photograph: Paul S Hamilton/RAEI

A spectacular eyelash viper, Bothriechis schegelli, is one of the inhabitants of imperiled forests in western Ecuador
Photograph: Paul S Hamilton/RAEI

A stick insect of the genus Xylospinodes was one of at least four new species of such creatures found in the course of our studies of reptiles and amphibians
Photograph: Paul S Hamilton/RAEI

Cloudforest at an imperiled mountain site, Cerro Pata de Pajaro, in western Ecuador
Photograph: Paul S Hamilton/RAEI