Frog Gets A Prince’s Name

We’ve all heard the fairytales about frogs and princes, right? Well, if you’ve been hoping to find a magical amphibian this summer we’ve got great news for you! Scientists working in Ecuador have recently decided to give a princely name to a new species of frog, dubbing it “Hyloscirtus princecharlesi” after Prince Charles of Wales!

It’s a pretty big honour to have a new species of animal named after you! The Prince Charles stream tree frog was given a monarch’s moniker (aka a royal name) in recognition of all the hard work Prince Charles has done to help protect rainforests around the world. In 2007, Charles helped launch the Prince’s Rainforest Project to raise awareness about the link between the loss of rainforests and climate change, and to create new ways to help rainforest nations keep these biologically diverse habitats intact. Prince Charles has also used his station as an international figure to raise awareness about biodiversity loss, support sustainable business and farming practices, and has even become a patron of several environmental charities including Earth Rangers!

The Prince Charles stream tree frog was first discovered in 2008 by Dr. Luis A. Coloma amongst a collection of museum specimens. A small number of these frogs and their tadpoles were then sighted during an expedition to the cloud forests of north-western Ecuador. The Prince Charles stream tree frog seems to be most active at night, and those found by the scientists were clinging to rocks or climbing along branches and leaves in thick vegetation near the edge of a small stream. Sadly, the small area in which the frogs were found living in the wild faces many threats, including logging, cattle grazing, pesticide use and invasive species. Two live juvenile specimens of the Prince Charles frog are now being raised as part of the international Amphibian Ark captive breeding program to help boost their numbers in the wild, and protect the new species from extinction.

If you’d like to have a newly discovered species named after you, don’t fret, there are plenty of animals out there just waiting to be found and described! Some scientists estimate that there are probably over 8 million species of plants and animals on Earth, and we’ve only discovered about 1.7 million so far!

If you could be named after a newly discovered species what would you pick, a beautiful flowering plant, a colourful butterfly, or a tiny lizard? Post a comment below to tell us your species of choice!