Ecuador has many under-explored places with high potential not only for discovering news species but also for understanding important biogeographic and ecological processes. Sumaco Volcano rises from a lush forest in the Amazon, and has unique geologic and geographic features, as well as a relatively pristine ecosystem, making it ideal as a natural laboratory. Hosting only two known amphibian endemics, a small figure for this highly biodiverse region, it begs the question of whether more species are awaiting to be discovered. 

​

We have led three multi-disciplinary (birds, herps, bats, camera traps, pitfall traps) and two herpetological expeditions to Sumaco Volcano between 2022 and 2024, of which two reached the crater. As a result, we found exciting new results, leading to a re-discovery of a long lost species (Salerno et al. in prep; to be submitted to Diversity by august 2024). We are also working on a first list of amphibians and reptiles for the National Park, including molecular validation (barcoding) of nearly all species that were morphologically identified, and a few suggestions of potential new candidate species. 

​

Stay posted for more updates on this project, as it continues on its third year of funding (through Universidad Tecnologica Indoamerica) and we begin to churn out some neat papers about this fascinating yet little known place!