The Condor mountain range in southeast Ecuador is mineral-rich and seeping with life: its tropical rainforests ooze with biodiversity.
Sandstone plateaus rise up to meet the Ecuadorian border with Peru, housing species that appear nowhere else on the planet. These species are magnets for scientists, and a number of research expeditions have been supported by Kinross.
In fact, during one such expedition, a new frog species was recently identified. The newly discovered amphibian was found at an altitude of 2,300 metres, near an area called Paquisha, by Entrix – an environmental consultant contracted by Kinross during environmental studies for FDN.
Called Pristimantis paquishae, the frog is medium-sized, and differs from fellow species because of its distinctive pattern of yellow spots, and small fingers on its front and rear legs.
Meet “Pristimantis paquishae”, a new species of frog found in Ecuador
An image from the scientific study that shows the small fingers on the frog’s front and rear legs
