Scientists name new species of rainfrog after Greta Thunberg

It was named after Greta Thunberg when conservation nonprofit The Rainforest Trust held an auction that allowed the winner to name new species. The frog was discovered at a reserve established by the conservation organization AdoptaBosque with support from Rainforest Trust.

“Greta more than anyone reminds us that the future of every species on Earth depends on what we do right now to end climate change,” Rainforest Trust CEO James Deutsch said in a press release, adding they are honoured to sponsor the naming of the threatened species.

Researchers say the tiny frogs are sensitive to environmental changes and face the risk of extinction. (Source: Konrad Mebert et al./ Zookeys)

However, this isn’t the first time a newly discovered species has named in honour of the “School Strike for Climate Action” activist. In 2019, the National History Museum named a tiny new species of beetle after the high-schooler.

The Greta Thunberg Rainfrog, has distinctive features that helps it to be identifiable from rest by its “unusually prominent black eyes, a contrasting light upper lip, commonly a single conical to spine-like tubercle on the upper eyelid, and a larger head.”

However, the animal’s name has additional links to its famous namesake as climate-change threatens its natural habitat, and faces “a constant risk of extinction”. According to the authors of the paper, these tiny tree frogs “are tremendously susceptible to fine changes in the environment”. The researchers argued that the new species “should be listed as “Vulnerable (VU)” in the global Red List of the IUCN (2018)”.

“Cerro Chucantí and the surrounding Maje Mountains are highly threatened by rapid deforestation and replaced by plantations and cattle pastures,” the researchers explained. They further added: “Pristimantis gretathunbergae is endemic to Panama, but it could occur on near mountains along the border in Colombia.”

“As a flagship species, this new frog can help to preserve the Chucantí cloud forest including several recently described species known only from this isolated area in eastern Panama,” they added, much in line with activist. Thunberg has been calling upon world leaders to take conservation seriously.