Scientists in Brazil described a new-to-science species of poison dart frog last year. It was first found among the leaves of wild banana plants on a research expedition to the Juruá River Basin in the western Amazon in 2023.

The frog, around the length of a paperclip (14–17 millimeters, or 0.5-0.7 inches), is reddish-brown and blue on top, bright blue with black spots underneath, and has copper-colored legs. It was named Ranitomeya aetherea, in reference to the word “ethereal.”

“We attribute this name to one’s feeling of enchantment and delicacy when encountering these frogs, as if they were from outside this world,” the study’s authors wrote in the species’ description.

The species has only been found at one site, where it lays its eggs in the small pools of water that collect inside plant leaves. This remote habitat is largely intact, with no immediate threats from deforestation or wildfires, creating a shield of protection from human-led activities.

This is in stark contrast to most other amphibian species, 40% of which are threatened with extinction. However, researchers stressed that biopiracy — the illegal collection and trade of rare species — and climate change are still threats.

The frog’s exact toxicity is unknown, but the whole Ranitomeya family is known to be poisonous, with toxins on their skin and bright colors to alert would-be predators.

“We know it’s poisonous to those that try to prey on it,” lead author Alexander Mônico, a researcher at the National Institute for Amazonian Research (INPA), told Mongabay. “But for us it’s fine, we’re able to handle them with our bare hands. We just need to be careful about any cuts.”

Banner image: The Ranitomeya aetherea poison dart frog. Image courtesy of Alexander Mônico.

March 20 is World Frog Day. Frogs and toads have inhabited Earth for hundreds of millions of years, but 40% of amphibians species are now at risk of extinction, according to the latest conservation assessments.

Every year, roughly 150 new amphibian species are described. But many are immediately listed as threatened or endangered due to habitat loss, disease and climate change.

“Some species may not even get named before they go extinct,” biologist Zeeshan Mirza told Mongabay in December 2025.

Over the last year, Mongabay’s reporters have covered pressing threats facing frogs in all corners of the world. Here are a few.

Rare galaxy frogs threatened by photo tourism in India

Seven rare galaxy frogs (Melanobatrachus indicus) disappeared from southern India’s Western Ghats rainforest after a small group allegedly spent four hours handling and photographing the animals, an anonymous informant reported.

Researchers studying galaxy frogs, named for their resemblance to a night sky, found overturned logs and trampled vegetation at the site where the frogs had lived among rotting wood and stones.

“These beautiful yet rare frogs are unlike anything else on our tiny corner of the universe,” K.P. Rajkumar, a Zoological Society of London fellow, told Mongabay reporter Liz Kimbrough. “This sad event is a stark warning for the consequences of unregulated photography.”

Endangered mountain yellow-legged frog reintroduced again in California

Conservationists released 350 endangered mountain yellow-legged frogs (Rana muscosa) into Bluff Lake in Southern California earlier this year.

The species was once highly abundant in the region, but in 2023, there were fewer than 200 adults, even following several previous frog releases produced through captive breeding.

Non-native rainbow trout have decimated the species. Climate-driven wildfires and drought paired with a chytrid fungus outbreak have made their survival in the wild even more difficult.

“I think for most species, we’re really hoping for recovery, right? But in this case, we’re trying to prevent extinction,” Debra Shier of San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance told Mongabay contributor Sean Mowbray. “We have to try everything in the conservation toolbox.”

Three ‘unassuming’ brown frogs described in Peru

Three new-to-science frog species were described in the remote Cordillera de Huancabamba in the northwestern Peruvian Andes: Pristimantis chinguelas, P. nunezcortezi and P. yonke.

Scientists behind the discovery found the species during a series of night expeditions between 2021 and 2024. They said satellite imagery from the area already showed habitat loss from fire, agriculture and cattle ranching.

“They’re small and unassuming, but these frogs are powerful reminders of how much we still don’t know about the Andes,” lead author Germán Chávez of the Peruvian Institute of Herpetology told Mongabay.

Banner image: Galaxy frog in the Western Ghats, India. Photo courtesy of K.P. Rajkumar/ZSL.

In 2016, when biologists in Mexico reviewed their photo traps from Cozumel, a Mexican island in the Caribbean, they were surprised to see an ocelot, a wildcat considered endangered in the country. But curiosity soon turned to alarm: ocelots are effective predators of endemic species on the island, which have no experience or natural defense against the medium-sized wildcat.

Luis-Bernardo Vázquez heads a research team at the Urban Ecology Lab, El Colegio de la Frontera Sur-SLCL. He’s been studying the wildlife of Cozumel for years using tools ranging from camera traps to transects and road surveys.

“Before 2016 we never detected any ocelot in the island,” he said. “Because we had many years of sampling before that with no records, we think the species was not present on the island before that time.”

Ocelots (Leopardus pardalis) are declining across much of their range, from the U.S. state of Texas all the way to Uruguay. They’re listed as an endangered species in the United States but, ironically, as an unwanted threat on Cozumel.

The presence of an ocelot as an invasive predator on Cozumel Island could be a threat to endemic wildlife like the Cozumel white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus cozumelae), Cozumel harvest mouse (Reithrodontomys spectabilis), Cozumel rice rat (Oryzomys couesi cozumelae), dwarf peccary (Dicotyles tajacu nanus) and Cozumel curassow (Crax rubra griscomi).

“A species can be endangered in one place and ecologically damaging in another, and that requires communities to decide what future they want for their island,” David Will of U.S.-based conservation group Island Conservation told Mongabay. “Cozumel’s ocelot shows how conservation isn’t just about species, it’s about values. The real challenge isn’t the cat; it’s navigating competing conservation priorities in a rapidly changing world.”

Vásquez said he believes the ocelot likely wound up on the island as a result of human activities. “It could be an animal that escaped or was released from captivity. In southern Mexico sometimes wild felids are kept illegally as pets or used in tourism attractions, so this is one possible explanation,” he said.

Although only one ocelot has been detected on Cozumel, the researchers are concerned that it could establish a breeding population if other ocelots join it on the island. Other introduced predators like margays (Leopardus wiedii) and boa constrictors (Boa constrictor) have already established breeding populations on Cozumel and are threats to the island’s endemic fauna.

“Cozumel has many endemic animals and historically had very few predators, so the introduction of new carnivores can create conservation problems,” Vásquez said. “For this reason, we think it is important to continue monitoring and prevent new introductions in the future.”

Banner image: An ocelot stalking prey in Colombia. Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay. 

Brazil’s federal government created a huge conservation area on March 6 to protect a critical biodiversity hotspot in the Atlantic Ocean. The newly created Albardão marine park and coastal environmental protected area are home to at least 25 endangered species and Pleistocene epoch megafauna fossils.  

The new national park is off the coast of Brazil’s southernmost state, Rio Grande do Sul, and spans more than 1 million hectares (2.5 million acres), making it the country’s largest marine park and third-largest marine protected area. A buffer zone spanning an additional 614,000 hectares (1.5 million acres) was also included in the government decree.

“The Albardão region brings together ecosystems that are fundamental for Brazil’s biodiversity,” the federal government wrote in a statement. “The site is considered strategic for the life cycle of several threatened species.”

The government decree creates some exemptions for sustainable ecotourism, scientific research and artisanal fishing in the marine and coastal protected areas.

The Albardão Marine Park is home to endangered Lahille’s bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus gephyreus), of which just 500 individuals are alive today, and franciscana dolphins (Pontoporia blainvillei), listed as critically endangered in Brazil and vulnerable worldwide.

Another 23 species of endangered sharks and rays also inhabit the region, including endangered angelshark species, which a 2025 Mongabay investigation revealed was being served in local school lunches. Also in the area are the critically endangered bowmouth guitarfish (Rhina ancylostomus).

An adjacent coastal protected area was also created, spanning nearly 56,000 hectares (138,000 acres). It includes dune fields and natural shell deposits where paleontologists have dug up Pleistocene megafauna such as the ground sloth, the saber-toothed cat, the giant armadillo and mastodons, an extinct relative of elephants.

The areas had been recommended for environmental protection since 2004, according to the federal government. 

The decision has sparked controversy though. State-level governments were looking to the area for offshore wind power generation, which had been included as part of Rio Grande do Sul’s state energy transition program.

In 2024, the state’s Vice Governor Gabriel Souza wrote on his social media accounts that the creation of the marine park would prevent the region from reaching its renewable energy goals.

In a statement, Rio Grande do Sul’s environment and infrastructure department requested the inclusion of infrastructure corridors for territorial connectivity, mobility and state energy planning, which was partially granted.

Wind farms will not be allowed; however, ship traffic is permitted in the entire area. Also allowed are infrastructure corridors to connect offshore gas, oil and wind projects beyond the protected area to the mainland, as long as the environmental objectives of the marine park are respected.

Banner image: The Albardão dune fields in the extreme south of Brazil’s southernmost Rio Grande do Sul state. Image courtesy of ICMBio.

In early March, while attending the Nuclear Energy Summit, Rwandan President Paul Kagame reaffirmed his ambition to develop civilian nuclear reactors in Rwanda. “Nuclear energy is not too complex or risky for developing countries,” he said during the meeting. “It will diversify our energy mix while providing the stability required for industrial growth and long-term transformation.”

Currently, Rwanda’s energy supply is largely dominated by hydropower and thermal energy. In 2020, just half of the population had access to electricity; by 2030 the country aims to reach 100% electricity access. The East African country is banking on nuclear power to supply 60-70% of its electricity mix.

The recent summit took place just one day after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) concluded a trip to Kigali to assess Rwanda’s readiness for nuclear energy. The IAEA inspected 19 points considered essential for launching a civilian nuclear program, including the legal framework, radioactive waste management and safety.

After a weeklong evaluation, the IAEA concluded that Rwanda is making strong progress toward establishing its nuclear program. “Strong government support and the effective coordination of the preparatory work helped Rwanda make significant progress towards deciding on a nuclear power programme,” Mehmet Ceyhan, technical lead of the IAEA nuclear infrastructure development section and team leader for the mission, said in a press release. “The level of preparation and involvement from all participating organizations and teams during the mission reflected a deep commitment to the programme.”

According to the IAEA, Rwanda is currently identifying candidate sites for its planned small modular reactor (SMR) project. Mongabay contacted the Rwanda Atomic Energy Board, the national agency overseeing the country’s civilian nuclear program, as well as the IAEA for additional information but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

Rwanda expects its first SMR reactor to be operational by the early 2030s. It is expected to be built faster and at lower cost than conventional nuclear power plants.      

In 2023, Rwanda signed an agreement with Dual Fluid Energy Inc., a Canadian-German nuclear technology company, to pilot advanced nuclear reactor technology in the country. The government has also partnered with institutions from Russia and the United States to explore the development of SMRs. In 2025, Rwanda was also in discussions with Niger, One of the world’s largest uranium producers, to establish a potential partnership.

Nuclear energy is gaining renewed interest across Africa. Countries such as South Africa and Kenya are also moving toward nuclear power plants. The 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai in 2023 marked a milestone for the nuclear industry when it was formally recognized as one of the solutions for producing low-carbon energy. Since then, it has increasingly been promoted as a tool to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change.

Banner image: People lined up to vote at night. Image by Kigali Wire via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0).

Described as the “liver of rivers” for their water filtering capabilities, freshwater mussels are facing an extinction crisis. These slow-growing, long-lived bivalves are one of the most threatened groups of animals on the planet. Now researchers in Australia have found that artificial water bodies could provide a lifeline for some species.

Freshwater mussels live in the sediment of streams, rivers and lakes, where they filter water, absorb heavy metals, sequester carbon, and serve as a food source for other animals. But humans have severely modified their habitats with structures including dams, weirs and drains.

The research team wanted to find out if artificial habitats can sustain healthy populations of Carter’s freshwater mussel (Westralunio carteri), a species endemic to southwestern Australia and considered vulnerable to extinction on the IUCN Red List.

The research, published in Pacific Conservation Biology, was motivated by substantial declines in W. carteri over the last 50 years, largely a result of saltwater intrusion and drying habitats. Lead author Jake Daviot of Murdoch University said in a press release that “without proactive and novel approaches to conservation, more populations are going to be lost in the face of human development exacerbated by climate change.”

The researchers surveyed mussels in 12 sites between 2020 and 2024, including six natural habitats and six artificial habitats, such as farm dams and drainage canals. They recorded the size and number of mussels, how spread out they were, and local habitat conditions.

Most of the artificial sites surveyed had a similar density of mussels and clustering pattern compared to natural water bodies. However, population structures varied between the types of sites: artificial water bodies had a higher proportion of large individuals, meaning fewer young mussels. Natural water bodies had higher levels of recent recruitment, the addition of new, young mussels to the population. Continued recruitment is important to sustain populations in the long term.

Freshwater mussels are parasitic, relying on host fish to disperse their tiny larvae, which drop into the sediment, then live sedentary lives. Host fish are one way mussels can colonize artificial water bodies and are important for continued recruitment.

Nathan Johnson, a research biologist at the U.S. Geological Survey, who wasn’t involved with the study, told Mongabay by email that freshwater mussel species that are highly specialized for either host fish or habitat tend to struggle in artificial habitats. However, mussels that rely on a broader range of host fish “often show greater adaptability, often surviving or sometimes thriving in artificial or degraded habitats.” That makes species-specific research on the value of artificial habitats important for effective management, he said.

“Our natural habitats are irreplaceable, but artificial waterbodies can buy these mussels precious time,” Daviot said. “Artificial habitats can act as ‘arks’, safeguarding populations until our rivers recover.”

Banner image: Carter’s freshwater mussels of different ages. Image courtesy of Murdoch University.