Fifteen millimeters of new: a poison dart frog science never met

Meet Excidobates perplexus: 15.1 to 18.3 millimeters of frog, described this week in the journal Zootaxa from the Andes and Cordillera del Cóndor of southeastern Ecuador. Its two known populations live just 65 kilometers apart and look strikingly different — one scarlet-red mottled on black, the other olive-green with yellow spots — yet they're the same species, 2.7 to 3.5 percent genetically distinct from their closest relative. The authors recommend listing it as Critically Endangered: mining, hydroelectric development, and the illegal wildlife trade all threaten the two known sites. Discovery and danger arrived together — which means protection can start on day one.