Photograph courtesy David Blackburn
"Beautiful little animal" rediscovered after 62 years, scientists say.
n a handy stroke of luck, scientists have rediscovered a "lost" African species: the Bururi long-fingered frog.
Last seen in 1949, the 1.3-inch-long (3.2-centimeter-long) amphibian was found during a December 2011 biodiversity survey in the small central African country of Burundi, scientists announced in March.
Thwarted by decades of political conflict, few biologists have so far been able to explore Burundi's ecosystems.
"The last time this species was seen was the first time this species was seen—that's the state of our knowledge in this little corner of Africa," said team memberDavid Blackburn, a herpetologist at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco.
During the recent survey, scientists collected one male specimen of the frog, which—like all male Bururi long-fingered frogs—has an elongated "ring" finger on each hand.
"It's one of the few bluish frogs in Africa—a beautiful little animal," Blackburn added.
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