New Delhi: Madagascar’s elusive diamond frogs spend most of their lives underground or hiding beneath leaves. To take a deeper look into their lives, a team of international researchers spent 12 years in their habitat and found seven previously unknown species.
The study, published in the journal Vertebrate Zoology, has proven that these amphibians are even more diverse than previously thought. It was one of the most comprehensive studies ever taken up for the genus Rhombophryne.
“When I started this project 12 years ago, we already knew there were several species waiting to be described, and almost every expedition to Madagascar revealed another one. Some were relatively straightforward to describe, but others were complicated by uncertainty surrounding older species names. Untangling that puzzle took years,” said Mark D Scherz, curator of herpetology at the Natural History Museum Denmark and lead author of the study, in a statement.
Although many of these frogs are visually similar, scientists used DNA sequencing, museum specimens, frog calls, and micro CT scans of skeletons to distinguish the different species.
“Museum collections are far more than archives of the past – they are essential scientific resources for understanding biodiversity today. By sequencing historical specimens, including the original type specimens, we were able to answer questions that have persisted for generations,” said Alice Petzold of the University of Potsdam, who led the museomics work.
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Diamonds under threat
Diamond frogs are among Madagascar’s more distinctive amphibians. Some are round, others are long legged, and while most look brown at a first glance, many of them have white, black or flashy orange markings on their thighs or lower backs to startle their predators.
The study found that nearly 24 of the 27 existing species are under threat, two of them are even critically endangered. Many of these diamonds live in forests where deforestation and fragmentation of the natural landscape are common. It is likely that there might be many more such species under threat which have not been found or studied due to a lack of field surveys.
“For many species, we still know almost nothing about their breeding biology, population sizes or ecological requirements. Without that knowledge, it becomes much more difficult to assess their conservation status and protect them effectively,” said co-author Andolalao Rakotoarison of the Institut d’Enseignement Supérieur de Soavinandriana Itasy, Madagascar.
These findings already paved the way for conservation plans in Madagascar. A workshop held in March 2026 as part of the country’s Biodiversity 30×30 Program included discussions about the newly discovered species and plans to strengthen and expand protected areas.