Nature up close: Birds, snakes and bats of Costa Rica

CBS NEWS January 4, 2019, 11:44 AM

By "Sunday Morning" contributing videographer Judy Lehmberg.

We recently had the opportunity to travel to Costa Rica to photograph wildlife. Because there are so many national parks in the country, it isn't difficult to find plenty of birds, but also a few snakes and bats, if you look in the right places, and even a poison arrow frog or two.

The short video below illustrates several species of birds found at mid-elevations in the Costa Rican mountains. There are several species of toucans, including the keel-billed, the chestnut-mandibled, and the collared aracari. Until recently the toucan's bill shape and size was a mystery. It possesses the largest bill in relationship to a bird's size of any birds on Earth. Many biologists thought it was to attract a mate, and maybe it is, but a more important use may be temperature regulation. The toucan's bill is extremely lightweight but it does have vascular tissue – blood vessels that can expand or contract depending on temperature.

Scientists have used infrared thermography, a technique that allows them to see heat distribution change over time in a living animal. When it is cooler toucans constrict their bill blood vessels, allowing it to cool down without cooling the rest of its body. When it gets warm the bill blood vessels open up and provide more surface area for cooling. So now we know the toucan's bill is not only beautiful, it is functional as well.

Another group of birds common in Costa Rica is the honeycreepers. Related to tanagers, honeycreepers come in a variety of colors ranging from light green females to deep blue males. They spend their days looking for fruit, nectar and insects.

More:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nature-up-close-birds-snakes-and-bats-of-costa-rica/

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Cute Newfound Species Of Tree Frog Has Funny-Looking Claw
4 January 2019, 11:24 am EST By Jester Valdez Tech Times



Hyloscirtus hillisi is the latest member in Hyloscirtus family of frogs discovered by biologists.
These tree frogs can be found in nearby streams from Costa Rica to the Andes of Bolivia,
Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. ( Gustavo Pazmiño, BIOWEB Ecuador )

A newfound species of a tree frog is discovered at a remote mountaintop of a largely unexplored range of Cordillera del Cóndor in the Andes mountain ranges. These frogs look cute with their funny-looking claw.

Hyloscirtus hillisi is the latest member of the Hyloscirtus family of frogs, 37 species of which were previously identified.

Cute Newfound Tree Frog Species
These tree frogs can be found in nearby streams from Costa Rica to the Andes of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. For two days, biologists had to walk along a difficult terrain to reach the mountaintop.

"Then, between sweat and exhaustion, we arrived to the tabletop where we found a dwarf forest. The rivers had blackwater and the frogs were sitting along them, on branches of brown shrubs similar in color to the frogs' own. The frogs were difficult to find, because they blended with their background," said Alex Achig, one of the biologists who discovered the cute species.

More:
https://www.techtimes.com/articles/237048/20190104/cute-newfound-species-of-tree-frog-has-funny-looking-claw.htm

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New species of treefrog discovered in the Andes has a claw-like thumb used as a defence against predators and as a weapon in fights with competing males

New species of treefrog was discovered by field biologists in the eastern Andes
Unusual frog has a claw-like thumb which scientists believe is used as a weapon
It may be used to attack rival males as well as defend against predator species
By VICTORIA BELL FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 07:48 EST, 3 January 2019 | UPDATED: 10:16 EST, 3 January 2019

A new species of treefrog has been discovered in a remote and largely unexplored area of the eastern Andes.

The frog has an extraordinary claw-like thumb which scientists say could be used as a weapon against predators and competing males.

Field biologists made the discovery during a two week expedition to a remote flat-topped mountain at Cordillera del Cóndor on the border of Peru.

The team walked for two days along steep terrain before they came across the dwarf forest, where the species were living.

More:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-6554087/New-species-treefrog-discovered-Andes.html

Science:
New species of treefrog discovered in the Andes has a claw-like thumb used as a defence against predators and as a weapon in fights with competing males

New species of treefrog was discovered by field biologists in the eastern Andes
Unusual frog has a claw-like thumb which scientists believe is used as a weapon
It may be used to attack rival males as well as defend against predator species
By VICTORIA BELL FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 07:48 EST, 3 January 2019 | UPDATED: 10:16 EST, 3 January 2019

A new species of treefrog has been discovered in a remote and largely unexplored area of the eastern Andes.

The frog has an extraordinary claw-like thumb which scientists say could be used as a weapon against predators and competing males.

Field biologists made the discovery during a two week expedition to a remote flat-topped mountain at Cordillera del Cóndor on the border of Peru.

The team walked for two days along steep terrain before they came across the dwarf forest, where the species were living.

More:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-6554087/New-species-treefrog-discovered-Andes.html