“Extinct” Red-bellied Frog Specimen Found in Costa Rica

Since 1986, researchers have believed the rare red-bellied frog (known in Spanish as Rana Vientre Rojo) to be extinct, but apparently it’s just been in a pretty good hiding spot.

Costa Rican researchers Gilbert Alvarado Barboza and Randall Jiménez Quirós have confirmed they found one specimen of this native frog species on September 19, 2016, during an amphibian count in Juan Castro Blanco National Park, in the province of Alajuela.

Alvarado explained that they found the frog hiding in a small cave near a creek. The specimen is an adult female and measures just over 6 centimeters (2.3 inches) long.

Before this discovery, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) had officially declared the amphibian extinct in 2004.