Ian James Photography

Plectrohyla exquisita

It was when I was trekking through the cloudforest in Cusuco National Park, Honduras, that this individual was chanced upon. It was perfectly content to sit there, posing for photos before it was quickly measured and counted.

This beautiful frog is only found Honduras and is considered critically endangered. The scarcity of its remaining habitat is the main threat to the species. However, the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, which causes the fatal skin disease chytridiomycosis, is a looming danger that has recently begun to spread throughout the amphibian population throughout Central America. Only time will tell if this exquisite frog will manage to cling on and survive.