One week in Apayao forest reveals 15 reptile, amphibian species
BAGUIO, Philippines – A week of searching through the forests of Calanasan turned up at least 15 species of frogs, snakes, geckos, skinks, and other reptiles and amphibians, offering scientists another glimpse of just how much of Apayao’s wildlife remains to be documented.
Among the specimens collected from August 13 to 19 were three unusual frogs whose physical characteristics have raised the possibility that they may represent species not yet described by science. The specimens, provisionally referred to in field documentation as “meyok,” “yellow eye,| and “pipipi,” will still undergo taxonomic examination by specialists before scientists can determine whether they are indeed new species.
But researchers are not calling them new species yet.
The specimens must first undergo further taxonomic examination and comparison with known species before specialists can determine what they are.
That uncertainty is itself part of the significance of the survey — that even within a province already recognized internationally for its biodiversity, scientists are still building a basic inventory of what lives in its forests.
The survey was conducted by the University of Santo Tomas-Herpetological Research Collection and Kyoto University, in partnership with the Philippine Eagle Foundation and the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) Calanasan. Philippine herpetologists Arvin Diesmos and Emerson Sy also joined the fieldwork.
Researchers explored selected forest habitats in Calanasan, recording amphibians and reptiles encountered during the survey and collecting information that can be used to establish where species occur and what habitats they depend on.
Such surveys are known as herpetofaunal surveys, field studies focused on reptiles and amphibians. Beyond compiling species lists, they can provide baseline information for future research, conservation planning, and monitoring changes in forest ecosystems.
The work adds another layer to what is already known about Apayao.
The province forms part of the yApayaos Biosphere Reserve, which UNESCO recognized in 2024. The nearly 396,000-hectare reserve contains one of the Philippines’ remaining lowland forest landscapes and the Apayao Lowland Forest Key Biodiversity Area, known for high levels of endemism and habitat for threatened wildlife, including the Philippine eagle.
The Apayao Lowland Forest itself is internationally recognized as a Key Biodiversity Area and covers about 177,000 hectares. Existing biodiversity records already include threatened amphibians, among them the pygmy forest frog, Luzon narrow-mouthed frog, and Platymantis cagayanensis.
For CENRO Calanasan Officer-in-Charge Dorothy Joy Cayaba, the importance of the latest survey goes beyond the possibility of naming something new.
“The documentation of at least 15 herpetofaunal species, including specimens that may potentially be new to science, demonstrates how much more there is to discover in our forests,” Cayaba said.
She said documenting species also gives conservation planners a clearer picture of what needs protection and where.
The field team used the recently inaugurated yApayaos Biosphere Reserve Research Center as its research and coordination base. The survey was conducted with the permission and support of the provincial government of Apayao and the Calanasan municipal government.
Further studies will determine whether the three unusual frog specimens are genuinely distinct from species already known to science.
For now, their importance may lie less in what they eventually get called than in what their discovery already suggests — that Apayao’s forests are still revealing what lives inside them. – Rappler.com
