The Samkos Bush Frog: Green Blood, Turquoise Bones

Photo by J. Holden FFI

Meet the Samkos bush frog.

First formally identified in the Cardamom Mountains of Cambodia's south-west as late as 2007 this frog is considered extremely rare.

However, with little known about the Samkos (Chiromantis samkosensis) it's conservation status is classified as data deficient.

The Samkos:

~ has green blood.This is the result of waste product processed in the liver then passing through the blood.

~It's possible this green blood is unpalatable and thus protects the frog from predators.

~It's bones are turquoise in colour.

~The male has a distinctive rising thrill. Without such a call this tiny (less than one-inch), well-camouflaged frog, would be all but impossible to find.

~A subsequent expedition to look for more frogs largely failed- only one was found- as a breeding pond where they were first discovered had been filled, in preparation for a new road.