New Delhi: Scientists have discovered a new species of see-through frog and warned that the amphibian may already be at threat of extinction.


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The frog (Hyalinobatrachium yaku), discovered in the Amazonian lowlands of Ecuador has unique physical and behavioural traits.


The dark green spots on its back and its reproductive behaviour mark it out as different from known frogs.


"Males guard the eggs, which are attached below a tree's leaves, until they hatch and fall on the below water stream," said Juan Guayasamin, of the Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador.


"Not all glass frogs have hearts that are visible through the chest. In some, the heart itself is white, so you don't see the red blood," said Paul Hamilton, of US-based organisation Biodiversity Group.


"Amphibians are the most threatened vertebrate class on the planet," Ariadne Angulo of the amphibian specialist group at the International Union for Conservation of Nature, was quoted as saying by 'New Scientist'.


Glass frogs need pristine streams to breed in, researchers said.


(With PTI inputs)