Galápagos had no native amphibians. Then it was invaded by hundreds of thousands of frogs

Scientists are only beginning to grasp the scale of the issue and understand what impact the tree frogs may have on the islands’ rare wildlife

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n the way to her office at the Charles Darwin research station, biologist Miriam San José crouches down near a shallow pond shrouded by vegetation and reaches deep into the foliage, pulling out a small green plastic box recorder.

She left it there overnight to capture the infamous croaks of a Fowler’s snouted treefrog (Scinax quinquefasciatus), known to Galápagos scientists as an invasive threat, with repercussions researchers are only beginning to grasp.

Despite abounding with wildlife – centuries-old giant tortoises, swimming iguanas, and the finches that sparked Darwin’s theory of evolution – the Galápagos archipelago off the coast of Ecuador has long been free from amphibians. Until recently, no frogs, toads, newts, or salamanders waddled or hopped on its volcanic islands.