South America is home to the greatest diversity of amphibians on Earth. And as this map shows, amphibian diversity in South America peaks in the northwest Amazon region in and around Yasuní National Park. Thus, the rainforests of Yasuní contain the greatest diversity of amphibians in the world.

Tiny Ecuador ranks third in the world with 447 amphibian species, 105 of which live in Yasuní. And Ecuador ranks third in the world with 163 species of threatened amphibians, a number of which live in Yasuní. Thus, Yasuní National Park is a critical refuge for amphibians, especially in the midst of the global amphibian decline. Almost 40% of amphibians in North, Central, and South America are threatened, much higher than the currents risks facing birds and mammals.

For more information on global amphibian diversity, check out the new Global Amphibian Assessment at http://www.globalamphibians.org/

And for more information about amphibians in North, Central, and South America, check out the Nature Serve publication “Disappearing Jewels: The Status of New World Amphibians” at http://www.natureserve.org/publications/disappearingjewels.jsp

Two more great sites put up by biologists who work at Yasuni are:
www.tadpole.org and
http://www.bio.utexas.edu/grad/ecuador/web/yasuni/esp/anfyas.htm