River frog scales new heights on Tanzania's Kilimanjaro in rare alpine find

A female Amietia wittei adult in its habitat at 3,870 metres altitude in a stream near the Scott Fischer camp. © Jack Wardale

Local guides in Tanzania have made an unexpected discovery on the icy heights of Kilimanjaro – a river frog spotted at over 4,000 metres altitude. While its spectacular leap to Africa's highest mountain reveals the potential of the continent's little-known alpine wildlife, it also raises concerns over climate change.

Named Amietia wittei after Belgian herpetologist Gaston-François De Witte, the frog was thought to live only at lower altitudes, so members of an expedition up Kilimanjaro were not looking for amphibians.