Alejandro Arteaga

Co-founder and former President

Alejandro Arteaga is the co-founder of Tropical Herping, where he served as the president and research director from 2009 to 2021. He obtained his biology degree from Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador. Alejandro is author of three books (Reptiles of Ecuador, Reptiles of the Galápagos, and The Amphibians and Reptiles of Mindo) and 30 scientific articles. He has described 36 new species to science and his photographic work has been featured in National Geographic and the Discovery Channel. In 2015, he was awarded in the Big Picture Natural World Photography competition.

Alejandro’s research is focused primarily on systematics and discovery of new species of tropical amphibians and reptiles, but also targets citizen-science projects for identifying species in the field, either visually using deep learning algorithms or genetically through real-time DNA barcoding.

Image of a Panther Chameleon (Furcifer pardalis)
Image of a Fringed Leaf Frog (Cruziohyla craspedopus)
Image of a Green Anaconda (Eunectes murinus)
Image of a Spiny Hedgehog-Lizard (Echinosaura horrida)
Image of an Amazonian Poison Frog (Ranitomeya ventrimaculata)
Image of an Oshaughnessy’s Chameleon (Calumma oshaughnessyi)
Image of a Tarsier Monkey Frog (Phyllomedusa tarsius)
Image of an Linda’s Torrenteer Frog (Hyloscirtus lindae)
Image of a Tarsier Monkey Frog (Phyllomedusa tarsius)
Image of a Las Gralarias Rainfrog (Pristimantis gralarias)
Image of a Parson’s Chameleon (Calumma parsonii)
Image of a Red-eyed Dwarf-Iguana (Enyalioides oshaughnessyi)
Image of a Bumpy Glassfrog (Centrolene heloderma)
Image of a Pinocchio Anole (Anolis proboscis)
Image of a Marine Iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus)
Image of an Ornate Rainfrog (Pristimantis ornatissimus)
Image of a Satanic Leaf-toad Gecko (Uroplatus phantasticus)
Image of a Red-eyed Dwarf-Iguana (Enyalioides oshaughnessyi)

Behind the scenes

Alejandro spends most of his field time exploring tropical forests around the world, photographing amphibians and reptiles, and searching for new species. At the office, he likes to create websites and write herpetological field guides or scientific papers on new species and systematics.

Image of explorer Alejandro Arteaga during a Discovery Channel expedition in Ecuador
Image of photographer Alejandro Arteaga documenting a leaf-toed gecko in Madagascar
Image of photographer Alejandro Arteaga observing a juvenile of a Galápagos giant tortoise
Image of biologist Alejandro Arteaga holding a lightbulb lizard
Image of explorer Alejandro Arteaga during a Discovery Channel expedition in Ecuador
Image of explorer Alejandro Arteaga during an amphibian survey at the Arlequín Reserve in Ecuador
Image of biologist Alejandro Arteaga during an amphibian survey at the Arlequín Reserve in Ecuador
Image of biologist Alejandro Arteaga holding a rocket frog
Image of researcher Alejandro Arteaga examining specimens at an herpetological collection