( CNN ) -- Around 200 new species of frogs have been found in Madagascar , one of the world 's biodiversity hotspots . A study has found nearly 200 new species of frogs in Madagascar . A study identified between 129 and 221 new species of frogs on the island . The Spanish Scientific Research Council ( CSIC ) , who carried out the study , believe the find could practically double the number of amphibians known in the world if the results are extrapolated at a global scale . The study , published in the journal `` Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA , '' suggests that the number of amphibian species in Madagascar has been significantly underestimated . `` The diversity of species in Madagascar is far from being known and there is still a lot of scientific research to be done . Our data suggest that the number of new species of amphibians not only has been underestimated but it is spatially widespread , even in well studied areas , '' said Professor David R. Vieites , CSIC researcher to the press at the Spanish National Natural Sciences Museum in Madrid . `` For example , two of the most visited and studied national parks , Ranomafana and Mantadía/Analamazaotra , harbor 31 and 10 new species respectively . '' Dr. Frank Glaw , curator of herpetology at the Zoologische Staatssammlung from Munich was part of the research team : `` During the past 15 years , we discovered and described over 100 new frog species from Madagascar , which led us to believe that our species inventory is almost complete . But as our new surveys show , there are many more species than we suspected , '' he said in a press statement . The paper suggests that the total biodiversity on the island could be much higher in other species as well , so the actual destruction of natural habitats may be affecting more animals than previously thought . This has important consequences for conservation planning , as the rate of destruction of rainforests in Madagascar has been one of the highest in the planet , with more than 80 percent of the historic surface of rainforest already lost , according to the study 's authors . Almost a quarter of the new species discovered have not been found yet in protected areas , but the unstable political situation in Madagascar has also been cited as hampering conservation efforts . `` Although a lot of reserves and national parks have been created in Madagascar during the last decade , the actual situation of politic instability is allowing the cut of the forest within national parks , generating a lot of uncertainty about the future of the planned network of protected areas '' , said Vieites . Madagascar is the fourth largest island in the world and one of the most biodiverse areas globally , with a high degree of endemic species . `` To get an idea of its biodiversity -- while in the Iberian Peninsula [ there ] are about 30 species of amphibians and in Germany about 20 , in a single locality in Madagascar we can find around 100 species of frogs , '' said Vieites . Dr. Miguel Vences , professor at the Technical University of Braunschweig , Germany , who was also part of the study team , and believes that a century of new species discovery is just beginning : `` People think that we know which plant and animal species live on this planet . But the majority of life forms on Earth is still awaiting scientific recognition . ''
Nearly 200 new species of amphibians found on biodiversity hotspot of Madagascar . Study found many outside of the island 's conservation areas . Political instability in the country makes conservation efforts extra difficult .