Scientists have discovered a frog in Ecuador that can rapidly change its skin patterns to mimic the texture it sits on . Spotted in the western Andean cloud forest , the creature is believed to be the first known amphibian to have this shape-shifting capability . Researchers claim the ability to change skin texture to reflect its surroundings may enable the frog to camouflage itself from birds and other predators – but say this has yet to be proven . Scroll down for video . Scientists have discovered a frog in Ecuador that can rapidly change its skin patterns to mimic the texture it sits on.Spotted in the western Andean cloud forest , the creature is believed to be the first known amphibian to have this shape-shifting capability . The new species , called Pristimantis mutabilis was discovered by a Case Western Reserve University PhD student and her husband at Reserva Las Gralarias . Katherine Krynak spotted the spiny frog , which nearly the width of a marble , sitting on a moss-covered leaf . The Krynaks captured the frog , and nicknamed it 'punk rocker ' because of the thorn-like spines covering its body . The next day , Ms Krynak pulled the frog from the cup and set it on a smooth white sheet of plastic . It was n't 'punk ' - it was smooth-skinned . The new species , called Pristimantis mutabilis - or mutable rainfrog - was discovered by a Case Western Reserve University PhD student and her husband at Reserva Las Gralarias . This image shows how the frog changes from spiky to almost smooth in just over 300 seconds . They assumed that , much to her dismay , she must have picked up the wrong frog . ' I then put the frog back in the cup and added some moss , ' she said . 'The spines came back ... we simply could n't believe our eyes , our frog changed skin texture . ' I put the frog back on the smooth white background . Its skin became smooth . ' 'The spines and colouration help them blend into mossy habitats , making it hard for us to see them , ' she said . 'But whether the texture really helps them elude predators still needs to be tested . ' In this image , one of the frogs can even be seen sitting next to her transparent eggs , where the heads and tails of developing tadpoles can be clearly seen inside . This is the astonishing 'glass ' frog which manages to elude its predators with its see through skin - rendering it almost invisible . The Fleischmann 's Glass Frog looks as if it is changing colour as it moves , as the background shows through its transparent flesh . The bizarre camouflage means you can still see its heart , intestines , and red blood vessels . Photographer Thomas Marent snapped the frogs - with bulging yellow eyes - underneath leaves at a nature reserve in Choco , Colombia . In this image , one of the frogs can even be seen sitting next to her transparent eggs , where the heads and tails of developing tadpoles can be clearly seen inside . During the next three years , a team of fellow biologists studied the frogs . They found the animals shift skin texture in a little more than three minutes . A separate research them at Universidad Tecnológica Indoamérica , Ecuador , discovered that Primates sobetes , a relative with similar markings but about twice the size of P. mutabilis , has the same trait . Because the appearance of animals has long been one of the keys to identifying them as a certain species , the researchers believe could mean many species have been missed .
Pristimantis mutabilis was spotted in Ecuador 's Andean cloud forest . It shifts its skin texture to match what it is sitting on in just over 300 seconds . This may to be protect itself from predators , but this is yet to be proven .