Global key areas for anuran tadpole discovery.

The article focuses on identifying global priority areas for discovering and describing the larval stages of anurans (frogs and toads), which remain largely unknown despite anurans being the most threatened group of tetrapods. By integrating global data, ancestral state reconstructions, and conservation planning tools, the study reveals that concentrating research on just 0.25% of Earth's terrestrial surface—mainly in biodiversity hotspots such as the Tropical Andes, Eastern Brazil, Tropical Africa, India, Southeast Asia, and New Guinea—could uncover over half of the undescribed free-living tadpoles. The findings highlight significant taxonomic and ecomorphological diversity among these undescribed larvae and emphasize the urgent need for targeted fieldwork to fill critical knowledge gaps that impede effective conservation, especially given the rapid habitat loss in these key regions.