Eleven previously unknown animal and plant species have been discovered by scientists in a remote forest region that they say is like “paradise”.

Three salamanders with ballistic tongues were among the finds that astounded researchers recording wildlife in the forest in Central America.

In addition to the new species, the researchers also found 5,300 previously catalogued species in the cloud forest in La Amistad National Park in Costa Rica. The area is one of the least spoilt in the world, after its human inhabitants deserted it centuries ago.

The remoteness of the park and the lack of human interference there have allowed it to flourish as one of the most ecologically valuable ecosystems in the world.

Two frogs and six plant species, including a mistletoe with a “spectacular flower”, were among the finds never before seen by scientists.

The three salamanders, one of them a dwarf species little more than an inch long, were discovered after zoologists spent nights stripping tree trunks of moss and other vegetation.

Alex Monro, of the Natural History Museum, led the expedition and said the salamanders were such slow-moving creatures that it was astonishing that they were able to feed and to find mates. Rarely was more than one found in each tree.

He said their secret weapon was a tongue that would shoot out, catch an insect and withdraw back into its mouth in seven milliseconds.

“The salamanders we found are incredibly slow. It’s baffling that they survive,” he said. “But they have this incredible tongue. It’s called a ballistic tongue – it shoots out at incredible speed with great accuracy.”

Dr Monro, a botanist, said that the cloud forest in the national park was an amazing place to search for wildlife because it had been allowed to thrive without human interference. “For me, it’s paradise,” he said.

“Finding so many new species in one area is exciting, particularly as this is probably the only place in the world you can find these animals. It shows that we still have a lot to learn about the variety of wildlife in this region. We have four more expeditions planned this year – who knows what we could find when we go back?”

The expeditions are part of the Darwin Initiative, funded by the British Government, which aims to provide information about the species, types and numbers in the national park, which covers 400,000 hectares (990,000 acres) in Costa Rica and Panama.

Researchers from the Natural History Museum, London, are working in collaboration with scientists from Costa Rica’s national biodiversity institute, INBio, the University of Costa Rica, the University of Panama and Panama’s national parks authority.

La Amistad is a Unesco World Heritage Site and it is thought that it is host to at least 250 species of reptile and amphibian, 600 species of bird, 215 species of mammal and 14,000 species of plant.

Finds

Plants Pilea, stenospermation, oreopanax, psitticanthus, cuatresia and cestrum

Salamanders Two new bolitoglossa and a nototriton (dwarf salamander)

Frogs Two new eleuthero-dactylI

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