There is hope on the green front. That is what the croaks resonating from the Western Ghats proclaim. A team of scientists from Delhi University, Bombay Natural History, Zoological Survey of India and Brussels' Vrije University has discovered 12 new frog species in the Ghats.
The discovery was announced in 'Zootaxa', the international journal for zoologists, on Wednesday in a paper, 'A taxonomic review of the Night Frog genus Nyctibatrachus Boulenger, 1882 in the Western Ghats, India with description of twelve new species'.
The 12 species of frogs belong to the genus or scientific classification 'Nyctibatrachus' - 'Nycti' from the Greek word for night and 'batrachus', the Greek word for frog. The findings included the rediscovery of three frog species which were not seen for more than 75 years since their original descriptions by C R Narayana Rao in the 1920s and 1930s. The Coorg Night Frog hadn't been seen for 91 years. The Kempholey and Forest Night Frogs had been missing for 75 years.
S D Biju, from Delhi University's Systematics lab, now has a personal tally of 45 new amphibian species. "The Night Frogs require unique habitats - either fast-flowing streams or moist forest floor - for breeding and survival. Further, it is the only group of frogs that can fertilize and reproduce without physical contact," he said.
"They lived alongside dinosaurs, which have long since disappeared, but amazingly frogs continue to exist," he says. Biju is not optimistic about their future. "Their existence is precarious. If the present trends in extinction continue, many frogs could disappear forever," he says. Six out of the 12 new species are from unprotected, highly degraded habitats and require immediate attention to conserve these species and their habitats, he adds.
Source: Times of India Oct 13, 2011
The discovery was announced in 'Zootaxa', the international journal for zoologists, on Wednesday in a paper, 'A taxonomic review of the Night Frog genus Nyctibatrachus Boulenger, 1882 in the Western Ghats, India with description of twelve new species'.
The 12 species of frogs belong to the genus or scientific classification 'Nyctibatrachus' - 'Nycti' from the Greek word for night and 'batrachus', the Greek word for frog. The findings included the rediscovery of three frog species which were not seen for more than 75 years since their original descriptions by C R Narayana Rao in the 1920s and 1930s. The Coorg Night Frog hadn't been seen for 91 years. The Kempholey and Forest Night Frogs had been missing for 75 years.
S D Biju, from Delhi University's Systematics lab, now has a personal tally of 45 new amphibian species. "The Night Frogs require unique habitats - either fast-flowing streams or moist forest floor - for breeding and survival. Further, it is the only group of frogs that can fertilize and reproduce without physical contact," he said.
"They lived alongside dinosaurs, which have long since disappeared, but amazingly frogs continue to exist," he says. Biju is not optimistic about their future. "Their existence is precarious. If the present trends in extinction continue, many frogs could disappear forever," he says. Six out of the 12 new species are from unprotected, highly degraded habitats and require immediate attention to conserve these species and their habitats, he adds.
Source: Times of India Oct 13, 2011
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