New Species of Frog Discovered: Highlights

New Species of Frog Discovered: Highlights

Question: Researchers have recently discovered a new species of frog in Netravali forest in South Goa. Highlight the key aspects of this discovery.

- Wildlife researchers have announced the discovery of a new species of frog in South Goa

- The new species has been discovered in Netravali forest in Southern Goa

- It has been named after State Range Forest Officer Prakash Salelkar as Indirana Salelkari

- This is a newly discovered species of leaping frog

- The species can be differentiated from the congeners via a combination of morphological characteristics

- Following the naming of a caecilians or legless amphibians after a Range Forest Officer, this is the second species to be named after an official

- This frog species has a combination of morphological traits such as a longer rather than a wider head, narrow, deep buccal cavity, vomerine teeth placed in acute closeness to each other, first finger which is longer or equal to second, oval choanae, distinct canthus rostralis, double outer pal tubercles, longer inner metatarsal tubercle, moderate webbing, finger and toe discs with crescentic deep marginal grooves restricted to the anterior side of the discs.

- Other morphological characteristics include dark brown palms and soles, mottling on the throat, dorsal skin with glandular folds without warts

- This species of frog differs from the sister taxa Indirana Chiravasi in placement as well as structure of vomerine teeth and choanae

- This species is distinct from I. chiravasi also from the viewpoint of genetic distance of 3.8 percent for 16S rRNA game

- Phylogenetic placement of Indirana salelkari on mitochondrial 12S and 16S ribosomal genes and nuclear rhodopsin gene alongside molecular clock analysis confirms this species is genetically distinct from others

Facts and Stats

- The Western Ghats of Goa lie at the meeting point of the northern and southern ghats and they are unique

- Apart from the frog, other new species discovered from the state include few species of caecilians, one spider, one dragonfly and flora in the form of some herbs

- Indirana salelkari is the 12th species of the monogeneric family Ranixalidae

- This species is endemic to Western Ghats in India

- Indirana salelkari has been discovered at Neturlim, Goa

- This makes the total number of amphibians discovered so far from Goa reach 32 plus