November 29, 2020 10:13:39 am
One type of burrowing frog discovered outside of the wild is named after the city of Bangalore.
Discovered in 2018 by Deepak P, an assistant professor at Mount Carmel College in the city, the hobbyist herpetologist had submitted images of the frog to the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI). A phylogenetic study followed to confirm the discovery.
The team of researchers who named the frog species ‘Sphaerotheca Bengaluru’ say they want to highlight the gap in amphibian documentation from non-forested areas and the need to restore frog habitats in the capital Karnataka. The frog was found in a vacant lot near Rajankunte, on the outskirts of Bangalore.
The newly discovered frog species were part of the research team’s efforts to document ‘Amphibians in the Deccan Plateau parts of Karnataka’. Their findings were published in the international journal Zootaxa.
“Amphibian discoveries in India have increased in the past and most of the findings have been concentrated in the biodiversity hotspots of the country or at least in forested landscapes with green cover. The new species was described based on morphological differences and molecular approach with known burrowing frog species (across the range, South Asia), ”the team said.
The team of researchers includes scientist KP Dinesh from ZSI Pune, Dr. Annemarie Ohler from the Institute of Systematics, Evolution, Biodiversity, National Museum of Natural History (France), Kartik Shanker from the Center for Ecological Sciences (IISc Bangalore), scientist BH Channakeshavamurthy from ZSI Kozhikode and JS Ashadevi, professor at Yuvaraaja College, Mysuru.
Researchers are now hopeful that frog species can be found outside of forests and even in heavily populated cities.
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