Arunachal Pradesh: New Species Of Horned Frog Discovered In Tale Wildlife Sanctuary

ITANAGAR: A new species of Frog has been found in the Tale wildlife Sanctuary of Arunachal Pradesh. The scientists of Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) have discovered this rare specie of frog.

This identification of the additional species has enhanced India’s herpetofaunal diversity which was announced by the officials on Tuesday.

The new species of frog happens to be a forest dwelling horned frog which has been identified by ZSI researchers from Shillong, Itanagar and Pune.

This discovery, published in the latest edition of the Zoological Survey of India, corrects a previous report from 2019 which identified the frog as the Maoson horned frog (Xenophrys maosonensis) in India.

Scientist Bhaskar Saikia explained in an interview with PTI that the reclassification was due to genetic differences found between the Indian specimens and those from Vietnam and China.

The research team has been led by Saikia, along with Bikramjit Sinha from ZSI Shillong, KP Dinesh and A. Shabnam from ZSI Pune, and Ilona Jacinta Kharkongor from ZSI Itanagar.

Meanwhile, earlier last year, scientists had discovered a new species of ‘music frog’ from Arunachal Pradesh based on morphological, molecular, and acoustic evidence.

The new frog of the genus Nidirana is phenotypically distinct from its congeners by a combination of morphological characters, the scientists claimed in an article published in the November 15 edition of the journal Zootaxa. 

The scientists Bitupan Boruah, V Deepak, and Abhijit Das conducted field surveys in Changlang and Lohit districts of the northeastern state between August and September of 2022.

Nestled within vegetation in shallow pools of water, the scientists found male frogs with ‘robust’ bodies calling loudly. Other specimens were heard from nearby marshy areas, the edges of a newly constructed pond, and the side of a nearby road, as mentioned in the article. 

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