'Unique' frog discovered in India

[Frog News]

BBC News (London, UK) May 13th, 2010 05:27 AM: 'Unique' frog discovered in India

A new species of "brightly coloured frog" has been discovered in a remote peak in the southern part of India, scientists have told BBC News.

This reddish orange amphibian, spotted in the Eravaikulam National Park of the Western Ghats mountain range, has been named Raorchestes resplendens.

The scientists found the frog at an altitude of 2698m above sea level on the Anaimudi peak.

It inhabits a very small area of less than three square kilometres.

The discovery was made by a team of scientists including Dr S D Biju, from the School of Environmental Studies at the University of Delhi.

His collaborators were Yogesh Shouche of the National Centre for Cell Sciences in Pune; S Dutta from North Orissa University, Franky Bossuyt of the Free University of Brussels, Belgium and Alain Dubois of the France-based organisation Reptiles et Amphibians.

The frog was initially identified back in 2001. Dr Biju, who led the authentication study, explained that it took almost a decade to show, via careful study of its anatomy and genome, that this brilliantly coloured specimen was in fact a new species.
"This new species of frog has got extremely short limbs and multiple glands and swellings almost like a toad," Dr Biju told BBC News.
The species is a unique new member of the tree frog group, he explained. It is the only tree frog to have what the researchers call "macro glands".

Continued in Full Article

[CrazyAirborne]

very cool looking frog!

[Amphibians]

wow! beautfial! looks sort of a like a tomato-tree frog

[Skulldroog]

Very cool.

Finding new species of frogs is always a plus! Looks really interesting too.

[Ebony]

That's awesome. Its an amazing looking frog and the eyes match the rest of it. This is excellent news.

[Kurt]

I have 3 of these already. They're ok.

Just kidding, they gorgeous! Little Bufonid looking treefrogs.

[azwethinkweiz]

those guys look hella cool thanks for sharing the article.....if you see any follow up on these guys keep us informed.

[Jace]

What an amazing looking frog and I hope that because it is found in such a small area, it gets the protection it needs. Makes me wonder how many other species will never be discovered as they no longer exist....thanks to humans.

[Kurt]

I wonder that too.