Fifteen frog species have been discovered in the Western Ghats region of India, including 12 completely new species and three that had not been spotted in nearly 100 years.
The “night frogs”, so named for their preference for evening activity, were found by amphibian expert Associate Professor S. D. Biju from the University of Delhi and researchers from the Bombay Natural History Society, the Zoological Survey of India and Vrije University in Belgium as part of a global hunt for frogs that have not been seen for many years.
The researchers published a paper on their discovery in the journal Zootaxa.
Pictures of the three “lost” species follow:
Nyctibatrachus sanctipalustris or the Coorg Night Frog, had not been seen for 91 years.SD Biju/www.frogindia.org
Nyctibatrachus sylvaticus or Forest Night Frog, which had not been seen for 75 years.SD Biju/www.frogindia.org
Nannobatrachus kempholeyensis or Kempholey Night Frog, which had also not been seen for 75 years.SD Biju/www.frogindia.org
And the 12 new frog species:
Nyctibatrachus periyar or Periyar Night Frog.SD Biju/www.frogindia.org
Nyctibatrachus poocha or the Meowing Night Frog.SD Biju/www.frogindia.org
Nyctibatrachus jog or Jog’s Night Frog.SD Biju/www.frogindia.org
Nyctibatrachus indraneili or Indraneil’s Night Frog.SD Biju/www.frogindia.org
Nyctibatrachus gavi or Gavi Night Frog.SD Biju/www.frogindia.org
Nyctibatrachus deveni or Deven’s Night Frog.SD Biju/www.frogindia.org
Nyctibatrachus danieli or Daniel’s Night Frog.SD Biju/www.frogindia.org
Nyctibatrachus grandis or Wayanad Night Frog.SD Biju/www.frogindia.org
Nyctibatrachus vrijeuni or VUB Night Frog.SD Biju/www.frogindia.org
Nyctibatrachus acanthodermis or Spinular Night Frog.SD Biju/www.frogindia.org
Nyctibatrachus shiradi or Shiradi Night Frog.SD Biju/www.frogindia.org
Nyctibatrachus pillaii or Pillai’s Night Frog.SD Biju/www.frogindia.org
