Bengaluru (Karnataka): A group of researchers from multiple Indian institutions and one from France has found a new species of burrowing frog and named it ''Sphaerotheca Bengaluru'', honouring India's Silicon City.
Deepak P, assistant professor, Mount Carmel College, KP Dinesh from Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), Pune, Annemarie Ohler from the Institute of Systematic, Evolution, Biodiversity, National Museum of Natural History, France, Prof Kartik Shanker from the Centre for Ecological Sciences (CES), Indian Institute of Science (IISc), BH Channakeshavamurthy from ZSI, Calicut and JS Ashadevi, professor, Yuvaraja’s College, Mysuru, conducted the study.
“Amphibian discoveries in India have been rising in the recent past with most findings concentrated on the biodiversity hotspots of the country or at least forested landscapes with green cover. In one of the efforts of documenting ‘Amphibians in the Deccan Plateau parts of Karnataka’, Deepak encountered the new species of frog and published his findings in a collaborative effort with other institutes’ scientists,” a statement issued here said.
“We sampled a set of frog specimens fitting the generic description of Sphaerotheca but not matching the descriptions of any of the extant species of the genus,” the statement said.
They then carried out site-specific field searches in and around the degraded ecosystems of Bengaluru between September 2018 and October 2019 to collect burrowing frogs and document them.
New species of frog found in unexpected Location:
The discovery of a new species of frog in Bengaluru in an unexpected location not only indicates that the city is home to other uncatalogued species, but has also come as a stark warning on the pollution of water bodies.
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