Posted on 09/19/2011 9:10:02 AM PDT by fight_truth_decay
All of the found and re-discovered species belong to the Night frog group, genus Nyctibatrachus. Thanks go to S.D. Biju, an amphibian biologist at the University of Delhi, and his team for tirelessly scouring the wildlife rich Western Ghats region, and performing DNA testing of the frogs. Biju and his colleagues over the years have discovered an astounding number of new frog species, 45. That number is likely to increase.
Animal discoveries, however, often come with serious concern, since many of these species are few and far between and are desperately needing conservation help. At present, 32 percent of the world's amphibian species are threatened with extinction.
"The major threat to amphibians in India is massive habitat loss," Biju was quoted as saying in a press release. "Any conservation action taken for amphibians will also conserve some of the world's most unique wildlife."
Below are the 12 new frogs, starting with the one that meows like a cat...
(Excerpt) Read more at news.discovery.com ...
Mug shots of the innocent TNFG, once living life free in India, now posted for the world, evil frog collectors; and yes, even Gordon Ramsay to see! ;)
That’s what happens when froggies go a-courtin’ to Miss Mousey and other species.
So you mean Diversity Isn’t Lost?
Mug shots---the link posted earlier was undiscoverable!
Thanks! I like frogs. We have these awful Cane Toads here (imported). They are toxic to pets and I think they eat the native frogs. I do away with them when I see them. My little intervention for the local ecosystem.
They now know who you are [the non-citizen ones]....stay safe.
Ladies and gentlemen ... the Night Frog Group!
Lights up, guitar chord: “Jeremiah was a *ribit*”
Crowd roars .... lighters aloft
I thought Glowbull Warming and pollution was killing all the amphibians on earth?!?
Biology Prof’s have spent at least 30 years “inventing” “endangered species”!
They give students field credit for stomping through grids, documenting flora and fauna, and then pretending they’ve found a species or sub-species unique to that location.
The prof’s make this “data” available to any and every anti-growth, enviro-whacko group in the world.
It takes decades for opponents to disprove these claims, and it makes the endeavor untimely and uneconomical.
I’m sure Andrew Zimmern is on his way to the region to report on how these species taste.
Oops! I’ve been outed! :)
I might add that the differences between the subspecies of frogs are only important to the half-dozen or so people studying them, and the frogs themselves.
To everyone else (myself included), they're catagorized under "things that eat bugs and say 'Ribbit' ".
Well, one of the TFNG now says.... "Meow".
So, last week we didn't know they even existed. Today we need new laws to protect them. Amazing.
Reminds me of an advertisement for an old movie FROGS from 1971. The add showed a frog with a human hand and arm sticking out of it’s mouth.
He had it coming..
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