Great leap forward in Western Ghats

A joint team of researchers from India and the US has discovered a new frog species endemic to the Western Ghats region after a gap of 137 years, bringing to light, once more, the hidden riches of the biodiversity hotspot.

The species belongs to the family of ‘leaping frogs’ of southern India and to the genus Walkerana. There only three species in the world, with the last one discovered in 1882.

Often referred as terrestrial frog, the new species has been named Walkerana muduga after the Mudugar community living in the Palghat area.

Into the mountains

Following the discovery, scientists called on researchers to explore high elevation massifs of the Western Ghats region, believed to contain several unknown species.

The latest discovery, which was published in the scientific journal ‘Zootaxa’, has proved that these endemic species are distributed widely across the northern region of the Palghat gap.

“After 137 years, a new species of the genus Walkerana has been discovered,” said KP Dinesh, lead author and scientist at the Zoological Survey of India. “The last few species date to 1876 and 1882. It is interesting to know about the presence of a new species from this genus on the Northern side of the Palghat gap. Prior to this discovery, other species of this genus were endemic to south of the Palghat gap.”