Prelims: Current events of national and international importance
Why in News?
Recently, Scientists of the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) recorded a new species of frog in Nagaland.
- Common name – Nagaland Cascade Frog
- Scientific name – Amolops kamal
- Kingdom – Animalia
- Phylum – Chordata
- Class – Amphibia
- Order – Anura
- Family – Ranidae
- Habitat – The frog inhabits hill-stream ecosystems.
- Publication – The findings were published in the journal Records of the Zoological Survey of India.
- Nomenclature motivation – The species has been named Amolops kamal in honour of Kamal Choudhury, who was the teacher and mentor of the lead author, Bhaskar Saikia.
Key features
- Highly adapted to fast-flowing hill streams and waterfalls.
- Strong limbs, adhesive toe pads for gripping wet rocks, and extensive foot webbing.
- Scientists confirmed the distinct status of the species through integrative taxonomic analysis, including molecular phylogenetic studies.
- Evolutionary lineage – The research revealed that Amolops kamal represents a unique evolutionary lineage within the Amolops indoburmanensis species complex.
- Studies - Suggests that Amolops indoburmanensis, previously considered a single widespread species, may actually comprise several cryptic species distributed across Northeast India and neighbouring regions.
- The Asian genus Amolops currently contains 90 recognized species worldwide, of which 20 species are reported from India.
- Indian Amolops – They are mainly grouped under Amolops marmoratus, Amolops monticola, and Amolops viridimaculatus, with the marmoratus group being the most diverse.
- This discovery enriches India’s amphibian diversity and contributes significantly to taxonomic and conservation research.
Reference
The Hindu| Nagaland Cascade frog
