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.
