In 2007 , while trek through the jungle of northeast India in search of new frog species , noted Indian biologistSathyabhama Das Bijuaccidentally re - hear an old one : a tiny tree amphibious aircraft that had n’t been seen in almost 150 days .
According to the BBC , Biju hear “ a full melodious orchestra coming from the tree elevation ” and determine to investigate . He stop up finding a golf ball - sized brute that he identified asPolypedates jerdonii , a frog that was last pick out in the wild around 1870 . The long - recede batrachian may have stayed hidden for all these year because it lives in Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree holes up to 19 feet above ground . Since the remote part also stop few scientist , it ’s also probable that no one was around to catalog its existence .
But it turns out that Biju — who has discovered slews of frog coinage in India — found more than just an " nonextant " toad . A recent studypublished inPLOS ONEshows that the toad is so unequaled , it ask a fresh name . Frankixalus jerdonii , as it ’s now known , has such distinct DNA , feed behavior , and anatomy that it represents an completely Modern genus , the researcher say .
Unlike other frogs , the BBC notes , F. jerdoniiadults eat up botany — not insects or larva . Its tadpoles are also singular : They cover from eggs laid on the inside wall of tree diagram hollows containing small pools of water . There , they ’re fed unimpregnated ball by female toad until they develop into adults . Other unusual features ? The study ’s pollywog each had eggs in their intestine , and unlike similar specie , they did n’t have tooth rows .
Luckily , the frog is more plentiful than biologists had antecedently thought . Now it ’s up to environmentalist to ensure that deforestation and other unsustainable practices do n’t threatenFrankixalus jerdonii’ssurvival .
[ h / tBBCviaNPR ]
