Scientists ID New Genus of Tree Frogs Long Thought Extinct ‘Frogs Have Been Around for 350 Million Years’

International FRIDAY, JANUARY 22, 2016 16 Scientists ID new genus of tree frogs long thought extinct ‘Frogs have been around for 350 million years’ NEW DELHI: For more than a century, two mysteri- Industrial growth amid a decade-long economic ous tree frog specimens collected by a British natu- boom has also increased pollution, to which frogs ralist in 1870 and housed at the Natural History are particularly vulnerable. That same sensitivity to Museum in London were assumed to be part of a climate and water quality makes them perfect envi- vanished species, never again found in the wild. ronmental barometers, putting them at risk when Until now. A group of scientists, led by renowned ecological systems go awry. Of the more than 7,000 Indian biologist Sathyabhama Das Biju, has rediscov- amphibian species known globally, about 32 per- ered the frogs and also identified them as part of a cent are threatened with extinction, according to new genus - one step higher than a species on the the International Union for Conservation of Nature. taxonomic ranking. Not only have they found the “This frog is facing extreme stress in these areas, and frogs in abundance in northeast Indian jungles, they could be pushed to extinction simply from habitat believe they could also be living across a wide loss,” Biju said. “We’re lucky in a way to have found it swathe of Asia from China to Thailand. before that happens, but we’re all worried.” “This is an exciting find, but it doesn’t mean the frogs are safe,” Biju said, adding that he hopes the Collected specimens discovery leads to more awareness of the dangers of Finding the frogs was an accident. The team had unfettered development to the animals. The frogs been searching the forest floor for other amphibians were found at high altitudes in four northeast Indian in 2007 when, one night, “we heard a full musical states, underlining the rain-soaked region’s role as a orchestra coming from the treetops. It was magical. biodiversity hotspot. Some of the forest areas where Of course we had to investigate,” Biju said. For the Biju’s team collected frogs in 2007 and 2008 were study of the new frog genus, Frankixalus, published already slashed and burned by 2014 for agricultural Wednesday by the Public Library of Science journal development. The region’s tropical forests are quick- PLOS ONE, Biju and his doctoral students teamed up ly disappearing because of programs to cut trees, with researchers from the central Indian state of plant rice, expand human settlements and build Pune, Sri Lanka, Brussels and the American Museum NEW DELHI: In this 2007 photo provided by biologist SD Biju, a Frankixalus jerdonii, roads. of Natural History. belonging to a newly found genus of frogs, sits on the branch of a tree. — AP photos They looked at the frogs’ behavior, collected poorly inventoried,” said James Hanken, a biology specimens and described their outer appearance professor and director of the Museum of and skeletal features. But it wasn’t until they had Comparative Zoology at Harvard University. Given sequenced the frogs’ genetic code that they con- the habitat threats and alarming rate of extinctions firmed it as a new genus, and surprisingly found worldwide, he said the “remarkable” tree frog find another DNA match from a single tadpole specimen “points out that we may be losing even more reported recently under a mistaken identity in China. species than we know or can fully document.” “It The frogs had long been considered lost to science, doesn’t in any way offset the tragic losses repre- with the first - and only - previously known speci- sented by global amphibian extinction,” said mens collected in 1870 by British naturalist T.C. Hanken, who was not involved in the tree frog Jerdon in the forests of Darjeeling. Over decades, the study. frogs were reclassified at least four times in cases of Biju’s team named the new frog genus incorrect identity as scientists drew conclusions from Frankixalus after herpetologist Franky Bossuyt, who their enlarged snouts or the webbing between their was Biju’s adviser when he was a student at the toes. Biju believes the frogs remained hidden from Vrije Universiteit in Brussels. Only two species with- science so long because of their secretive lifestyle liv- in the genus have been identified, including the ing in tree holes at heights up to 6 meters (20 feet) Frankixalus jeronii first described in the 19th centu- above ground. Most tree frogs live in shrubs or tree ry. The scientists are still trying to confirm whether holes closer to the ground. But other experts sug- a second collected species was mistakenly named gest that, while the uniquely high habitat does make within another genus of tree frogs. There are now them hard to find, the frogs probably remained in 18 tree frog genera known worldwide. The study obscurity simply because there are so few scientists documents the tree frogs’ unusual maternal behav- working in the remote region. ior, with the females laying fertilized eggs in a tree NEW DELHI: Preserved tadpoles of a frog named Frankixalus jerdonii, a new genus of hole filled with water, and then returning at regular frogs, are seen at Systematics Lab at the University of Delhi, Department of More species intervals after the tadpoles hatch to feed them with Environmental Studies. “This part of Southeast Asia, in particular, is unfertilized eggs. — AP Maharashtra is first state to give Mrinalini Sarabhai, legendary Indian surrogacy mothers maternity benefits classical dancer, dies Western India’s Maharashtra rally or through a surrogate - the lucrative $400-million-a-year business MUMBAI: NEW DELHI: Legendary Indian classical dancer, Mrinalini has become the first state to extend woman still has to look after the with over 3,000 fertility clinics. Most Sarabhai, has died from complications related to old age, full maternity benefits to women who child,” said BJ Gadekar, a deputy sec- women’s rights groups in India are crit- her family said. She was 98. Sarabhai was admitted to a have babies using a surrogate mother, retary in the state’s finance depart- ical of the surrogacy industry, saying hospital in the western Indian city of Ahmadabad with an a state official said. All women in gov- ment. “We want to treat them equal- fertility clinics are nothing more than infection, her son Kartikeya Sarabhai said. She died in the ernment jobs who have a baby using a ly.” India opened up to commercial “baby factories” for the rich. hospital yesterday after her condition deteriorated surrogate mother can now take 180 surrogacy in 2002, and is among just a But Sakina Bohura at Akshara overnight. “My mother Mrinalini Sarabhai has just left for days of maternity leave, putting them handful of countries and a few US Centre, a non-profit focused on gender her eternal dance,” her daughter and noted classical Indian on an equal footing with women who states where women can be paid to rights in Mumbai, said the Maharashtra dancer Mallika Sarabhai said in a Facebook post. conceive naturally, the official said. carry another’s genetic child through decision would help women who are After training in dance, including a stint at the American The leave can only be taken once. a process of in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) forced to opt for surrogacy in order to Academy of Dramatic Arts, she returned to India and Surrogate mothers usually hand and embryo transfer. have children. “It’s a recognition that began her career as a dancer of the classical Indian dance over the babies to the clinic or the Surrogacy motherhood remains a surrogacy is a valid choice for these form, Bharatanatyam. In 1948, Sarabhai set up an institute genetic mother a few days after giving sensitive topic, and the government women,” she said. “It’s a very progres- of dance in Ahmadabad where she trained thousands of birth. “It doesn’t make a difference last year banned foreigners from using sive stance by the Maharashtra gov- dancers and choreographers. — AP whether the child is conceived natu- Indian surrogates, hurting India’s ernment.” — Reuters.

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