Scientists discover new tree frog genus in Andaman Islands

Team Udayavani, Nov 14, 2020, 6:00 PM IST

A Delhi University professor-led study has reported a new genus of the Old World treefrog family Rhacophoridae from the Andaman Islands, the first report of a tree frog species from the region.

It has been named ‘Rohanixalus’ after Sri Lankan taxonomist Rohan Pethiyagoda. It comprises eight out of the 422 known Old World treefrog species found in Asia and Africa.

Frogs of this genus are known to inhabit forested as well as human-dominated landscapes right from Northeast India, Andaman Islands, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, up to southern China.

The findings were published in the article titled ‘New insights on the systematics and reproductive behaviour in tree frogs of the genus Feihyla with description of a new related genus from Asia (Anura, Rhacophoridae)’