Guwahati: Recent frog discoveries and new distribution reports from Arunachal Pradesh indicate the need for more herpetological explorations, experts say.
A team of biologists from the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, and the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, Bangalore, recorded a stream-dwelling frog: the ‘Beibeng Stream Frog (Amolops beibengensis)’ from Arunachal Pradesh, not reported in India earlier. During a herpetological exploration in 2022, the team recorded the frog from the Dibang Valley and Lower Dibang Valley districts of Arunachal Pradesh.
This finding was published in the latest issue of the peer-reviewed international journal ‘Herpetological Notes.’
Before this report from India, the Beibeng Stream Frog was only known from the Beibeng Region in China, where it was discovered. The aerial distance between the Beibeng Region and the Dibang Valley in Arunachal Pradesh is about 100 km.
Researchers associated with the study say this stunningly green and brown frog is an inhabitant of fast-flowing Himalayan streams. The larvae (tadpole) of this frog are adapted to fast-flowing hill streams with their unique “sucker”-like organ, which helps them stay attached to the stream boulders.
The genus Amolops is restricted to Asia, with a wide geological range extending from north and northeast India, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, western, southern, and eastern China, Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand, down to Peninsular Malaysia. Although it has been a recognised genus for 158 years, almost two-thirds of its species have only been recently discovered, and current research suggests that there are still many potential undescribed species.
The researchers associated with the study are Naitik Patel, Bitupan Boruah, Surya Narayan, and Abhijit Das.
Dr. Abhijit Das, the Principal Investigator of the study, says that as the original description of Amolops beibengensis is published in Chinese, our study plays a crucial role in making this information accessible to a wider audience. “Our study provides a detailed morphological description and new distribution data. This robust dataset is instrumental in understanding the species diversity within the Amolops genus,” he told EastMojo.
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Naitik Patel, a PhD student associated with the study, says that currently, 18 species of Amolops are found in India, and this discovery marks the latest addition to this list. “These frogs have evolved to thrive in the fast-flowing streams of the Himalayas. However, they face significant challenges from developmental activities such as dam building, which can impact stream morphology and alter crucial flows necessary for the survival of these stream-sensitive species,” he said.
“Arunachal Pradesh is known for its tremendous diversity of herpetofauna, and this discovery underscores the need for more biodiversity exploration surveys. Such efforts are crucial to uncover and document the hidden gems of Northeast India before we lose them due to conservation challenges,” Das says.
Researchers say the recovery of new Amolops species and reports from the country records from northeast India indicate the need to carry out extensive surveys to understand Amolops species richness, as each species group has high diversity and requires intensive sampling across the Himalayas.
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