Journalism of Courage
Scientists have discovered 14 new species of so-called dancing frogs in the jungle mountains of southern India – just in time, they fear, to watch them fade away. Biologists say they found the tiny acrobatic amphibians, which earned their name with the unusual kicks they use to attract mates, declining dramatically in number during the 12 years in which they chronicled the species through morphological descriptions and molecular DNA markers. They breed after the yearly monsoon in fast-rushing streams, but their habitat appears to be becoming increasingly dry. (AP)
“It's like a Hollywood movie, both joyful and sad. On the one hand, we have brought these beautiful frogs into public knowledge. But about 80 percent are outside protected areas, and in some places, it was as if nature itself was crying,'' said the project's lead scientist, University of Delhi professor Sathyabhama Das Biju. (AP)
Biju said that, as researchers tracked frog populations, forest soils lost moisture and perennial streams ran inexplicably dry. He acknowledged his team's observations about forest conditions were only anecdotal; the scientists did not have time or resources to collect data demonstrating the declining habitat trends they believed they were witnessing. (AP)
They're found exclusively in the Western Ghats, a lush mountain range that stretches 1,600 kilometers (990 miles) from the western state of Maharashtra down to the country's southern tip. (AP)
Only the males dance – it's actually a unique breeding behavior called foot-flagging. They stretch, extend and whip their legs out to the side to draw the attention of females who might have trouble hearing mating croaks over the sound of water flowing through perennial hill streams. (AP)
The bigger the frog, the more they dance. They also use those leg extensions to smack away other males – an important feature considering the sex ratio for the amphibians is usually around 100 males to one female. (AP)
