New dancing frog species found in Western Ghats

14 new species of dancing frogs were discovered in the Western Ghats of southern India by the scientists/biologists. These tiny acrobatic amphibians (frogs) were found by Indian biologists. The Indian Dancing frogs are scientifically known as Micrixalidae and their family comprises a single genus Micrixalus. Name of the species has been derived by their style of unusual kicks used to attract the mates. The species of other dancing frogs are found in Central America and Southeast Asia. The Indian family evolved about 85 million years ago.

They were identified by using molecular DNA markers and morphological descriptions. As per the biologists, they breed after the yearly monsoon in fast-rushing streams. Their size is a reason that breeding happens only when the level of stream drops down. The case is vice-versa in case when the streams dry out early, in such conditions they get caught without the right conditions to breed. These frogs are tiny in shape and are not bigger than a walnut and they can be swept away easily in the mountain stream. The biologists also identified that their habitat appears to becoming increasingly dry. Listing of these new species of the study was published in the Ceylon Journal of Science on 8th May 2014. This discovery has brought the number of known Indian dancing frog species to 24.