NEW DELHI: A bizarre frog that breeds inside trees and lays eggs for its tadpoles to eat and a singing bird with a soothing tone have been discovered in Meghalaya and areas close to China respectively, raising hopes for environmentalists.
University of Delhi biologist Sathyabhama Das Biju, whose numerous past findings include India’s purple frog, led the expedition in East Khasi Hills. His team found that these tadpoles each contained up to 19 frog eggs and females of the rediscovered species provide their tadpoles with a regular egg supply.
Since some breeding hollows were used by more than one female, a community of frogs may be sharing the burden of keeping their young supplied with meals-something that would need to be confirmed by future researchers. Last recorded in the wild in 1870, the tree frog was feared extinct until scientists found it during a three-year search that began in 2007.
The new species of bird with soothing tone was discovered by a team of international scientists and was named as Zoothera Salimalii. During fieldwork in the mountains, researchers noticed that the new bird species in the forests sang much more musically.
But according to a new study on the frogs, the long-lost amphibian actually represents a completely
new genre. Scientists observed the frog hiding in hollow bamboo stems and tree holes, where it carries
out its remarkable breeding antics.
Females attach their eggs to the insides of tree hollows, which hold pools of water. When the tadpoles hatch, they fall in the water, where the females feed them unfertilized eggs until they turn into froglets.
Most tadpoles of other frog species eat plant material. The frog’s DNA, odd feeding behavior and anatomy shows the species represents a deep evolutionary split in tree frog evolution.
