New species of frog quacks like a duck
A new species of frog which makes a sound like a duck quacking has been discovered in India.
The frog was found in Arunachal Pradesh, India by scientists from the University of Wolverhampton and the Wildlife Institute of India.
Dr Deepak Veerappan, a herpetologist at the University of Wolverhampton, said: “Initially we first heard the call from a marsh near the Noa-Dihing river, which is quite similar to wild duck species, like ‘quack… quack… quack,’ which we never heard before.”
The researchers later found more examples of the species in the marshy habitat around Glaw Lake.
The frog has been named the Noa-Dihing music frog (Nidirana noadihing) after a local river. It has a cream-coloured mid-dorsal line from its snout tip to its vent and can grow up to six centimetres in length.
The discovery marked the third new amphibian to be found in the Namdapha-Kamlang area in the same year.
Dr Veerappan, added: “As the new species inhabits swampy areas, conservation of such habitats inside the protected area and its surrounding is crucial.
“The addition of three new species of amphibians within one year underscore the biological richness of the region and flag the need for further exploration in hyper diverse Namdapha-Kamlang landscape.”
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