Blommersia angolafa image via Franco Andreone
Blommersia angolafa, a newly described species of frog from Madagascar, has the unique habit of rearing its eggs and tadpoles in fallen leaf litter. More via the BBC:
After mating, female frogs lay clutches of 2-10 yellowish eggs within a brown jelly onto the insides of dead leaves of three different palm species.
The frogs lay their eggs a few millimetres above the surface of water pooling in the leaf, which then hatch into tadpoles.
During their surveys, the researchers found egg clutches, tadpoles, new metamorphosised froglets and adult males and females within the dead leaves, including males calling out for a mate.
More often than not, males were found alongside the eggs and tadpoles, suggesting that males may guard the eggs and offspring.
No B. angolafa frogs were found living among the crowns of the palm trees or anywhere outside the dead leaves on the forest floor.
Nor did any other frog species inhabit the dead leaves.
Four other frog species are known to reproduce in fallen dry plant matter: three species breed in the fruit capsules of the Brazil nut tree, while another breeds in tree holes, empty nuts and occasionally snail shells.
But B. angolafa is the first known to breed in fallen dead leaves.
Raorchestes resplendens is a new species of frog described from India, and given the species vibrant coloration, it’s certainly reminiscent of the Mantella species that are endemic from Madagascar or the poison dart frogs of Central and South America. Furthermore, this species appears to be restricted to a very tiny area within India. More via AHN:
A new species of frog, bright reddish-orange in color, has been discovered in a national park in southern India’s Western Ghats mountain range.
Named Raorchestes resplendens, the frogs are physically unlike any known member of the frog family. They are distinguishable not only by their bright-colored bodies but also their multiple glands and extremely short limbs.
This new species of frog is restricted to less than 3 square kilometers of the highest mountain peak of the Western Ghats, Anaimudi, in Eravikulam National Park. The team of scientists that discovered this species called for “immediate conservation” of the Raorchestes frogs.
Paper: A ground-dwelling rhacophorid frog from the highest mountain peak of the Western Ghats of India
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An unusual species of frog, Paedophryne amauensis, was discovered in Papua New Guinea during biodiversity surveys. In the video below, Chris Austin gives an interesting account of how the diminutive frog was discovered. More via National Geographic:
