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14th October 2023 (11 Topics)

New toad species

Context:

A group of scientists from India and the United Kingdom have discovered a new species of toads, the third of a genus found only in a very narrow area in northeast India.

About the Species:

  • The discovery of the new species – Bufoides bhupathyi – found in the Dampa tiger reserve of Mizoram was published in the latest issue of Biodiversitas, a journal published in Indonesia.
  • The two earlier known species from;
    • The genus ‘bufoides’ – Bufoides meghalayanus and
    • Bufoides kempi – were found in Meghalaya.

  • The new species from Mizoram is different from the co-generic (similar) species in interdigital webbing, colouration, skin tuberculation, and the presence of ovoid, tuberculated and depressed parotid glands.
  • Protection Status:
    • As their range is likely restricted to the tiger reserve, the toads likely meet the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) standard for being labeled as Critically endangered.

Amphibian species currently make up 41% of the 42,000 animals on the IUCN’s list of threatened species.

Dampa tiger reserve:

  • It is located in the western flank (Lushai Hills) of Mizoram.
  • It was declared as a tiger reserve under the Project Tiger initiative in 1994.
  • On the West, the reserve is bound by the Chittagong hill tracts (Sazek hill range) of Bangladesh.
  • Vegetation: The vegetation of the reserve ranges from tropical evergreen to semi-evergreen forests.
  • The habitat is drained by the River Khawthlangtuipui in the West and the Teirei River to the East. The tributaries of Teirei, viz. Keisalam, Seling and Aivapui also flow through the reserve.
  • Fauna: The major fauna includes Hoolock Gibbon, Rhesus Macaque, Assamese Macaque, Pig-Tailed Macaque, Stump-Tailed Macaque and Phayre’s Leaf Monkey etc

Flora: It is rich in n flora such as Dipterocarpus turbinatus, Dipterocarpus marcocarpus, Terminalia myriocarpa and Michelia champaca, etc.

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