#ENVIRONMENT ■ New species of frog in Arunachal Pradesh A t | UPSC Environment Ecology PSIR

#ENVIRONMENT

■ New species of frog in Arunachal Pradesh

A team of researchers from Delhi University (DU), along with biologists from the Wildlife Institute of India and North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, USA, have discovered a new species of cascade frog in Adi hills, Arunachal Pradesh.

The new species of Cascade Frog has been named Adi Cascade Frog (Amolops adicola) after the Adi hills, which are home to Adi tribes.

Adi tribes are an indigenous group of people from the Himalayan regions of Arunachal

● Key points :

The study have been published in a scientific article titled ''Phylogenetic position of the poorly known montane cascade frog Amolops monticola (Ranidae) and description of a new closely related species from Northeast India"" in the Journal of Natural History, London.

The genus Amolops is one of the largest groups of ranid frogs (family Ranidae) with currently 73 known species that are widely distributed across Northeast and North India, Nepal, Bhutan, China, Malaya Peninsula.

The study also resolved century-old taxonomic confusions surrounding the identity of another cascade frog species, Amolops monticola, which was described from the Sikkim Himalayas 150 years ago.

The new frog species was discovered while revisiting century-old Adi expedition in the year 2018.

● Adi tribe:

They are mainly found in Arunachal Pradesh.

Historically it is believed that they have come from southern China in the 16th century.

They speak the Tibeto-Burman language.

They reside in the far north inhabiting the East Siang and Lower Dibang Valley districts of Arunachal Pradesh.

The literal meaning of Adi is “hill” or “mountain top”.

The tribe divides into two main divisions - the Bogum and Onai - each of which is subdivided.

They are experts at making cane and bamboo items.

Solung (harvesting festival where animal sacrifices and rituals are performed) and Aran (a hunting festival where all the male members of the family go for hunting) are two major festivals of the Adi tribes.

SOURCE - THE HINDU