June 15, 2009

A Dozen New Frogs Discovered

The latest report of the Zoological Survey of India declares that at least 12 new species of frogs and 14 new insects were found by scientists across the country in 2008.


The new species have been discovered in 13 states across India with most of the frogs being discovered in the Northeast.

Of the 14 new species of insects, five were discovered in various sanctuaries of Kerala.

The new species of frogs were found in Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh while those new to the country have been discovered from the fringes of Neora Valley National Park in West Bengal and Sultanpur Bird Sanctuary in Haryana, says the Zoological Survey of India’s recent publication Animal Discoveries – 2008.


One of the new finds is related to Rhacophorus kio (above) and another to the yellow Philautus luteolus and green Philautus quyeti (below).

The discoveries include a frog which changes color and spots (Rhacophorous subansiriensis) found in the forests of Subansiri district in Arunanchal Pradesh and the diminutive frog (Philautus manipurensis) from Tumzane river in Manipur.

Chirixalus senapatiensis is another frog species that has been found from the Mabing river bed in Manipur, which is a member of the same genus as the Chirixalus idiootocus (shown below).

Other recently discovered new frogs from India:

Loren Coleman About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct). Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015. Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.

Filed under Breaking News, CryptoZoo News, New Species