Dear Kitty. Some blog

August 31, 2007

New frog and crab species discovered in Madagascar [Amphibians, Invertebrates, Biology] — Administrator @ 5:07 pm


This video is called Conservation in Madagascar.

From Wildlife Extra:

Frogs in the Masoala’s wet forests [in Madagascar] exploit a variety of microhabitats ranging from the ground to the upper canopy. These microhabitats also include plant-held waters, referred to collectively as phytotelmata. While surveying the herpetofauna at various canopy levels and studying phytotelm community structure, we found a species of frog that could not be classified as a currently recognized species.

The new species, Anodonthyla hutchisoni, is named in honour of a lifetime of dedication to excellence in herpetology by V. H. Hutchison.

Two more frogs

The team also discovered two new, very small, frogs, Platypelis tetra which measures just 20mm) and the much larger (30 mm) Platypelis mavomavo. Both these frogs were collected within a day of each other on another expedition in 2002 by Dr. F. Andreone.

Crabs

The team also made an interesting discovery of two species of tree-climbing crabs belonging to two families (Potamonautidae and Sesarmidae) that were collected from container microhabitats (phytotelmata) in rainforest in the Masoala Peninsula. This isolated peninsula supports one of the last undisturbed intact primary humid tropical forests in Madagascar, and is free from much of the human encroachment that has caused the environmental problems seen elsewhere on that island.

Molecular systematics of mantelline frogs from Madagascar and the evolution of their femoral glands: here.

Amphibians in decline: here.

Japanese brown frogs and labs: here.

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