New Frog Species Discovered From Arunachal Pradesh

Table of Contents

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 Arunachal Pradesh.
It has been named after the indigenous Adi tribe and the hills they inhabit.

This frog is discovered on the Adi hills in Arunachal Pradesh.
The new frog species has been named Adi Cascade Frog (Amolops Adicola).
The hills are home to the Adi tribe. The literal meaning of Adi is “hill” or “mountain top”.
Historically, this region was also known as Abor hills.

The findings were published in the Journal of Natural History, London, in a scientific article titled ‘Phylogenetic position of the poorly known montane cascade frog Amolops Monticola (Ranidae).

The new species, formally described as Amolops adicolasp.nov., is morphologically distinguished from its congeners by a suite of characters that include adult size, body colouration and markings, skin texture, snout shape, foot webbing and digit tip morphology.
Apart from the external morphology, Amolops adicolawas identified based on DNA and a distinct calling pattern.
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 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, through Indochina to the Malaya peninsula.

About Cascade Frog

Cascade frogs are named so because of their preference for small waterfalls or cascades in flowing hill streams, for which they have developed certain morphological features such as expanded digit tips and extensive foot webbing that makes them adapt to strong water currents.

The Padams, Milangs, Komkars, Minyongs and Pasis collectively call themselves as ADI meaning hill people.
The Adi constitute major group and inhabit the lower part of Lower Dibang Valley district especially Roing and Dambuk areas.
Akin to one another, they speak a same dialect, claim a common origin and also perform and celebrate same rituals and festivals.

The Padams, Milangs, Komkars, Minyongs and Pasis collectively call themselves as ADI meaning hill people.
The Adi constitute major group and inhabit the lower part of Lower Dibang Valley district especially Roing and Dambuk areas.
Akin to one another, they speak a same dialect, claim a common origin and also perform and celebrate same rituals and festivals.
The Adi practices animist Donyi-Polo religion, which involves worship of the sun — Donyi, the moon — Polo, and ancestral god, the shaman, called Miri.
The Adi are self-sufficient thanks to the cultivation of rice, growing crops in the thin mountain soil. Rice serves as the staple food for them. It is eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
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.

The Adis are basically dependent on agriculture. Both wet rice cultivation and shifting cultivation are practiced.
Hills and slopes are terraced while the dry-lands are used to grow cash crops like Maize and Mustards.
It is a Scheduled Tribe in Arunachal Pradesh.
Handicrafts of the Adis are best seen in their cane and bamboo works. Baskets, trays, haversacks, mats and hats and headgears with artistic designs are produced for domestic use.
Women are expert weavers.
Their home productions, like coats, jackets, bags, skirts, shawls and blankets displaying their abilities in handloom.