An ecological treasure trove of brightly colored and diverse new frog species has been discovered on the tea-plantation-covered island of Sri Lanka. The new finding increases the island's previously known tree frog diversity more than fivefold to over 100 species. This was reported in the current issue of National Geographic.
"The simultaneous discovery of more than 100 species is…astonishing news," said David Skelly of Yale University's School of Forestry and Environmental Studies in New Haven, Connecticut.
Five of the new species are tree frogs that lay eggs in homespun foam baskets suspended above water—from whence the tadpoles take their first dip. The remainder are all species that produce young on the forest floor in robust eggs. These direct-developing young avoid being tadpoles and emerge as fully fledged, if tiny, versions of their parents.
The discovery is good news considering the recently documented declines in amphibian numbers worldwide. "The discovery of these species is just an indication that we are losing some of the world's most important resources before we even know what those resources really are," said John W. Wilkinson, International Coordinator for the Declining Amphibian Populations Task Force at the Open University in Milton Keynes, England.
Declining amphibian populations are a concern, said Wilkinson, because they indicate general environmental degradation—with implications for the health of other animals, humans included—and because amphibian species, like vanishing rain-forest plants, are a potential source of new drugs. "Many frogs produce chemicals (and poisons through their skin) which could have huge applications in healthcare and medical treatment," he said.
Specimens of the newly discovered species were first collected in 1993 when Rohan Pethiyagoda, founder of Sri Lanka's Wildlife Heritage Trust based in Columbo, arranged to survey animal biodiversity in the nation's surviving rain-forest patches.
Pethiyagoda and his team collected over 1,000 frog specimens at 300 sites during the course of their extensive survey. When they attempted to identify the species they had collected they ran into considerable difficulty matching the animals to Sri Lanka's known frogs, said Schneider. International experts later confirmed that the researchers had turned up many previously undescribed species, said Schneider.