Four new species of small night frogs discovered in Western Ghats

Image credit: SD Biju

New Delhi: Four new species of miniature night frogs - considered to be among the world's smallest known frogs - have been discovered in a remote part of India.

According to a report published on Tuesday, the newly discovered species that are small enough to sit on a fingernail were there in abundance but had likely been overlooked because of their size.

The big discovery is a result of researchers, who spent five years exploring the lush Western Ghats mountains.

The team led by professor SD Biju from Delhi University (DU) also found three other species of night frogs.

In total, the team have discovered seven new frog species belonging to the genus Nyctibatrachus, commonly known as Night Frogs.

“The miniature species are locally abundant and fairly common but they have probably been overlooked because of their extremely small size, secretive habitats and insect-like calls," researcher Sonali Garg was quoted as saying.

Indian night frogs split off from other frogs some 70 to 80 million years ago, making them a particularly ancient group.

The findings have been published in the PeerJ medical sciences journal.

(With AFP inputs)