The newly discovered frog is mute, but communicates by touch
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The frog just discovered by a group of US researchers in Tanzania gives a glimpse of how many there are ways of communication used by animals, methods largely unknown to us. The Frog Hyperolius ukaguruensisso called from the Ukaguru mountains, where it has been identified by scholars, is mute, but this does not prevent it from communicating through quills, which individuals can read like a kind of Braille.
The croaking of frogs plays a vital role in mating and the researchers hypothesize that in the absence of vocalizations the males of Hyperolius ukaguruensis use the tiny quills on their throats to help females recognize potential mates by touch. The newly discovered frog is not the only mute, there are in fact few others in the world unable to croak, but it is the first time that their alternative communication system has been identified.
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According to the conservation biologist Lucinda Lawson, head of the team that identified the Hyperolius ukaguruensis, ‘This group of frogs has only a few species, occurring in small populations, making them rare and endangered. The discovery of a new member of this group is a major conservation victory.’ In search of frogs similar to the newly identified one, called in English precisely “spiny throated”, i.e. with a spiny throat, and at serious risk of extinction, the researchers scoured the banks of the streams of the Ukaguru mountains helped by portable global positioning satellite receivers, and they set traps made of plastic buckets buried at ground level to catch the amphibians hiding under the leaves. They also tapped into the connections of people living in the area by distributing photos of “thorny-throated” frogs, hoping someone would point out where they still were.
Then, looking for rare specimens, they found one that is still unclassified. The newly discovered frog joins a family of almost 200 species of the genus Hyperolius. “It was immediately clear that this was a spiny frog. But this one was a golden brown and greenish color instead of the green color found in the other species,” Lawson said. “Sometimes the color variations mean nothing, but in this case it proved to be key.” A combination of genetic and genomic analyzes then confirmed that it was a new frog. The researchers also identified its closest evolutionary relative, Hyperolius ruvuensisanother critically endangered and possibly extinct species.
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The measurements then revealed that the frog has unique body proportions, with eyes smaller than the head, which differentiates it from other spiny frogs. “Describing a species is the first step to protect it, especially in increasingly fragmented forests such as those of the Ukaguru Mountains – observed the researcher – The Mamiwa-Kisara North Forest Reserve is strongly threatened by human activities, because people collect wood from There are all kinds of pressures on this forest. It’s easy to walk through it all in a few hours.”
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“The Ukaguru Mountains are part of the Great Eastern Rift Arc, a fascinating cradle of biodiversity, with many endemic species,” he added. “The rapid population growth in Tanzania means that montane forest habitats are increasingly threatened by humans. Amphibians are particularly sensitive to human impact, because they absorb chemicals through their skin and are thus vulnerable to toxins or changes in the acidity of the water.If a bird’s habitat is destroyed, it can sometimes fly into a new forest. But that’s hard for amphibians.”
The co-author of the study, Simon Loader, vertebrate expert at the Natural History Museum in London, noted: ‘The discovery demonstrates how much there is still to learn about biodiverse areas of the world. We still have a long way to go in understanding what species are out there and where they can be found.’ .
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