New species of frog named after former DU Vice-Chancellor

Researchers from the University of Delhi have named a newly discovered frog species after the former Vice-Chancellor and renowned Indian Plant Genetist Deepak Pental.

University of Delhi (DU) researchers S. D. Biju and Sonali Garg have described a new species of frog, which was discovered from the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot that extends along the southwest coast of the Indian Peninsula.

The discovery was made during a comprehensive study on a considerably large, common, yet confusing group of Indian frogs - genus Minurvarya, carried out over a period of nearly ten years. The new species was identified based on multiple criteria, such as external morphology, DNA and calling pattern.

Deepak Pental, speaking to Shiskha said: “This is surprising for me but at the same time I am glad to be honoured. I am thankful to Prof Biju and Delhi University for this honour. They have done this for the work I did at the university.”

The study has also resolved the identity and taxonomic status of all known members of the genus from Peninsular India, in addition to clarifying the geographical ranges of species and providing numerous new distribution records based on morphologically and genetically identified samples from a vast region.

“It is a great privilege to name a frog species after Prof. Deepak Pental, the former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Delhi, in appreciation of his tremendous support and encouragement for setting-up of the Systematics Lab at the University of Delhi - where research leading to the discovery and description of nearly one-fourth of all known Indian amphibians has been carried out,” says Biju, under whose leadership the current study was published.

“We discovered it from wayside vegetation at multiple localities in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, while surveying amphibians during the monsoon season. This species is also among the smallest known Minurvaryan frogs, which is probably one of the reasons it was overlooked until now,” says Sonali Garg, the lead author of the study and a postdoctoral researcher at University of Delhi.

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