August 19, 2021: 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.

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”, the researchers said.

“Cascade frogs are named because of their preference for small waterfalls or cascades in hill streams. The new species was identified based on external morphology, DNA and calling pattern,” said Prof SD Biju of DU, who was associated with the discovery.

“The discovery is testament to how little is known about one of the most threatened animal groups, frogs, in northeast India. Many frogs in the region are reported to occur widely, but, in fact have relatively small geographical ranges and require special attention for conservation before they go extinct forever,” said Biju.

According to the researchers, the discovery of the new species was made when the biologists were “investigating a group of medium to large sized Cascade Frogs (scientifically belonging to genus Amolops) from Northeast India over the last five years”.

“The new species was discovered while revisiting the century-old Adi expedition in the year 2018 and named after the land of Adi tribe in Arunachal Pradesh where this species dwells, particularly during the post-monsoon season,” said Dr Abhijit Das from Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun.