Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) discovers new frog species Amolops Kamal in Nagaland

Key facts

• A team of researchers from the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) discovered and described a new species of cascade-dwelling frog named Amolops Kamal in Nagaland.
• The specimens of the new species were collected from Singrep village in the Kiphire district of Nagaland by a team of scientists from the ZSI Shillong.
• The species is named in honour of Dr Kamal Choudhury, who served as the former head of the department of Zoology at B Barooah College in Guwahati.
• An integrative taxonomic study involving scientists from the ZSI Pune revealed that the frog represents a distinct evolutionary lineage within the Amolops indoburmanensis species complex.
• The genus Amolops currently includes approximately 90 recognised species globally, of which 20 have been reported from India.