NEW DELHI — Scientists have discovered 14 new species of so-called dancing frogs in the jungle mountains of southern India — just in time, they fear, to watch them fade away.
Indian biologists say they found the tiny acrobatic amphibians, which earned their name with the unusual kicks they use to attract mates, declining dramatically in number during the 12 years in which they chronicled the species through morphological descriptions and molecular DNA markers. They breed after the yearly monsoon in fast-rushing streams, but their habitat appears to be drying out.
‘‘It’s like a Hollywood movie, both joyful and sad,” said the project’s lead scientist, University of Delhi professor Sathyabhama Das Biju....
He acknowledged his team’s observations were anecdotal; the scientists did not have time or resources to collect data demonstrating the habitat decline....
Then this is nothing but worthless agenda-pushing, isn't it?
There are other dancing frogs in Central America and Southeast Asia, but the Western Ghats, a lush mountain range older than the Himalayas, are among the world’s most biologically exciting regions, holding at least a quarter of all Indian species. Yet in recent decades, the region has faced assault by iron and bauxite mining, water pollution, unregulated farming, and loss of habitat.
A 2010 report by India’s Environment Ministry said the Ghats were likely to be hard-hit by changing rainfall patterns due to climate change, and more recent studies have suggested monsoon patterns will grow increasingly erratic.
India’s government has been working to establish a vast environmental protection zone across the Ghats to limit polluting industrial activities and human encroachment, but it put the latest proposal on hold....
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Also see: Sri Lanka says 3 separatists killed
That's all I've seen on Sri Lanka since the last time.
That's all I've seen on Sri Lanka since the last time.
