What’s New York Famous For? Ribbit
Photo By Jeremy Feinberg/Rutgers University
A brand-new species of leopard frog has been discovered in New York City!
This delightful green, black-spotted Atlantic Coast leopard frog has been found in abundance in one of the most developed and dense metropolis in North America.
“This discovery clearly demonstrates that human knowledge of the natural world remains incomplete even in the best-known locales,” wrote lead author Jeremy Feinberg, a PhD student at Rutgers University in New Jersey, and his colleagues.
The last new amphibian discovered in New York or New England was the Fowler’s toad in 1882, so this new species of leopard frog is a very exciting to fine!
The new frog looks similar to two known species, but was identified from its distinctive calls and genetic testing.
The frog has been given the scientific name Rana kauffeldi,after Carl Kauffeld, an amphibian expert who claimed in the 1930s that a third species of leopard frog existed in the northeastern U.S. His claim was generally rejected by other biologists in subsequent decades.
In 2008, Feinberg was studying frogs in marshes on Staten Island, near the Statue of Liberty, when he noticed one that had an unusual call — a single “chuck,” instead of the “pulsed ak-ak-ak” and “snore-like calls” of the two known species.
What good ears you have Mr.Feinberg!
This post is a shortened summary taken from the original article by CBCnews Technology and Science published Oct 30 2014. You can read it HERE. And read the PLOS ONE journal article HERE.