Wildlife researchers today announced here that a species of frog discovered in South Goa's Netravali forest sanctuary has been named after State Range Forest Officer Prakash Salelkar as 'Indirana Salelkari'.
"Indirana Salelkari, a newly discovered species of leaping frog, is from Netravali in Goa, India. The species can be distinguished from its congeners by a combination of morphological characters," according to a research paper authored by Nikhil Modak, Neelesh Dahanukar, Ninad Gosavi and Anand D Padhye, published in The Journal of Threatened Taxa.
"The frog was discovered at Netravali and has been named after Netravali Range Forest Officer Prakash Salelkar," wildlife researcher Parag Rangnekar told PTI.
"After a species of caecilians (legless amphibians) were named after Range Forest Officer Paresh Porob, Salelkar is the second Range Forest Officer to be recognised by the scientific community for their contribution to conservation of wildlife," he said.
"Goa's Western Ghats lie at the confluence of the Northern and the Southern Ghats and thus are unique. It is not a surprise that new species are being discovered from the state. Already a few species of caecilians, a spider, one dragonfly and few herbs have been discovrered from the state," he said.
The research paper states that the frog was found in a farmhouse in the Netravali forest area of South Goa.
"During field surveys in the Goa region of the Western Ghats, we came across a population of Indirana frogs found to be morphologically and genetically different from other known species of the genus," the paper stated.
