Scientists in Madagascar have discovered about 200 new species of frogs.
If the finds are extended to a global scale, it practically doubles the number of amphibian species worldwide, the researchers claim.
The team says the discoveries suggest that the natural riches of the island, located off the southeastern coast of Africa, have been significantly underestimated and fuel concerns that its unique wildlife is under threat. Madagascar, a biodiversity hotspot in the Indian Ocean, is the world's fourth-largest island in the world and is well known for its exotic inhabitants like the ring-tailed lemur and poisonous frogs.
Conservationists believed all but one of the 217 previously known species of amphibians are native to the island. Over 80 per cent of the mammals in Madagascar are found nowhere else in the world.
The research team, in participation with the Spanish Scientific Research Council, uncovered between 129 and 221 new species of frog, according to the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. And they say there are likely more to be found. Dr Frank Glaw, curator of herpetology at the Zoologische Staatssammlung from Munich explains: ‘During the past 15 years, we discovered and described over 100 new frog species from Madagascar, which led us to believe that our species inventory is almost complete. But as our new surveys show, there are many more species than we suspected.’
Dr Miguel Vences, professor at the Technical University of Braunschweig added: ‘People think that we know which plant and animal species live on this planet. But the century of discoveries has only just begun – the majority of life forms on Earth is still awaiting scientific recognition.’ But the revelation of this increased biodiversity has sparked concerns that the destruction of natural habitats may be affecting more species than previously thought.
Rain forest destruction in Madagascar is among the highest on the planet. Some 80 per cent of its historic tree coverage has been destroyed by human demands on the land and decades of rampant logging.
And according to David Vieites, researcher at the Spanish National Natural Sciences Museum, political instability has led to the cutting of the forest within national parks, a particularly worrying point as almost a quarter of the new species have only been found in protected areas.
from http://www.dailymail.co.uk
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