Conservationists all over the world are doing a happy dance today: twelve new species of frog have been discovered in the mountain forests of India. The discoveries took place over ten years of tramping through the 1000-mile mountainous Western Ghat region. Sathyabhama Das Biju, from the University of Delhi and Franky Bossuyt from the Free University of Brussels hiked at night during the monsoon season to discover the new species, one of which had been thought to be extinct.
One important aspect of these discoveries is its impact on conservation. Many of the species were found in areas that had been forest but now are inhabited and used as plantations. Consequently, frog habitat has been damaged as these species are threatened as a result. On February 10 a conference was held to discuss conservation in the Western Ghat region.
So why should we care about frogs?
Simple. It's insects. Frogs eat them and can consume up to their own body weight in insects every day. Many of those insects are those like mosquitoes that transmit disease deadly to humans. Fewer frogs means more insects—maybe a LOT more—which means a potentially huge effect on human life and health. So not only are frogs incredibly cute (oh come on, they are!) but we're also linked to them through this debt of gratitude for our health.
In addition, there's the thing about biodiversity. We've talked before about why it's important to maintain a large and varied number of species around the globe, and certainly frogs are a part of that. We humans are connected to frogs through more than just their insect-munching tendencies. The number of any species around the world affects every other living creature, somehow. Even frogs.
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