The Minervarya Pentali species was discovered from the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot, extending along the southwest coast of the Indian Peninsula.
A team of Delhi University researchers have discovered a new frog species —Minervarya Pentali— in the Western Ghats and named it after former DU Vice-Chancellor and plant geneticist Deepak Pental.
The Minervarya Pentali species was discovered from the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot, extending along the southwest coast of the Indian Peninsula. According to the researchers, this new species is endemic to the southern Western Ghats.
“We discovered it from wayside vegetation at multiple localities in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, while surveying amphibians during the monsoon season. This species is also among the smallest known Minervaryan frogs, which is probably one of the reasons it was overlooked until now”, says Dr. Sonali Garg, lead author of the study and a postdoctoral researcher at DU.
The study, conducted over a period of ten years in the genus Minervarya, claimed to have resolved the identity and taxonomic status of all known members of the genus from Peninsular India.
“It is a great privilege to name a frog species after Prof. Deepak Pental, the former Vice Chancellor of University of Delhi, in appreciation of his tremendous support and encouragement for setting-up of the Systematics Lab at University of Delhi — where research leading to the discovery and description of nearly one-fourth of all known Indian amphibians has been carried out”, says Professor S. D. Biju, Head of the Department of Environmental Studies at DU.
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