New frog species discovery in New York City


This 4 December 2014 video from the USA is called Rana kauffeldi – Atlantic Coast Leopard Frog that Coughs .

Another video from the USA, no longer on YouTube, used to say about itself:

30 October 2014

Male Rana Kauffeldi Emits Its Primary Call In New York City

A male Rana kauffeldi emits its primary call in the foreground with several other competing males calling in background.

New species of frog discovered in New York’s urban jungle after scientists notice ‘very odd’ chorus call

A new species of Frog has been discovered thriving in New York – after scientists were drawn to the creatures’ ‘very odd’ chorus call.

The Atlantic Coast leopard frog as it has been named was first noticed hopping around wetlands in the shadow of the Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.

Jeremy Feinberg, a scientist at Rutgers University in New Jersey, was intrigued by the animals’ unusual chorus call.

The frog looks identical to other leopard frogs but Mr Feinberg felt certain it’s distinctive ‘chuck’ call was like nothing he had heard before.

So he teamed up with genetics experts and tests proved him right – the frog was indeed an entirely new species.

The new frog has been given the Latin name Rana kauffeldi in honour of New York wildlife expert Carl Kauffeld who first suggested there may be an unidentified species of frog in the area in 1937.

Sadly Mr Kauffeld, who died in 1974 aged 63, had never been able to prove his theory as genetic testing technology was not available at the time.

Mr Feinberg told BBC News: ‘Frogs have very stereotyped calls within a species, so I knew this was different.

‘But it took me two years to find someone to partner with me on the genetics side.

‘This is only the third new species of frog to be discovered north of Mexico since 1986.

“What also makes this crazy is that it’s in a urban area – [that’s] what makes it a double whammy.

“You wouldn’t find it hopping around Times Square”.

‘[These frogs] probably require wetland areas of something on the average minimum of 10 acres or more.

The frog has since been found to inhabit a coastal strech from Connecticut in the north to Virginia and North Carolina in the south.

A large colony was discovered thriving on Staten Island.

From Wildlife Extra:

New frog species found in the urban jungle of New York City

When thinking about where a new frog species might be discovered, the dense rainforests of Papua New Guinea, the humid jungles of Central Africa or other equally remote and tropical destinations instantly come to mind. But surprisingly, the latest new frog species to have been discovered has been found in the urban jungle of New York City and surrounding coastal areas.

The new species of leopard frog, Rana kauffeldi, was first identified in the New York City metropolitan area, but its range extends to the north and south, following a narrow and predominantly coastal lowland area from central Connecticut to northeast North Carolina.

Jeremy Feinburg and colleagues from Rutgers University undertook the research to identify the amphibian, analysing acoustic and genetic data. “The discovery of a new frog species from the urban Northeast is truly remarkable and completes a journey that began six years ago with a simple frog call in the wilds of New York City,” says Feinburg. “This story underscores the synergy that traditional field methods and modern molecular and bioacoustic techniques can have when used together; one is really lost without the other, but together are very powerful tools.”

You can read the full paper here.

2 thoughts on “New frog species discovery in New York City

  1. Pingback: Many new deep sea animals discovered | Dear Kitty. Some blog

  2. Pingback: Three new toad species discovered in Nevada, USA | Dear Kitty. Some blog

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.