Time.news – It’s called Limnonectes beloncioi, or mindoro fanged frog, it’s one new frog species with fangs. Scientists at the University of Kansas, who analyzed genetic samples of the amphibian, described it in the journal Ichthyology & Herpetology, identified in the Philippines. The new frog, the authors explain, is almost indistinguishable from a species endemic to the nearby island of Palawan, were it not for the differences in the mating call and in the genome, which has some peculiarities compared to other amphibians.
“This species can be defined cryptic – says Mark Herr, doctoral student at the University of Kansas – because it has been hidden in plain sight for many years and without analyzing its genome it would have been almost impossible to distinguish it”. Scientists performed a series of physical and genetic analyzes, finding acoustic differences in the mating call between the Limnonectes beloncioi and the neighboring species.
Researchers fromUniversity of Kansas they had collected genetic samples from the frog but had never been analyzed before. “Although they are physically indistinguishable – observes the expert – these two frogs are genetically different. We evaluated a series of measurements of hundreds of specimens, performing statistical analyzes on the shape and size of the body and finally we looked at genetics, the only field. in which we have noticed obvious differences “.
“Using specific genetic markers – continues the researcher – we have obtained a very simple estimate of the moment of separation between the two lineages, which would have occurred between two and six million years ago”. Recording the mating calls was not easy, the authors admit, due to the animal’s distrust of humans.
“This discovery confirms a lesson we have learned several times over the years – concludes Rafe Brown, professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the herpetology division of the Institute of Biodiversity at the University of Kansas – teaches us that even what we think we know and know about nature can be questioned. Limnonectes beloncioi represents a case of cryptic speciation, in which the alterations of the genome are not associated with evident morphological differences “.
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