This new species of reptile discovered on high mountains has shiny, purple skin and a special nose similar to that of a pig.
Scientists at the Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad, India have just discovered a new species of frog with a nose similar to a pig’s nose, National Geographic reported on August 24 . They were discovered in the Western Ghats mountain range at an altitude of more than 2,600 meters in India.
This newly discovered frog species is called Bhupathy (Nasikabatrachus Bhupathy), also known as “pig-nosed frog” because of its unique nose in frogs.
Bhupathy frog has a shiny purple skin, small eyes with a light blue circle around it, a long muzzle and especially a nose shaped like a pig’s nose. They have short limbs with feet equipped with hard claws. This reptile spends almost its entire life underground and only comes out when it rains to mate.
According to Ramesh Aggarwal, a molecular genetics researcher at CCMB, when the rainy season begins, the males will crawl out. They will find streams in the mountains and start calling loudly for mates.
Just a few days after the egg is fertilized, the egg will hatch into a tadpole. When tadpoles grow legs, they will crawl up and cling to the rocks below the waterfall, eating algae growing on the rocks to grow. Mountain waterfalls only appear during the rainy season, so Bhupathy frogs often begin their mating season when the rainy season arrives.
Bhupathy’s pig-nosed frog is closely related to a purple frog species also discovered in this mountain range with the scientific name N.Sahyadrensis. They are ancient and very rare frogs, because they live in high mountain terrain and spend most of their time underground.
“Bhupathy’s pig-nosed frogs spend almost their entire lives underground. After the larval stage living on cliffs, when they reach adulthood they will say goodbye to life outside and begin a secret life.” underground,” said Karthikeyan Vasudevan, a biologist in the pig-nosed frog research group at CCMB.