Context

• A study led by Delhi University, along with researchers from India, Indonesia and China, has reported a new genus of the Old World treefrog family Rhacophoridae — the first report of a tree frog species (Striped Bubble-nest frog) from the Andaman Islands named as Rohanixalus.

About Rohanixalus

• The new genus ‘Rohanixalus’ is named after Sri Lankan taxonomist Rohan Pethiyagoda.
• The findings were published in an article titled ‘New insights on the systematics and reproductive behaviour in tree frogs of the genus Feihyla, with description of a new related genus from Asia (Anura, Rhacophoridae)’ in the current issue of Zootaxa, an international journal of animal systematics.
• Rohanix-alus is the “20th recognised genus of the family Rhacopho-ridae and currently comprises eight out of the 422 known Old World treefrog species found in Asia and Africa”.
• They are characterised by a “rather small and slender body (2-3 cm long), a pair of contrastingly coloured lateral lines on either side of the body, minute brown speckles scattered throughout the upper body, light green-coloured eggs laid in arboreal bubble-nests, and several unique behavioural traits including maternal egg attendance”.

Source: Indian Express

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