New frogs found in Sri Lanka but others extinct

COLOMBO (Reuters) – Sri Lankan biologists have found dozensof new species of tree frog over the last decade in theisland’s dwindling rainforests, but warn many known species areeither extinct or on the verge of disappearing because of man.

Researchers from Sri Lanka’s privately-funded WildlifeHeritage Trust found 35 new species of frog — increasing thenumber of known frog species on the Indian Ocean island by athird — but also found 19 species are now extinct.

“(They) have gone extinct largely because of the loss oftheir habitat… The land has now been converted to other useslike tea and rubber,” biologist Rohan Pethiyagoda, whose team’sresearch has been published in the Raffles Bulletin of Zoology,told Reuters on Wednesday.

“The long-term prospect is pretty bleak,” he added. “Weknow that 11 of these species are on the brink. They are likelyto disappear in the next few years unless extensiveconservation measures are taken.”

Asia’s tsunami offered a small silver lining for the tinyfrogs, which range from iridescent green to pale blue in colorand cling to foliage with bulbous, sucker-like toes.

The Sri Lankan government has banned rebuilding on a narrowstrip of land along much of the island’s coastline afterDecember’s disaster killed nearly 40,000 people here, and thenew coastal buffer zone will offer some species sanctuary.

“It’s not going to protect the vast majority of species,but it will certainly protect 10 of them, and 10 is a bignumber, so it will help,” Pethiyagoda said.

Sri Lanka is home to 105 species of frog, 86 of which stillsurvive today, which compares to around 4,500 known species offrog worldwide.

But most live in the largely unprotected rainforests of SriLanka’s southwest, and not in the island’s national wildlifereserves, which tend to be drier, less biologically diverse andhome to large mammals such as elephants, bears and leopards.

“What is most staggering is that out of the 34 species offrogs altogether that are extinct worldwide, half should happento be in this tiny little island,” Pethiyagoda said.

His team also found 17 new types of freshwater crabs, whilefellow international researchers have also identified 50 newspecies of snail and seven new lizards.