Lost World

Nearly 287 wildlife enthusiasts have come together to search for amphibian species in India not spotted since their first sighting.

Nearly 287 wildlife enthusiasts have come together to search for amphibian species in India not spotted since their first sighting. Titled ‘The Lost Amphibians of India’ (LAI), the project has nearly 20 teams carrying out surveys in 17 states.  “These species could have been last seen 16 or 169 years ago,” says Dr SD Biju, a professor with Delhi University and programme coordinator for LAI.  “This initiative is significant as amphibians were the first animals to inhabit solid land some 360 million years ago. They are the only ones that have witnessed and survived five mass extinctions. They are crucial to determining the health of an ecosystem.” In India, 60 per cent of 348 species of amphibians face extinction. “If we rediscover some of these species, it will give us hope that all is not lost. We have already gathered information on the Calcutta frog, Khasi wart frog, forest torrent frog and mountain dot frog, some of which have been sighted again after more than 120 years or so,” says Dr Biju.

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Avantika Bhuyan