Long thought to be extinct, bizarre tree frog surfaces in India

[WillParkinson]

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/01/21/463807870/long-thought-to-be-extinct-bizarre-tree-frog-surfaces-in-india?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20160121

For nearly 150 years, a bizarre tree frog species in India was believed to be extinct.

Now, scientists have found the elusive Frankixalus jerdonii in India's West Bengal state, in the foothills of the Himalayas.

Last seen in the wild in 1870, the frogs were rediscovered by accident during a 2007 expedition led by Indian biologist Sathyabhama Das Biju. "We heard a full musical orchestra coming from the tree tops. It was magical. Of course we had to investigate," he told the BBC.

What's more, a subsequent study published this week by Biju and a team of researchers looks at the frog's "enigmatic lineage," and concludes that the amphibian represents an entirely new genus.