Leptobrachium bompu. The blue-eyed frog of Arunachal Pradesh. Photograph: Sanjay Sondhi/Titli Trust
Sanjay Sondhi of the nature conservation Titli Trust and Annemarie Ohler of the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris recently described L. bompu, a new species from India that has a striking greyish-blue iris with a vertically oriented black pupil.
L. bompu, which measures about 47mm, was discovered during heavy rains in the Eaglenest wildlife sanctuary near the Bampu campsite, after which it is named. The little frogs were located under leaf litter along a stream at an altitude of about 2,000m. They were heard calling near the stream for a distance of only 150m up- and downstream. The frogs were docile, found sitting in a crouched position and easily picked up. When disturbed their crawling behaviour was laborious. The males are eager singers, with a loud croaking “kek-kek-kek-kek” call, which continued even after they had been captured and placed in a bag.
Source: Guardian Online
