Bocxlaer and her team showed for the first time that a whole bunch of frogs evolved within the Western Ghats. Only a year ago, two papers had been published based on DNA: one of them by Dr. But a long one would mean that during the course of evolution, selection pressures pushed different groups of frogs to evolve differently and figure out a way to survive. To be honest, a short answer would mean “I don’t know”. Torrential streams of the Western Ghats where toads are found.Īnd that was exactly what the kids asked too. The question that begs an answer is-what for did the toad adapt to living in fast flowing streams? They both came from common ancestors and are only different from each other as are two families of frogs. Now, we have always learnt that frogs and toads are different because the former is slimy and soft and the latter is rough and does not depend on water. These nomenclatural assignments were based on morphological similarity and only recently, scientists have been resorting to other forms like computer tomography or DNA based assignments. This genus was related to other toads like the Common Toad, Duttaphrynus melanostictus.
The Malabar Torrent Toad was placed in a group of frogs in the genus Ansonia.
It lived in torrential streams and was known to be found only from the Brahmagiri hills near Coorg. Described by Günther in 1876, this toad was rather weird. The crevice that I had slipped myself in would not have been comfortable for all of them and I decided to take the frog out and show it to everyone. I took some quick pictures and called out to Dr. The Malabar Torrent Toad Ghatophryne ornate Inching closer, I realized that it was a rare and endangered toad, Ghatophryne ornata or the Malabar Torrent Toad. Being the lean period, I could walk around and shining my torch, I made my way. Down below, there was almost a labyrinth of networks where, in the monsoon, water would be gushing right through. Back in those days, I could fit into narrow nooks and crannies and slipped myself in easily. I got a little adventurous and began hopping over boulders and soon, found a crevice. Aravind and Abhisheka had kept the students engaged with hill stream fishes. As we reached the trickle that was Gangamoola, Dr. Training those youngsters in perceiving the forest with intent of questioning the status quo was our task. Being from the town of Ujire, the forests were not new for them. We stopped at every little spider or a mystic orchid with intent to make the kids think and question what they saw. It was to blow their minds by showing how the small trickle was actually the source of the mighty river Bhadra, which sustains millions of lives before reaching the Tunga. The hike up to Gangamoola was to show the importance of forests and how streams sustain all of life. Aravind and Abhisheka who were instructors for the nature awareness program. We were hiking up the trail of Gangamoola with 30 enthusiastic kids and their stern faced teachers from the nearby town of Ujire, accompanied by Dr. It was a hot winter day in the forests of Kudremukh National Park and as I write this, I reminisce that day, exactly five years ago on the 30 th of December, 2010.