Tadpole from Indian Dancing Frog family found at Western Ghats in India

Researchers have discovered sand-eating tadpole from the Western Ghats in India. The tadpole lives in darkness till the time it turns into a young frog. Scientists from the University of Delhi, the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka and Gettysburg College, California made the discovery of tadpoles at the Western Ghats. The research was published in the peer-reviewed open-access journal PLOS One.

The tadpole belongs to the Indian Dancing Frog family, Micrixalidae. They are called dancing frogs because of their nature of waving their legs signalling territorial and sexual display. “We provide the first confirmed report of the tadpoles of Indian Dancing frog family. These tadpoles probably remained unnoticed all these years because of their fossorial nature, which in itself is a rare occurrence in the amphibian world,” S D Biju from the University of Delhi said in a statement. (Also read. Japan kills hundreds of whales calling it 'scientific whaling activities')

According to Dr Biju, such displays are though well known, but information on these tadpoles were completely unknown. Dr Biju had in January reported in the same journal of a frog species called Frankixalus jerdonii, which was once considered a species lost to science. The purple tadpoles were found in the deep recesses of streambeds. With eel-like bodies and skin-covered eyes, they burrow through gravel beds. They don’t have teeth but serrated jaw sheaths, which help them feed and move through sand.

The Micrixalidae tadpoles hang onto the rocks underwater with support of their mouths. According to Madhava Meegaskumbura from the University of Peradeniya, the tadpolese have ribs and whitish globular sacs that store calcium carbonate, known as “lime sacs.” This is another unusual feature of this tadpole. (Also read. Researchers discover first case of Zika virus linked to paralysis)

“Only four families of frogs are reported to have ribs, but we show that at least some of Micrixalidae also have ribs, even as tadpoles; this adaptation may provide for greater muscle attachment, helping them wriggle through sand,” he said.