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Purple frog, believed to have co-existed with dinosaurs, set to be crowned Kerala’s state amphibian
Why in news?
- Herpetologists believe that the species should be rightly called a ‘living fossil’ as its evolutionary roots suggest it could have shared space with dinosaurs going back almost 70 million years ago.
More in news
- Mythology behind this:(1) Mahabali, or Maveli, was a benevolent asura king who ruled over the region of Kerala but was banished into the netherworld by Lord Vishnu in order to appease the gods.(2) But Maveli was granted one wish: he could return to Kerala for a single day and meet his subjects.(3) This day in Kerala came to be celebrated as ‘Thiruvonam’, the most auspicious day of Onam when people would greet their old king.
- Purple frog:(1) Quite similar as the King Maveli the Purple frog, which lives almost its entire life in underground tunnels, comes out to the surface for a single day in a year to breed.(2) Once it lays eggs, the bloated frogs characterized by a protruding snout and powerful hind legs return to the earth’s deepest layers.(3) It’s endemic to this part of the southern Western Ghats and cannot be found anywhere else.(4) IUCN status: listed as Endangered.(5) It feeds mostly on soil-mites, ants and termites using its fluted tongue.(6) The male and female frogs mate underground and once in a year, they come out on the surface to lay thousands of eggs near seasonal streams in the months of May-June.
- Why is it so special?(1) Species sparks feverish imagination among herpetologists worldwide for a number of reasons.(2) Its evolutionary roots suggest it could have shared space with dinosaurs going back almost 70 million years ago.(3) This could help scientists understand how it’s population may have evolved and learned to overcome the challenges of shifting land masses.(4) A year after it was documented, the frog’s closest relatives were found in Seychelles, an island in the Indian Ocean off East Africa.(5) This discovery led many to ask whether the species could indeed be living proof of the theory of Gondwanaland.
Source
Indian express