• Zoological Survey of India researchers have discovered a new species of frogs from deep within the Siju cave system in the South Garo Hills district of Meghalaya.

About Amolops siju

• It has been named after the Siju cave where it was discovered.
• It belongs to the cascade Ranidae family and genus Amolops.
• Genus Amolops is among the largest groups of ranid frogs (family Ranidae) with 73 known species widely distributed across India’s North East and north, Nepal, Bhutan, China, the Indochina region and the Malaya Peninsula.
  • Cascade frogs are named so because they prefer small waterfalls.
• It is the second time that a frog was discovered from inside a cave in the country, the first being the discovery of the Micrixalus spelunca in 2014 from a cave in Tamil Nadu.

 

About Siju caves

• It is one of the longest cave systems in the world situated in the state of Meghalaya.
• It is a 4 km long natural limestone cave famous for its stalactites and stalagmites.