‘Music’ in marsh led researchers to creature with yellow groin. It’s a new species

Equipped with flashlights, a group of scientists trekked through a marshy area in India. That’s when they heard a unique sound — and discovered a new species of “musicians.”

Researchers conducted field surveys in the Changland district and the Lohit district of Arunachal Pradesh between August and September 2022, according to a study published Nov. 15 in the journal Zootaxa. They set out at night, looking and listening for any sign of animals.

Nestled within vegetation in shallow pools of water, scientists found male frogs with “robust” bodies calling loudly, the study said. Other specimens were heard from nearby marshy areas, the edges of a newly constructed pond and the side of a nearby road.

Scientists said they collected five of the Noa-Dihing Music Frogs — three males and two females. The species is also known as Nidirana noadihing.

The frog has a “robust” body, with males measuring between approximately 1.8 inches and 2.3 inches long and females measuring between about 2.4 inches long and 2.6 inches long, the study said. They have a “rounded” snout and “smooth” skin with bony protrusions on their backs.

Photos of the music frogs show their light brown coloring. The amphibians have a “pale cream” line bordered with dark brown running down the center of their bodies. Their light brown limbs are adorned with dark stripes.

Researchers said the creatures have “irregular shaped and sized spots” on their eyelids, and they have dark stripes around their “moderately large” eyes. Their pupils are gold-rimmed. Their irises are dark brown and have a “golden spackle.”

The frogs’ throat, forelimbs, thighs and lower legs are light brown and “pinkish,” according to the study. Their groin and the outside of their thighs are “pale yellow with irregular dark olive patches,” and their cream-colored chest and belly have a “golden tinge.”

The new species marks the first time that the Nidirana genus has been found in India, scientists said. Nidirana species are known in Japan, Taiwan, China, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand.

Nidirana are known to inhabit “swamps, ponds and paddy fields,” and they often construct nests to lay their eggs, the study said.

Noa-Dihing Music Frogs are distinguished from other species by their size, their oval toe tips, the tubercles on their backs and their unique call, researchers said. The frogs’ call consists of two to three notes, with the first note different from those that follow it.

The new species was named after the Noa-Dihing River, which is near where specimens were discovered and collected, according to the study.

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