Cross breeding of two different frog species in Kumthal

The natural cross breeding of two different species of frogs recently took place in Kumthal hamlet of Caranzol in Sattari.

Pravin Gaonkar from Kumthal, an hamlet situated at the foothill of Huland dongar of the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary saw the phenomena of natural cross breeding taken place between the male of the Malabar gliding frog and the female of the common tree frog.

 

The Malabar gliding frog, an endemic frog to the Western Ghats of India, possesses the ability to glide at the distance of 9-12 metres by stretching the webbing between its toes when making leaps down from the tree tops. The Indian tree frog female with a brownish above with darker marking, sometimes comes near to human settlement in search of food. Though this frog is arboreal, during the matting it comes down.

Amit Sayyed, of Wildlife Protection Research Society of Satara-Maharashtra had studied the natural cross breeding of these frogs. He observed that after the monsoon downpour males and females of Malabar gliding frog emerged from hibernation. Males give calls to attract females. The female selects a leaf on a twig of a tree overhanging a water body where mating takes place. The male releases seminal fluid to form the foam nest in which the female lays eggs by covering the foam with leaves. Among the tree frogs more or less same natural breeding and nesting behavior has been observed. Though both these species share a common habitat cross breeding is usually avoided.

Amit Sayyed who studied this cross breeding in the forest of Amboli mentions, "The foam nest formed by these cross breeding pairs was observed for next eight days in the same habitat without disturbing it and was found to have unfertilized and hence underdeveloped eggs."

Gajanan Shetye, a wildlifer from Keri Sattari, says, I had witnessed the natural breeding of the Malabar gliding frog and common tree frog in the forests of Sacorda in Dharbandora. Inspite of cross breeding fertilization of eggs does not take place. As the number of females is less, the males of Malabar gliding frogs prefer mating with common indian frogs.