Over 50 years after the dismissal of reports on new species of frogs living in New York and New Jersey, a researcher from Rutgers University and his team have discovered the elusive frog.
The frog, which is found inhabiting wetlands from North Carolina to Connecticut, will be scientifically named the Rana kauffeldi, as a nod to the ecologist that first noticed the frog species.
In 1937, Carl Kauffeld published a paper regarding the new frog species. However, according to Rutgers doctoral candidate Jeremy Feinberg, while the report showed that Kauffeld was on to something, it failed to fully confirm the new species.
According to Feinberg, he and his team had access to methods such as bioacoustics analysis and genetic testing, both of which were not around for Kauffeld to utilize during his time. Kauffeld simply did not have the available technology to confirm that the species that he discovered, while looking similar to the other two leopard frogs living in the area, is a completely different, third species.
Feinberg and his team published the paper of the study in the PLOS ONE journal.
In the paper, Feinberg revealed that the common name of the Rana kauffeldi will be the Atlantic Coast leopard frog.
Feinberg first encountered the frog species six years ago on Staten Island, where Kauffeld once worked as the Staten Island Zoo director and the American Museum of Natural History.
Kauffeld published many books on the topic of reptiles and amphibians, and is viewed as an expert on the matter. However, his research and proposal on the new frog species was heavily criticized, failing to receive any support from his colleagues.
"After some discussion, we agreed that it just seemed right to name the species after Carl Kauffeld," Feinberg said. "We wanted to acknowledge his work and give credit where we believe it was due even though it was nearly 80 years after the fact."
The paper that Feinberg and his team published listed the official description of the Atlantic Coast leopard frog, along with its ecology, distribution and conservation status.
The new frog species was previously confused with the two other species living in the area because of the similarities in looks. However, after the examination of the mating calls and genetics of the leopard frogs living in several regions in the Northeast, the researchers proved that the frog was the third species of leopard frogs in the area.
According to Brad Shaffer, a co-author of the study and a professor from UCLA, the lesson to be taken from the study is that nature lovers should get away from their computers and study the animals and plants that are living in their own yards.
