‘Frogs are as important as tigers’

Did you know that 95% of frogs that croak are male? Bengaluru-based ecologist Gururaja K.V. speaks on many fascinating aspects of amphibians and why they are so important to us

Gururaja K.V. remembers that there were 220 species of amphibians that were described from India back in 2002 when he was working on his PhD. Today, it is 465, says the Bengaluru-based ecologist, a faculty at the Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design and Technology.

These new discoveries, he says, stem from multiple factors, including several technological innovations – in fields ranging from molecular biology to bioacoustics – as well as in cameras and camping gear.

“Every year you have ten new species being added,” says Gururaja at a lecture he recently delivered as part of the Paraspar series organised by the Office of Communication at the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru. The lecture — titled Why do frogs do what they do? Insights from behavioural ecological studies on the Western Ghats anurans -—was supported with audio clips, videos, and stunning macro photographs. 

Poorly studied species

While the discoveries are certainly a cause for celebration, Gururaja notes that although we have an incredibly rich diversity of amphibians, we know little about them. Moreover, many of these poorly studied amphibians are disappearing at an alarming rate. A recent paper he co-authored, published in Nature last year, reveals that amphibians are the most threatened vertebrate group globally, with 41% of the 8000-odd species at risk.

According to this paper, the emerging threat of climate change is of particular concern because it often exacerbates other threats such as land-use change, fire or disease. Since amphibians are exothermic and cannot self-regulate their body temperature, “they have a very specific temperature range within which they can survive, making them very vulnerable to even subtle small changes in the environment,” says Gururaja in a post-event interview. “That is what is making them go extinct in certain places.”

Exploring a double-life

The word amphibian comes from the Greek words “amphi”, which means double, and “bios”, which means life, alluding to the two life history stages these animals go through: a larval stage spent in water followed by terrestrial adulthood.

“Based on fossil records, we think that the first groups of amphibians evolved around 360 million years ago, a late-Devonian species which saw the dinosaurs come and go… many ice-ages,” says Gururaja. Today’s amphibians can be divided into three smaller groups: Anura, which includes frogs and toads; Urodela, comprising salamanders and newts; and Gymnophiona, to which the limbless, often blind, caecilians belong.

Folk beliefs

Frogs, which comprise the majority of amphibians, are culturally often associated with rain, says Gururaja, going on to play a video of a frog wedding, a traditional ceremony performed in many parts of India to invoke rainfall. “There is a saying in the majority of cultures that if the frog croaks, there is going to be rain,” he says, throwing in a fascinating fact: 95% of the frogs that croak are male.

Gururaja, whose research largely focuses on signalling in frogs – they use acoustic as well as visual cues–discusses the mechanics and ecology of croaking. He also offers insights into the role colour plays in mating behaviour, the intricacies of multimodal signalling (since these cues often work in concert), the relatively rare behaviour of parental care seen in a few of these animals, and why there is so much amphibian diversity in the Western Ghats. 

Another thing Gururaja dwells on is how frogs are often killed for their meat. “Till 1984, we were the largest exporter of frog legs,” he explains, adding that until it was completely banned, thanks to the efforts of the ornithologist Humayun Abdulali, a pair of bullfrog legs used to fetch about $4. Even today, you can get a plate of illegally sourced “jumping chicken” in some restaurants in Goa, says Gururaja, who believes that using frogs as a source of bush meat, as some tribal communities do, is fine. “The moment it becomes commercialised, however, is when the population will see a down trend.” 

Why amphibians matter

Gururaja’s love for frogs goes back several decades, around the time when he was doing his master’s at Kuvempu University, Shankaraghatta, near Shivamogga. There were several species of Nyctibatrachus — night frogs — on campus, and his professor asked him to look into them.

“I did not understand frogs, but since I am an inquisitive type of person, I jumped in,” he says with a smile. He still remembers struggling to hold a frog in his hand and the ickiness he felt when encountering the animal’s slimy skin. “What captivated me finally were their eyes. They are fabulous; you can stare into them and forget everything else,” he says.

While frogs’ beautiful eyes and dazzling diversity are indeed enthralling, they are also a crucial part of various ecosystem functions like helping keep algal bloom and insects like mosquitoes in check and as prey for various predators. They’ve also played a critical role in medical research, whether in pregnancy testing, genetic experiments, or studying drug absorption and are of huge cultural significance, finding mention in mythology, religious texts, fairy tales, books and even cartoons.

Most importantly, they perform yet another important ecological role as indicator species: organisms that offer insights into ecosystem health. Since frogs are very sensitive to even the smallest changes, they reflect subtle shifts in a micro-habitat, says Gururaja. He firmly believes that a top-top conservation narrative focusing mainly on megafauna is problematic. “Frogs are as important as tigers,” he says, pointing out that preserving their micro-habitats is essential to overall ecosystem health. “At the end of the day, whatever we say about species, you cannot conserve based on a single species. You have to conserve the habitat.”

The power of citizen science

Gururaja is also passionate about citizen science and its power in advancing research. Consider the Malabar Tree Toad. For centuries, ever since it was first described in 1876, it was considered an elusive species, so rare that there is a 105-year gap between its first and second sightings in 1980. “There were only three more reports in 2004 when I began looking into it,” recalls Gururaja, who in 2014 was part of a team that launched the Mapping Malabar Tree Toad programme, a citizen science initiative to map this species endemic to the Western Ghats.

So far, more than 358 observations have been made, indicating that this species — which was once classified as Endangered by IUCN (currently its status is under review) — may be more common than was once thought. A species, which in 2004 was considered endangered because of only five observations has now been upgraded as a species of least concern. “This is a great example of the power of citizen science,” says Gururaja, who, since 2020, has been pushing to make this species Karnataka’s state frog.

Citizen Science, he firmly believes, can play a major role in conservation, contributing to baseline data and information about amphibians. “Scientists cannot spend this amount of time on one species. But, if people can participate by observing and recording what is in their backyard, it is a great starting point,” he says. And it is not just about citizens simply being data gatherers; it is also about creating a more informed audience.” Citizens may not be scientists, but it does not mean that they are dumb. Whatever profession we are in, we can contribute.” says Gururaja. “We need to have a more collaborative approach where the citizen is an equal contributor and is acknowledged.”

Published - September 24, 2024 09:00 am IST