Input E · SCIENCE ARTICLE — DISCOVERY OF AN URBAN FROG SPECIES

THE FROG CALL THAT DID NOT MATCH

A night-time sound led researchers from an ordinary city pond to a scientifically important discovery.

A

City parks can hide surprises, even in neighbourhoods crossed every day by thousands of people. University students recording night sounds beside a drainage pond heard a frog call they could not identify. At first, they assumed the sound came from a common local species.

B

The team returned on several evenings and placed small audio recorders around the pond. They also photographed frogs without touching them and noted temperature, rainfall and the plants growing nearby. When specialists compared the recordings with known calls, one pattern remained different.

C

Further measurements showed that the frogs were smaller and had slightly different markings from similar species. Genetic tests later confirmed that the population represented a species not previously recorded by scientists. The discovery did not mean the frogs had suddenly arrived in the city. Researchers think they may have lived in scattered wet areas for years but were overlooked because adults are active after dark.

D

The finding has changed how the pond is managed. Workers now avoid cutting all waterside plants at once, and future drainage repairs will leave part of the habitat undisturbed. For the researchers, the larger lesson is that small urban spaces can contain important biodiversity when people observe them carefully.

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