By Stephen Beech via SWNS
Seven new species of frog have been named after “Star Trek” captains – because their calls sound like special effects from the sci-fi series.
The tree frogs that make “otherworldly” calls were discovered in the rainforests of Madagascar by an international team of researchers.
Scientists say their high-pitched whistling calls are like sound effects from the iconic sci-fi series.
The newly discovered species, from the tree frog genus Boophis, emit “bird-like” whistling sounds in their communication with other frogs, rather than croaks.
The whistling sounds reminded the research team, led by Professor Miguel Vences, of “Star Trek” – where similar whistle-like sound effects are frequently used.
Vences of the Technical University of Braunschweig in Germany, said: “That’s why we named the frogs after Kirk, Picard, Sisko, Janeway, Archer, Burnham, and Pike – seven of the most iconic captains from the sci-fi series.”
Study senior author Assistant Professor Mark Scherz, of the Natural History Museum of Denmark, said: “Not only do these frogs sound like sound effects from “Star Trek“, but it seems also fitting that to find them, you often have to do quite a bit of trekking.
“A few species are found in places accessible to tourists, but to find several of these species, we had to undertake major expeditions to remote forest fragments and mountain peaks.
“There’s a real sense of scientific discovery and exploration here, which we think is in the spirit of Star Trek.”
He explained that the otherworldly calls of the frogs are known as “advertisement calls” – a type of self-promotion that may convey information about the male frog’s suitability as a mate to females.
Scherz says that particular group lives along fast-flowing streams in the most mountainous regions of Madagascar – a noisy background that may explain why the frogs call at such high pitches.
He said some of the frog calls might remind “Star Trek” fans of sounds from the so-called “boatswain whistle” and a device called the ‘tricorder.’
But, to other people, they may sound like a bird or an insect.
Dr. Jörn Köhler, who played a key role in analyzing the calls, said: “If the frogs just croaked like our familiar European frogs, they might not be audible over the sound of rushing water from the rivers they live near.
“Their high-pitched trills and whistles stand out against all that noise.”
Dr. Köhler, senior curator of vertebrate zoology at the Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt, Germany, added: “The appearance of the frogs has led to them being confused with similar species until now, but each species makes a distinctive series of these high-pitched whistles, that has allowed us to tell them apart from each other, and from other frogs.”
The calls also lined up with the genetic analysis the team performed, according to their findings published in the journal Vertebrate Zoology.
Madagascar is renowned for its biodiversity, and research in its rainforests continues to uncover hidden species.
The island, around the size of France, is home to about 9% of the world’s frog species.
Professor Andolalao Rakotoarison, of the Université d’Itasy in Madagascar, said: “We’ve only scratched the surface of what Madagascar’s rainforests have to offer.
“Every time we go into the forest, we find new species, and just in terms of frogs, there are still several hundred species we haven’t yet described.”
She and the rest of the team have described around 100 new species from the island in the last 10 years alone.
The research team hopes their latest discovery will strengthen conservation efforts in Madagascar’s rainforests.
They also hope to continue exploring, to paraphrase “Star Trek” Captain James T. Kirk, “to seek out new species in forests where no scientist has gone before.”
