In India's Western Ghats, fourteen new species of dancing frogs was found

Fourteen new species of dancing frogs — so named because of the unique kicks they use to attract mates — have been found in the mountains of southern India. The discovery brings the total number of known dancing frog species to 24. Only the male frogs “dance,” which involves stretching and extending the legs in a breeding behavior known as foot-flagging. By whipping their legs out, the frogs draw the attention of females that might not be able to hear their mating croaks over the sound of rushing water.

The frogs also use their leg extensions to smack away other males. For every one female dancing frog, there are about 100 males, making the “dance” that much more important. The species’ mating patterns have long baffled scientists who scoured Indian forests for years in search of eggs.

In 2011, they witnessed two frogs mating and saw the female immediately bury her fertilized eggs, which confirmed that the animals were breeding only after monsoon season when stream levels had gone down. Because stream levels are so important to the frogs’ reproduction, the species is vulnerable to changes in rainfall and water availability. Scientists have found that the animals are declining rapidly, which could be due to loss of moisture in forest soil and streams running dry. However, researchers acknowledge that their observations on forest conditions are only anecdotal and further investigation is needed. Dancing frogs are found exclusively in the Western Ghats or the Sahyādr, a mountain range that stretches nearly 1,000 miles across southern India.

The biologically diverse mountains are home to a quarter of all Indian species.

Plant 111 trees,when a new girl child is born in Rajasthan

All too often, it seems that an increase in human population must come at a cost to the environment, like instraining resources and encroachment on once wild habitats. But one quaint village in India has adopted a wonderfully eco-conscious tradition that is actually helping to ensure a greener future with each new generation.

One such village in southern Rajasthan's Rajsamand district is quietly practicing its own, homegrown brand of Eco-feminism and achieving spectacular results. For the last several years, Piplantri village panchayat has been saving girl children and increasing the green cover in and around it at the same time. Here, villagers plant 111 trees every time a girl is born and the community ensures these trees survive, attaining fruition as the girls grow up. Over the last six years, people here have managed to plant over a quarter million trees on the village's grazing commons- inlcuding neem, sheesham, mango, Amla among others.

On an average 60 girls are born here every year, according to the village's former sarpanch Shyam Sundar Paliwal, who was instrumental in starting this initiative in the memory of his daughter Kiran, who died a few years ago.In about half these cases, parents are reluctant to accept the girl children, he says. Such families are identified by a village committee comprising the village school principal along with panchayat and Anganwadi members. Rs. 21,000 is collected from the village residents and Rs.10,000 from the girl's father and this sum of Rs. 31,000 is made into a fixed deposit for the girl, with a maturity period of 20 years. But here's the best part. “We make these parents sign an affidavit promising that they would not marry her off before the legal age, send her to school regularly and take care of the trees planted in her name,” says Mr. Paliwal. People also plant 11 trees whenever a family member dies.

But this village of 8,000 did not just stop at planting trees and greening their commons. To prevent these trees from being infested with termite, the residents planted over two and a half million Aloevera plants around them. Now these trees, especially the Aloevera, are a source of livelihood for several residents.

“Gradually, we realized that aloevera could be processed and marketed in a variety of ways. So we invited some experts and asked them to train our women. Now residents make and market aloevera products like juice, gel, pickle etc,” he says.

Via The Hindu