Flying Frog Discovered in Eastern Himalayas

By David Rutter

A decade of research carried out by researchers in the Eastern Himalayas has brought exciting discoveries such as the muntjac – the world’s smallest species of deer, a frog that uses its long webbed feet to glide in the air, and a 100 million-year old gecko preserved in amber.

The study, detailed in a report by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) entitled “The Eastern Himalayas – Where Worlds Collide”, highlights the region as a biological frontier. The region stretches from Bhutan, north-east India, the far-north of Myanmar, to Nepal and the southern parts of Tibet. The report documents the discovery of more than 350 new species of flora and fauna.

The region is home to a diverse range of species, such as the snow leopard, Bengal tigers, Asian elephants, red pandas, takins, golden langurs, Gangetic dolphins and one-horned rhinos, as well as thousands of plant species.