Three tree dwelling species were discovered by a team of international researchers in Tanzania.
Their findings were made public on Thursday, in a scientific journal-Vertebrate Zoology, on Thursday.
The three new species of frogs belong to an unusual group of African toads in the genus Nectophrynoides — commonly called “Tree Toads.”
Instead of laying eggs that hatch into tadpoles, the female Tree Toads, are capable of internal fertilization, which means they carry their offspring inside their bodies and give birth to fully formed, baby toads.
Mark D. Scherz, Curator for Herpetology at the Natural History Museum Denmark, a coauthor on the study, said “it’s common knowledge that frogs grow from tadpoles—it’s one of the classic metamorphosis paradigms in biology. But the nearly 8000 frog species actually have a wide variety of reproductive modes, many of which don’t closely resemble that famous story.”
Christoph Liedtke a co-author from the Spanish National Research Council, who has specialized in the evolution of amphibian reproductive modes, said live-bearing is rare among frogs and toads and is practiced by less than 1% of frogs species.
Picture by Michele Menegon, of one of the newbies discovered, Nectophrynoides Luhomeroensis.