Knowledge Enterprise Nov/Dec 2014 6 Business programmes among world’s top 10 Driverless vehicles 12 Common plants that heal Season’s Greetings! h g t i l A touch on media regulation A male Raorchestes chalazodes on a bamboo branch A male Raorchestes chalazodes on a bamboo branch Photos : Seshadri K S Discovery of unique bamboo-breeding frog While observing a rare frog in India, NUS biologists noticed that it breeds in live bamboo with narrow openings. A first in frogs and toads, this mode of reproduction differs from all other known modes in the amphibians. The study, conducted by PhD student Seshadri K S and Assistant Professor David Bickford from the NUS Department of Biological Sciences, found that the white spotted bush frog ( Raorchestes chalazodes ) is currently only one of two species known to adopt this intriguing reproductive strategy. The report was published online in The Linnean Society of London’s Biological Journal of the Linnean Society in October 2014. R. chalazodes, a critically endangered creature thought to be extinct for more than 100 years, was rediscovered recently in the wet evergreen forests of the Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve in India’s Western Ghats. During his field trip to this area, Seshadri spotted adult males of the species entering hollow internodes of the flute bamboo where they call out to attract mates. Females drawn by the calls follow suit, and more than one may mate with the male to lay up to eight eggs per clutch inside the bamboo. The father stays in the bamboo to take care of the eggs, which develop directly into froglets. The investigator determined that R. chalazodes only breeds in bamboo with openings at the base of the internode as plants with openings at the top would collect rainwater, possibly flooding the eggs or drowning the froglets. Eggs inside bamboo, with some already hatching directly into froglets work on evolutionary pathways behind such amazing behaviours. Seshadri, the lead author of the paper, highlighted that amphibians are among the most threatened creatures on Earth, but they are also the least understood. “There are several questions about evolutionary ecology that could be answered by studying this fascinating group of frogs. For example, what transpires inside the bamboo internodes is still a mystery.” As the R. chalazodes only reproduces in bamboo, the study stressed that the plant’s unregulated overharvesting for paper and pulp may destroy the animal’s habitats. It calls for more research to be done, particularly in developing frogfriendly harvesting techniques. Asst Prof Bickford said the discovery underscores that natural history observations are fundamental in understanding evolutionary ecology. It also provides a basis for future Look out in pri nt in 2015! KNOWLEDGE ENTERPRISE Editor Tan Lay Leng Contributors Loo Po Li, Cassandra Yue Distribution Coordinator Siti Nurfatiah Office of Corporate Relations, National University of Singapore University Hall, Lee Kong Chian Wing, #05-03, 21 Lower Kent Ridge Road, Singapore 119077 Tel: (65) 6516 1517 Fax: (65) 6775 6386 Email: [email protected] Website: news.nus.edu.sg/knowledge-enterprise ISSN 0219-614X Company Registration Number: 200604346E for