The “find” dates back to July last year. During one of his nocturnal hunts, researcher Subhadip Paul was intrigued by a strange “ticking”. Soon he tracked down its source and found it in a heap of foliage. “Only 21 mm in length, it was definitely a frog, though it did not croak but sounded like a cricket,” said Paul, who has undertaken the frog and toad study in Chilapata forests.

The species is orangish in colour with black stripes running on both the sides and a white band near the upper lip. “We have found five specimens till now. It is generally found in foliages beneath shrubs near rainwater pools in forests,” said Paul.

He consulted Kaushik Deuti, a scientist with the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) and an advisor with this project. The specimen was sent to the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore for DNA analysis to know the intervals between two calls, the duration and the frequency of the notes.

“The base sequence chart did not match with those of the existing species. We then sent a specimen to the MNH to see whether itmatched with any other specimen on the earth. The response was negative,” said Deuti. Soon, professor Anne Marie Ohler of the MNH and her student Stephane Grosjean came to Chilapata on June 6 to study the habitat of this frog. Renowned herpetologist Prof SK Datta from Utkal University and wildlife expert Pranabesh Sanyal also reached the forests. It was the first discovery of a vertebrate from West Bengal in 30 years, Pal said. The frog will be named after Chilapata, where it was found.