New species of tree frog named Ghatixalus magnus discovered in Western Ghats

A new species of tree frog was discovered and another species of bush frog was rediscovered in the Western Ghats.The discovery published in the latest issue of International Taxonomic Journal Zootaxa.

• It is a joint effort by a team comprised Robin Abraham, a researcher from the University of Kansas, USA and a researcher of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Thiruvananthapuram.

Ghatixalus magnus 

The team discovered a new species of Rhacophorid tree frog of the genus Ghatixalus. The new species is named Ghatixalus magnus after its large size making it the biggest known tree frog from the Western Ghats.

Raorchestes flaviventris:

The team has also rediscovered a frog that had been evading for the past many decades. Raorchestes flaviventris is a species of rhacophorid bush frog described from the Western Ghats by George Albert Boulenger in 1882.

China building world’s largest animal cloning factory

A China joint venture with Korea to build the world’s largest animal cloning factory in Tianjing China is set to save thousands of animals from extinction.

The 31.3 million dollar commercial facility is a follow up on the technique which made Dolly the Sheep, the first cloned mammal from Scotland on the 1996.

Highlights :

• The plant in the TianjingEconomic and Technological Development Area which is a government sponsored business development park will clone animals which like pet dogs, beef cattle and racehorses.
• The cloned animals will be mostly used commercial services and improving the quality of livestock.
• The centre will produce 100,000  cattle embryosa year initially, eventually increasing to 1 million said by Xu Xiaochun, board chairman of Boyalife.