Here a croak, there a croak, everywhere a croak, croak. While it may not ‘hop’ to the top of the charts, this album probably has the most unique set of ‘vocalists’: frogs and toads.
In a first-of-its-kind initiative in the country, research spanning a decade has resulted in a comprehensive audio database titled ‘Mandookavani’ (translates to ‘speech of the frog’ in Sanskrit) which contains voice samplings of about 70 of these amphibian species.
The 30-minute CD contains a brief introduction to the frog species, followed by a 10 to 30 second voice sample. As an added bonus, the CD also features a one-minute ‘symphony’ using these samples. Researchers Ramya Badrinath, Seshadri K.S., Ramit Singal and Gururaja K.V. independently recorded the samplings during their research in amphibian behaviour and ecology in the Western Ghats.
The lush forests and innumerable streams of the region house 192 frog and toad species – or, around half of the amphibian diversity of the whole country – each of whom have their own distinctive voice. Of the 70 in the CD, 58 are endemic species.
“The idea came to me when I was doing my Ph.D (in 2002). It was difficult to identify frogs as one had to follow the sound and match it to the frog. This is particularly difficult as frogs are most active in the nights and during the rain. I wanted to create a database that would introduce us to frog calls, the same way birders can recognise birds without even seeing them,” said Mr. Gururaja from Gubbi Labs, which has developed the audio CD.
The lab had experimented with propagating frog calls, and even uploaded nearly 35 calls on to FrogFind, a mobile app, in 2014. “However, the CD format will help the layman and amateur researcher to identity the frogs they hear,” Mr. Gururaja said.
The CD will also aid conservationists identify frogs during field studies.
