A Malaysian researcher known for finding new amphibian species said Friday his team had discovered at least one new species of frog in studies he said highlight Borneo's rich biodiversity.

Indraneil Das of the Universiti Malaysia Sarawak said the brown frog is just 4-5 centimetres (1.6-2.0 inches) long and makes a distinctive high-pitched chirp.

His team discovered the frog during an expedition to the rainforests of Mount Singai in the Malaysian state of Sarawak on Borneo island in September 2010. They later found another of the same species in nearby Kubah National Park.

Gorillas, cockatoos and frogs are among a list of threatened species to benefit from a $3.3 million aid award, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) said yesterday.

The conservation fund Save Our Species (SOS), set up by the IUCN, the World Bank and others, has announced to allocate the cash to more than 20 projects.

SOS is involved in the protection of the Cross River Gorilla and Black Rhino in Africa and the Snow Leopard in Pakistan.

If not kissing the frog, at least appreciating their ‘croak’ may lead to some headway in to climate research. For the first time frog song is being monitored using automated sound recorders by Indian scientists to track the impact of climate change on amphibians in the forests of southern Western Ghats. The methodology for tracking their call has recently been standardized by researchers.

They thought it had croaked. But missing for a half-century and listed as extinct in 1996, the Hula painted frog has been spotted again in northern Israel, its only known habitat.

"The species now has another chance to survive," Israel's Nature and Parks Authority said on Thursday, reporting that one of its inspectors had come across the frog in the Hula Valley and that it had been placed in a protective facility.

ALAPPUZHA: Two species of frogs found in Kerala are endangered, a study has found. The Green-eyed Bush Frog and the Resplendent Shrub Frog, found in the Western Ghats and in Munnar, have been listed as ‘critically endangered’ species in the paper published in the November issue of the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) magazine.

They are for educators and institutions that would like to campaign for the cause

India is the global host of the International Year of Forests, declared by the United Nations, and there is lot that we could do to protect our forests and animals. This is what the volunteers of Zoo Outreach Organisation point out though the study kits released during the Wildlife Week.

The Western Ghats region in the country, a global biodiversity hotspot, has opened up more of its secrets — this time a dozen species of night frogs hitherto unknown to science.

S.D. Biju of the University of Delhi and researchers from Bombay Natural History Society, Zoological Survey of India and Vrije University in Brussels, published the new finds in the latest issue of the international journal of zoological taxonomy ‘Zootaxa’.

Ten new species of frogs have been discovered by a team of biodiversity researchers, led by Anil Zachariah, veterinary surgeon, Animal Husbandry Department, during a recent exploration in the Western Ghats.

Proteins in frog skins which could be used to treat cancer, diabetes, stroke and transplant patients by regulating the growth of blood vessels have been discovered by Scientists at Queen's University Belfast.

Led by Professor Chris Shaw at Queen's School of Pharmacy, the scientific team has identified two proteins, or