Newly-discovered ‘Star Trek frogs’ make noises like they’re from a sci-fi film

Seven new frog species have been discovered in Madagascar which sound more like they belong in outer space than an African island nation.

Instead of croaking, these new species of Boophis frogs instead emit bird-like whistling which wouldn’t sound out of place on the USS Enterprise.

So of course, the research team who discovered the frogs decided to name them after seven of the most iconic captains in the Star Trek sci-fi series – Kirk, Picard, Sisko, Janeway, Archer, Burnham, and Pike.

The discovery of the new Boophis frogs has been published in the Vertebrate Zoology journal following the work of the research team led by Professor Miguel Vences of the Technische Universitat Braunschweig, Germany.

Assistant Professor Mark Scherz, who was senior author on the study, said: ‘Not only do these frogs sound like sound-effects from Star Trek, but it seems also fitting that to find them, you often have to do quite a bit of trekking.

‘A few species are found in places accessible to tourists, but to find several of these species, we had to undertake major expeditions to remote forest fragments and mountain peaks.

‘There’s a real sense of scientific discovery and exploration here, which we think is in the spirit of Star Trek.’

If you’re not a Trekkie, those calls might sound similar to a bird or insect.

The sub-species were found in the rainforest living alongside fast-flowing streams in Madagascar’s most mountainous regions – a loud background which could explain their high-pitched calls.

The calls of these frogs are known as advertisement calls: a type of self-promotion that might convey information about the male frog’s suitability as a mate to females.

Dr Jorn Kohler, Senior Curator of Vertebrate Zoology at the Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt, Germany, said: ‘If the frogs just croaked like our familiar European frogs, they might not be audible over the sound of rushing water from the rivers they live near.

‘Their high-pitched trills and whistles stand out against all that noise.’

The researchers hope their findings will strengthen conservation efforts in Madagascar’s rainforests.

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