Eyes sparkled when Amir Hamidy see photos of his colleagues offered Adiinggar Ul-Hasanah. In the picture it looks blue-eyed frog. Researchers Museum Zoologicum Bogoriense (MZB), Research Center for Biology, LIPI was sure, this type has never been known before.Amir is being studies on the topic taxonomy master frogs of the genus Leptobrachium. For months he had to check and examine specimens stored Leptobrachium museums in Malaysia, Japan, and certainly in Indonesia (MZB). Daily activities to measure and compare in detail all the morphological characteristics of all specimens.
"One of the specimens which I check has a unique character, and unlike other Leptobrachium of Sumatra, namely L. hasseltii, L. nigrops and L. hendriksoni, that does not have a color pattern on the upper body and around the posterior thigh, "wrote Amir in electronic mail at Kompas.com.
But then he was still full of curiosity because it has not seen the eye of the frog. Understandably eye color of these specimens is unknown, because the eye color will fade on specimens that have been preserved. So when he presented photographs that showed the frog's eyes light blue on the entire iris, his heart was jubilant.
"Usually Leptobrachium genus iris color is black (for all species of Borneo), or half a light-colored uppers, can be yellow / orange (L. hendricksoni, L. smithi) or white / light blue (all species in China and Indochina). Lha ... in this new kind of blue iris color in the iris either up or down, "said Amir who currently resides in Japan to take the master's findings related to the frog.
Iris color in the genus Leptobrachium an important character to distinguish species. At least two new species discovered recently (in 2004 and 2006), from Cambodia and Laos are also based on the difference in iris color. Therefore, iris color Leptobrachium of this Sepunti Way area other than the types that have been terdeskripsi so he believed to be a new species.
The frog was first encountered by Adiinggar Ul-Hasanah and Wempi Endarwin from Tim Wildlife Conservation Society in 2004. At that time they only learned genus. Amir's research since 2008 on this type reveals the possibility that this frog is a kind previously unknown.
Attraction Amir then took him to Sumatra to seek a living example of the frog's eyes are blue. He departed in February 2009, assisted by two young herpetologiawan Sasi Kirono and Dwi Susanto, WCS team, Firdaus and Marji, as well as ranger at the resort Kubu Perahu BBSNP (South Bukit Barisan National Park). The team that conducted the brief survey on Sepunti Way path, find two frogs. Then Amir further examine these frogs including describing it.
According to taxonomic studies conducted Amir with his adviser Professor Masafumi Matsui, comparing this with other kinds of frogs (in the genus Leptobrachium) from Thailand, Malaysia and several other areas in Indonesia (Sumatra, Belitung, Borneo and Java), this frog is a new type.
He also wrote his thesis about the frog who later was named Leptobrachium waysepuntiense - refers to the name of the creek near the site of the discovery of this kind of Way Sepunti River, the village of Kubu Perahu, South Bukit Barisan National Park. According to widely distributed genus Leptobrachium actually from China, Indochina until the Sundaland (the Malay Peninsula, Borneo, Sumatra, Java) and Philippines (south). Now there are around 21 species that have been terdiskripsi. In Indonesia alone already there are 5 types, so that with the discovery of this new type into 6 types.
