▁from ▁Del hi ▁University ), ▁K . V . ▁G ur ur aja ▁from ▁Indian ▁Institute ▁of ▁Science , ▁Bang al ore , ▁and , ▁Y og esh ▁Sh ou che ▁and ▁San deep ▁A . ▁W . ▁( both ▁from ▁National ▁Centre ▁for ▁Cell ▁Science , ▁P une ). ▁The ▁results , ▁which ▁were ▁published ▁in ▁the ▁peer - review ed ▁C ey lon ▁Journal ▁of ▁Science ▁in ▁May ▁ 2 0 1 4 , ▁have ▁ar isen ▁from ▁a ▁study ▁conducted ▁over ▁a ▁dozen ▁years ▁in ▁the ▁for ests ▁of ▁the ▁Western ▁Gh ats ▁in ▁the ▁states ▁of ▁K arn ata ka , ▁Ker ala , ▁Mah ar as ht ra ▁and ▁T amil ▁N adu . ▁ ▁The ▁species ▁were ▁differenti ated ▁due ▁to ▁mole cular ▁markers ▁from ▁DNA ▁analysis ▁which ▁also ▁indicated ▁that ▁the ▁en demic ▁group ▁had ▁evol ved ▁in ▁this ▁habitat ▁approximately ▁ 8 5 ▁million ▁years ▁ago . ▁The ▁Western ▁Gh ats ▁is ▁a ▁b iod iversity ▁hot spot ▁for ▁am ph ib ians ▁with ▁ 7 5 ▁new ▁am ph ib ian ▁species ▁having ▁been ▁discovered ▁in ▁the ▁last ▁fifteen ▁years ▁alone . ▁This ▁discovery ▁raised ▁the ▁number ▁of ▁en demic ▁am ph ib ian ▁species ▁in ▁the ▁Western ▁Gh ats ▁to ▁ 1 8 1 . ▁However , ▁S . D . ▁Bij u , ▁the ▁leader ▁of ▁the ▁research ▁team , ▁stated ▁that ▁the ▁potential ▁for ▁discover ing ▁new ▁am ph ib ian ▁species ▁is ▁far ▁from ▁exha usted , ▁and ▁as ▁many