Cape Town - University of the Western Cape herpetologist, Prof Alan Channing, has discovered a new frog species from Namaqualand.
Channing used knobbly bumps beneath its "hands" as well as DNA differences to describe the species, named Breviceps branchi.
"Compared to related species branchi has a lot more tubercles under the hands and significant DNA differences," he told News24.
Channing's findings were recently published in the international taxonomic publication Zootaxa.
The new species is commonly known as the Diamond frog because it was found in an area where diamonds have been mined for centuries.
The frog has not yet been assigned a conservation status due to insufficient data but Channing believes they may be threatened by mining activities, as a lot of its habitat has been disturbed.
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