Sri Lankan Naturalist Honoured by Science

Sri Lanka’s first to have a genus named after him

“What’s in a name?” asked one of William Shakespeare’s most iconic characters, Juliet, waxing eloquent additionally: “That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

Who would have thought that the naming of an Old World family of tree frogs newly discovered in the Andaman Islands would smell of sweet success for a Sri Lankan?

Dr. Rohan Pethiyagoda – a Renaissance man – had already been recognised for his inordinate contribution to biodiversity conservation when he was elected a fellow of the National Academy of Science of Sri Lanka (NASSL).

Then he was immortalised in a way by having a new genus – Rohanilaxus, being eight species of diminutive Asian tree frogs – named after him. It was the first non-Sri Lankan genus to be named in honour of one of our islanders.

As the international team of scientists doing the naming affirmed: “The genus is named after Rohan Pethiyagoda of the Australian Museum [and thereby hangs a tale… – Editor’s note.], in appreciation of his vast taxonomic contribution to herpetological and ichthyological studies in Asia.”

And the common name of this group of amphibians will be ‘Rohan’s Tree Frogs.’

Apart from being a globally recognised biodiversity scientist, and amphibian and freshwater fish taxonomist, Pethiyagoda is a respected author, conservationist and public policy advocate. He has a spate of publications to his name starting with his first book in 1990 – Freshwater Fishes of Sri Lanka.

In addition, a foundation he established in the same year to further biodiversity exploration in Sri Lanka – the World Heritage Trust (WHT) – published some 40 books in English and Sinhala between 1991 and 2012, including titles such as A Field Guide to the Birds of Sri Lanka, copies of which together with other volumes were donated to 5,000 school libraries.

Under Pethiyagoda’s aegis, WHT (into which he diverted profits from his book) runs on the business model of publishing natural history books, and channelling the proceeds into further exploration and research.

Little wonder then that when a team of Indian and Sri Lankan scientists from the University of Delhi had previously discovered that a tree frog commonly found in Sri Lanka’s dry zone represents a new and previously unrecognised species in fact, they named it in honour of the island’s most distinguished naturalist.

The species – named in recognition of Pethiyagoda’s contribution to biodiversity studies in Sri Lanka and India (especially frogs and fishes) – rejoices in the moniker Uperodon rohani, which due to its propensity to croak loudly in chorus after heavy rains led the scientists naming it to propose a more common alternative nomenclature: ‘Rohan’s Monsoon Croaker!’

What’s in a name? Lots to croak about for Sri Lanka’s most celebrated naturalist!

The genus is named after Rohan Pethiyagoda of the Australian Museum … in appreciation of his vast taxonomic contribution to herpetological and ichthyological studies in Asia