New frog species chirp like trippy ‘Star Trek’ sound effects

Beam me up, froggy.

Deep in the rainforests of Madagascar, scientists have discovered seven new tree frog species that emit noises that researchers said sound closest to some iconic and high-pitched effects from “Star Trek.”

Specifically, their high-pitched, bird-like frequencies evoke both the “boatswain whistle” and “tricorder.”

Newly discovered Boophis genus tree frogs in Madagascar were named for evoking sounds like that of “Star Trek.” M. Vences, CC BY-SA 4.0

“That’s why we named the frogs after Kirk, Picard, Sisko, Janeway, Archer, Burnham, and Pike — seven of the most iconic captains from the sci-fi series,” said researcher Miguel Vences, who hopes to see these new species of the Boophis genus — namely B. kirki, B. picardi, B. siskoi, B. janewayae, B. archeri, B. pikei, and B. burnhamae — will live long and prosper.

And, in a way, the male frogs are putting themselves in the spotlight with these enterprising, “advertisement calls” to woo females with the boisterous streams of the country’s mountain areas.

A new species of treefrogs sound like special effects used on “Star Trek,” where Leonard Nimoy stole the show as Spock. Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection

“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,” researcher Dr. Jörn Köhler said.

“Their high-pitched trills and whistles stand out against all that noise.”

Until recently, the frogs were confused with similar species for their like appearances. It was only their bizarre whistle that researchers identified as a distinguishable feature.

Even with this discovery, much of the final frontier in Madagascar is where no scientist has gone before.

“We’ve only scratched the surface of what Madagascar’s rainforests have to offer,” said researcher Andolalao Rakotoarison.

The frogs’ unusual pitch is so that they can be heard over their noisy environments. M.D. Scherz, CC BY-SA 4.0

“Every time we go into the forest, we find new species, and just in terms of frogs, there are still several hundred species we haven’t yet described.”

That is partly due to how deep within their ecosystems these little fellas reside. In the case of the recent discovery, researcher Mark D. Scherz said “We had to undertake major expeditions to remote forest fragments and mountain peaks.”

“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!”