A new frog species has been discovered along the I-95 corridor from Connecticut to North Carolina. A team of scientists and a Rutgers researcher have proven that the frog exists, more than 50 years after claims of a new frog species inhabiting New York and New Jersey were dismissed. The researchers are naming the frog after the ecologist who first discovered it.

Jeremy Feinberg, Rutgers doctoral candidate, said in a statement, “Even though he was clearly on to something, the claim Carl Kauffeld made in his 1937 paper fell short.” He continued, “We had the benefits of genetic testing and bioacoustic analysis that simply weren’t available to Kauffeld to prove that even though this frog might look like the two other leopard frogs in the area, it was actually a third and completely separate species.”

The paper, titled Cryptic Diversity in Metropolis: Confirmation of a New Leopard Frog Species from New York City and Surrounding Atlantic Coast Regions and published in PLOS ONE, reveals the scientific name for the new species, Rana kauffeldi. The leopard frog, which was first noticed by Feinberg on Staten Island six years ago near the Statue of Liberty, will be most commonly referred to as the Atlantic Coast Leopard Frog.

Feinberg said, “After some discussion, we agreed that it just seemed right to name the species after Carl Kauffeld. We wanted to acknowledge his work and give credit where we believe it was due even though it was nearly 80 years after the fact.”

According to PLOS ONE, the new species of frog is morphologically similar to two largely parapatric eastern congeners, Rana sphenocephala and R. pipiens.