The major threat to these amphibians in the Western Ghats of India is caused by the alteration of natural habitats by an ever-increasing human population, resulting in large areas being converted for settlement and agricultural use. In 2015, tadpoles of the species were discovered to be traditionally consumed by tribal communities. Unlike many other burrowing species of frogs that emerge and feed above the ground, this species has been found to forage underground, feeding mainly on termites using its tongue and a special buccal groove. Purple frog juveniles Purple frogs mating Around 3000 eggs are laid in a rock pool and the tadpoles metamorphose after around 100 days. The females then carry the male frogs on their backs to the egg laying sites which are usually crevices along the fast-flowing streams. They mount females and grip them ( amplexus) along the vertebral column. Males emerge to call beside temporary rainwater streams. With few field scientists out in the field during the rainy season, the species was discovered and studied only in recent times. The frog spends most of its life underground and surfaces only during the monsoon, for a period of two weeks, for mating. The Indian purple frog is one of the many discovered frogs that have evolved over time, allowing it to easily adapt to its underground environment. The species is now known to be quite widely distributed in the Western Ghats, ranging from the Camel's Hump Hill Range in the north, all the way to the northernmost portions of the Agasthyamalai Hill Range in the south. Purple frog tadpole Distribution Įarlier thought to be restricted to the south of the Palghat Gap in the Western Ghats, additional records have extended its known range farther north of the gap. The frogs may switch to headfirst burrowing due to their wedge-shaped skull and other shaped limbs. Some other burrowing frogs ( Myobatrachus gouldii and Arenophyrne rotunda) are known to do this, but these frogs have also been observed to call from the surface, while N. Males of this species exhibit the unique behavior of calling from under a thin layer of soil. Its vocalization is a drawn-out harsh call that sounds similar to a chicken clucking.

Some of these fishes co-occur with Nasikabatrachus tadpoles in the hill streams. Suckers are also present in rheophilic fishes of genera such as Glyptothorax, Travancoria, Homaloptera, and Bhavania, adaptations that are the result of convergent evolution. Narayan Rao as having oral suckers that allowed them to live in torrential streams. Tadpoles of the species had been described in 1917 by Nelson Annandale and C. The specimen with which the species was originally described was 7.0 cm (2.8 inches) long from the tip of the snout to the vent. Males are about a third of the length of females. Adults are typically dark purplish-grey in color. sahyadrensis has a small head and an unusual pointed snout. Its arms and legs splay out in the standard anuran body form.

Their flattened body assists them to cling to submerged rocks and boulders which essentially helps them fight strong currents, allowing them to remain near stream banks where they typically reside. The body of Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis appears robust and bloated and is relatively rounded compared to other more dorsoventrally flattened frogs. One of its common names, the purple pig-nosed frog, also makes reference to the elongated morphology of its snout, which is well adapted to the acquisition of fossorial termites.ĭescription Video recording of a vocalizing male. The scientific name Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis is a Latinized portmanteau of the Sanskrit nāsikā ( नासिका) for 'nose', Greek batrachos ( βάτραχος) for 'frog', and Sahyadri, the native name for the Western Ghats which forms the purple frog's natural habitat. Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis closest living relatives are considered to be the Sooglossidae, only known in the Seychelles, an island chain in the Indian Ocean. However, it was already well known to the local people and several earlier documented specimens and publications had been ignored by the authors in the 2003 paper that describes the genus and species. Biju from the Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute in Palode, India, from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Free University of Brussels), in 2003. The species was described from specimens collected in the Idukki district of Kerala by S.D. Although the adult frog was formally described in October 2003, the juvenile form of the species was described earlier in 1917. It is endemic to the Western Ghats in India. The purple frog ( Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis), Indian purple frog, or pignose frog is a frog species of the genus Nasikabatrachus. Distribution range of Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis (in ORANGE)

Dark blue nature purple tree frog