Skip to main content

Purple Frog

Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis
The Purple Frog is an incredibly fascinating amphibian-- not only are they one of the most recent frogs to be discovered by science, but they are also members of a family that has lasted for over 130 million years!

You'll find the Purple Frogs in a very small range in southern India. But amazingly, their closest relatives live over 1,500 miles away in the Seychelles. Once upon a time the common ancestor of the Purple Frog and their Seychelles cousins lived on a landmass that split away from Gondwana, the southern supercontinent. As the landmass continued to drift, pieces gradually (over millions of years) broke off, and the Seychelles and India became separated. That is why today the only members of the Sooglossidae family live so far apart!

Now, it's not wonder that it took until 2003 for the Purple Frog to be discovered. They are small, maxing out at around 7cm, and they live almost entirely underground. They sometimes dig tunnels as deep as 10ft below the surface! The Purple Frogs only emerge for a few weeks each year in order to mate. Unsurprisingly, they feed on termites and other subterranean insects.

Sadly, the Purple Frog is considered Endangered. They have a very small range that is threatened by agriculture and deforestation. There are protected areas nearby, but so far they have not been observed inside of them.
IUCN Status : Endangered
Location : India
Size : Body Length up to 2.5in (7cm)
Classification : Phylum : Chordata -- Class : Amphibia -- Order : Anura
Family : Sooglossidae -- Genus : Nasikabatrachus -- Species : N. sahyadrensis
Image : Dr. S.D. Biju
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bornean Orangutan

The Bornean Orangutan is one of two extant Orangutan species in the world. It is the third largest primate (after Gorillas) and is the largest primarily tree-dwelling animal in the world. Males are substantially larger than females, and average at around 165lbs. Bornean Orangutans are largely solitary. A handful might live within a small range but they will seldom interact with one another. Males and females only meet up to breed, which happens only once every several years. A young Orangutan will stay with it's mother for about five years, and the females tend to go about eight years between births. That is the longest interim period of any animal! Sadly, the Bornean Orangutans are in a lot of trouble. They need large forests in order to thrive, and deforestation and habitat degradation has left many homeless. They are also hunted for meat and for traditional medicines. Conservation areas are being established to help these guys in the wild, and it is believed that there are a...
59 comments
Read more

Four!

For anyone who was counting, yesterday was our birthday-- four years! Four years filled with animals from A to Z, more than 1,100 of them! I can't thank my readers enough, it's been wonderful! And in celebration of that milestone... I'm taking a break. Hopefully not forever, but for a little bit at least. In the mean time I plan on getting a new layout out, along with some updates to some of the older articles. I'll post updates here and on the Facebook page, I'm also brainstorming some new animal-related projects, so keep an eye out! Thanks again for four awesome years!
18 comments
Read more

Halloween Crab

Gecarcinus quadratus The Halloween Crab goes by many names, including the Red Land Crab, Whitespot Crab, and Moon Crab. I personally like Halloween Crab though, since it really reflects the interesting colors. They have black carapaces, orange-red legs, and purple claws! Halloween Crabs live in the Pacific coast mangroves and forests of Central and South America. They actually live in the forests as adults, and return to the ocean in order to reproduce. Did you know that they live as far away as 18 miles (30km)  from water? Not where you normally think Crabs to be! While living in the forest, the Crabs forage nocturnally for different plant matter, including leaves and sapling. They also dig long burrows into the ground for protection. These burrows can measure nearly 5 ft long! Halloween Crabs are sometimes kept in captivity, and can be very tricky pets due to their excellent climbing skills. IUCN Status :  Not Listed ...
Post a Comment
Read more