Purple frog
| Purple frog | |
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| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Order: | Anura |
| Family: | Sooglossidae |
| Genus: | Nasikabatrachus Biju & Bossuyt, 2003 |
| Species: | N. sahyadrensis |
| Binomial name | |
| Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis Biju & Bossuyt, 2003 |
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| Distribution of Nasikabatrachus (in black) | |
Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis is a frog species belonging to the family Sooglossidae. It can be found in the Western Ghats in India. Common names for this species are purple frog, Indian purple frog, pignose frog or doughnut frog. It was discovered by S.D. Biju and F. Bossyut in October 2003. It was found to be unique for the geographic region.
The body of Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis is shaped similarly to that of most frogs. It is somewhat rounded. It has a small head and an unusual pointed snout. Adults are typically dark purple in color. Its cry sounds more like one from a chicken.
The frog spends most of the year underground. It comes out only for about two weeks, during the monsoon. This is to mate.
Unlike many other digging species of frogs that feed above the ground, this species eats underground. They feed mainly on termites using their tongue.
The frog is a living fossil. It was first in a new family of its own, Nasikabatrachidae. More recently it was added to the family Sooglossidae.[1]
References [change]
- ↑ Frost, Darrel R. 2006. Amphibian Species of the World: an online reference. Version 4.0 (17 August 2006). Electronic Database accessible at http://research.amnh.org/herpetology/amphibia/index.php. American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA.
