Nasikabatrachus bhupathi
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Nasikabatrachidae
Genus: Nasikabatrachus
Species:
N. bhupathi
Binomial name
Nasikabatrachus bhupathi
Janani, Vasudevan, Prendini, Dutta, and Aggarwal, 2017[2]
Approximate distribution
  Range

Nasikabatrachus bhupathi, or Bhupathy's purple frog,[3] is a frog species belonging to the family Nasikabatrachidae. It can be found in the Western Ghats in India and was discovered near the Srivilliputhur Grizzled Giant Squirrel Wildlife Sanctuary.[2][4] The specific epithet honors the late Indian herpetologist Subramanian Bhupathy (1963–2014).[2]

Taxonomy

Nasikabatrachus bhupathi and Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis have been found to be related to other frogs that live in the Seychelles, which are closer to Africa than to India. This is consistent with the idea that Africa and India were once part of the same ancient supercontinent, called Gondwana, which eventually became part of the later supercontinent, Pangaea.[5]

Description

The species has purple skin and blue eyes and lives underground. It differs genetically, morphologically, and acoustically from the closely related Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis.[2] Speciation between the two species is likely caused by the different monsoon seasons on the different sides of the Western Ghats, causing N. sahyadrensis to breed between May and August and N. bhupathi to breed between October and December.[2]

Status

This species is considered Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List due to its very small range, which is mostly threatened by water extraction, pollution, and disturbance from tourism.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group (2022). "Nasikabatrachus bhupathi". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2022: e.T125190480A125190896.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Janani, S. Jegath; Vasudevan, Karthikeyan; Prendini, Elizabeth; Dutta, Sushil Kumar; Aggarwal, Ramesh K. (13 August 2017). "A new species of the genus Nasikabatrachus (Anura, Nasikabatrachidae) from the eastern slopes of the Western Ghats, India" (PDF). Alytes. 34 (1–4): 1–19. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  3. ↑ Bittel, Jason (24 August 2017). "New Purple Pig-Nose Frog Found in Remote Mountains". National Geographic. Weird & Wild. Washington, DC. Archived from the original on 1 September 2017. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
  4. ↑ Frost, Darrel R. (2021). "Nasikabatrachus bhupathi Janani, Vasudevan, Prendini, Dutta, and Aggarwal, 2017". Amphibian Species of the World: An Online Reference. Version 6.1. American Museum of Natural History. doi:10.5531/db.vz.0001. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  5. ↑ Perinchery, Aathira (23 August 2017). "'N. bhupathi', a frog with the face of a pig". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 10 December 2019. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
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