Purple frog

Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis

Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis is a species of Anura, which is found in southwest India. It was discovered only in 2003 and represents the own family Nasikabatrachidae within the amphibians.

Name

The scientific name is from the Sanskrit word for Nasika nose, the Greek word for frog, and Sahyadri batrachus, the native name of the hill, where it occurs, is derived.

Appearance

Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis has a wide and about seven inches long, bloated body of acting purple violet color and a very unusual for a Froschlurch head shape. In particular, the pointed snout, strongly resembling in conjunction with the tiny eyes of a mole out of the ordinary. One can also feel a certain resemblance to a human nose.

Way of life

The frog spends most of the year hidden in the ground from which he apparently always comes out only for a period of two weeks during the monsoon to reproduce. This hidden lifestyle might be the reason why he has remained hidden from the zoologists so long.

Descent

The species has genetic studies indicate that separated from the other species of anurans 100 million years ago and can thus be regarded as a living fossil. Up to this time, the Seychelles, the Indian subcontinent and Madagascar still formed a contiguous land mass. The species is considered to be last survivor of the family of Nasikabatrachidae. The closest related family is the Seychellenfrösche ( Sooglossidae ), whose members are found in the Seychelles. Some authors, however, arrange Nasikabatrachus directly into the Sooglossidae family and see her no separate family status.

Discovery

Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis was of an Indo -Belgian research team led by Franky Bossuyt ( Vrije Universiteit Brussel) and SD Biju ( Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute Palode, India) have been found. The discovery was announced in October 2003.