‘Mahabali frog’ may be Kerala’s official amphibian
- Category
Environment
- Published
25th Apr, 2022
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Context
The purple frog, one of the rarest frog species endemic to the Western Ghats, would soon be declared as Kerala’s official amphibian.
About
About Mahabali or Maveli Frog:
- The purple frog (or pig-nosed frog) spends much of its life underground, emerging briefly for a few days each year at the start of the monsoons to breed.
- The purple frog is one of only two species in the family
- This family is endemic to the Western Ghats of India and has been evolving independently for around 100 million years.
- Molecular evidence has found the purple frogs to be most closely related to a family of tiny frogs only found on the Seychelles.
- It is thought the two families shared a common ancestor that was subsequently isolated on different landmasses following the breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana.
- As it is a fossorial (burrowing) species, the purple frog was long overlooked by science, being formally described in only 2003, despite already having a number of local names.
- The tadpoles are adapted to living in torrents and have specialised sucker-like mouthparts which they use to cling onto the algae covered rocks where they feed.
- The purple frog is listed as Endangered by the IUCN Red List, and is threatened by deforestation from expanding cultivation, in addition to consumption and harvesting by local communities.
