Back
Sahyadri Mandooka - Amphibians of Western Ghats

Dr. Gururaja K V

Energy & Wetlands Research Group,
Centre for Ecological Sciences,
Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore-12
Email: gururaj@ces.iisc.ernet.in

Amphibians are tetrapod vertebrates evolved from the bony fishes (Sacropterygians) and first appeared on the earth nearly 360 million years ago (in the late Devonian period). Literatures cite that early amphibian fossils were found in Madagascar Island.

Amphibians as Bioindicators

Amphibians respond to the minute disturbances in their habitat or in the environment. Their relatively wide distribution, bimodal life style (aquatic tadpole and terrestrial adults), ectothermic conditions with stable environmental temperature of 20-30°C and moist permeable skin have made them highly sensitive and susceptible to the external changes. Hence amphibians are regarded as the best ecological indicators among the vertebrates.

Importance in the Ecosystem

Amphibians are pivotal organisms both as prey and predator in many food chains and constitute a vital component of the ecosystem. In ecosystem management, they are the best biological pest controllers. Amphibians are part of human culture and cuisines (food delicacy) (earlier an important export commodity). In science education they have immense value as model specimen to understand anatomy and histology. Chemicals in their skin have high medicinal properties (e.g., epibatidine, bufotonin etc.).

Global amphibian status - declining?

Over the last two decades, the amphibians are exhibiting decline in their population throughout the world (Houlahan et al, 2000) as an indication of increased degradation, deterioration and alteration of habitat/microhabitat and changes in global climate (evidenced by increased UV-B radiation) due to anthropogenic activities. Landuse and land cover changes coupled with indiscriminate usage of pesticide and fertilizers are the main drivers of habitat deterioration. Diseases, road kills and culling for trade (illegal smuggling) have also reduced the amphibian population. Amphibian decline could be considered as an early warning to human welfare in the future.

Need to study Amphibians

Tropics are highly diverse and rich in amphibian population. In recent times, the amphibian declines in this region are sudden, selective and more pronounced that has necessitated the evolving of strategies for conservation and restoration of amphibians and their habitats. In view of the serious repercussions of amphibian declines, the general focus of research is now shifted towards amphibians.

Habitats of amphibians

Amphibians can be seen in almost all the continents (except Antarctica) ranging from human inhabitations to deserted regions, they are present in many habitats and microhabitats. They can be found inside the water, muddy and rock crevices, burrowing deep in the soil, or bushes, high canopy trees etc. Amphibians are a plenty during rainy season, as they require water to breed and to lay eggs. Majority of the amphibians are active during night (nocturnal). Amphibians are well known for their croaking noises (vocal calls), which they generally do to attract the partner. One can easily locate and identify the amphibian species based on their calls.

Sometimes, selected species of amphibians are a nuisance as in the case of Coqui frogs in Hawaiian Islands. The Hawaiian government has ordered the killing of these frogs to ensure the citizens sleep peacefully at night! More details of this episode is at

http://www.hear.org/AlienSpeciesInHawaii/species/frogs/index.html.

Amphibian diversity in India

The early reports on amphibians of the Indian sub-continent date back to 1890, when Boulenger compiled "The Fauna of British India: Reptilia and Batrachia" with 77 species. Since then, the number has almost tripled to about 220 species. This amounts to nearly 4% of the global amphibian diversity (5454 species; Frost, 2002).

Amphibian diversity in Western Ghats

The Western Ghats of India, part of tropical region, is one of the hottest biodiversity hotspots in the world (Myers et al. 2000). It is a chain of hills and valleys on the Western Coast of the Indian peninsula of about 1,600 km. From River Tapti (21°N) in Gujarat to Kanyakumari (8°N) in Tamil Nadu, it has a spread of about 1,60,000 sq. km. It harbours rich flora and fauna due to the prevailing tropical climate, phenology, and topography. Amphibians are one among the most diversified faunal component of the Western Ghats.

The Western Ghats harbours 127 species (57.73% of Indian amphibians), of which 107 (84.25%) species are endemic(Western Ghats and India). Table 1 details the species diversity of Western Ghats amphibians.

Table 1. Amphibians of the Western Ghats

Order

Family

Genera

Species

Anura

Bufonidae

Ansonia

3

 

 

Bufo

10

 

 

Pedostibes

1

 

Microhylidae

Kaloula

1

 

 

Melanobatrachus

1

 

 

Microhyla

3

 

 

Ramanella

6

 

 

Uperodon

2

 

Ranidae

Euphlyctis

2

 

 

Hoplobatrachus

2

 

 

Indirana

8

 

 

Limnonectus

8

 

 

Micrixalus

7

 

 

Nyctibatrachus

11

 

 

Rana

6

 

 

Tomopterna

6

 

Rhacophoridae

Philautus

26

 

 

Polypedates

4

 

 

Rhacophorus

5

 

Nasikabatrachidae*

Nasikabatrachus

1

Gymnophiona

Caecilidae

Gegeneophis

2

 

 

Indothyphlus

1

 

Ichthyophidae

Ichthyophis

7

 

Uraeotyphlidae

Uraeotyphlus

4

Note: * New family described by Biju and Bossuyt, (2003) from Kerala.

Two order, viz., Salientia and Apoda with eight families and 24 genera represent the 127 species of Western Ghat amphibians. Tables 2 and 3 provide the endemic and non-endemic amphibians of the Western Ghats with IUCN criteria. There are 2 critically endangered species; 16 endangered; 36 vulnerable; 30 lower risk near threatened; and 5 with lower risk least concerned. Thirty-eight species lack sufficient data to categorize under IUCN criteria. Figures 1 and 2 depict the IUCN status of amphibians of the Western Ghats with family wise break-up.

Table 2. Checklist of endemic amphibians of Western Ghats with IUCN criteria. 

Sl. No.

Name

IUCN criteria

Family: Bufonidae

1.              

Ansonia kamblei

Data Deficient

2.              

Ansonia ornata

Endangered

3.              

Ansonia rubigina

Endangered

4.              

Bufo beddomii

Lower Risk - Least concerned

5.              

Bufo brevirostris

Data deficient

6.              

Bufo hololius

Lower Risk - Near threatened

7.              

Bufo koynayensis

Endangered

8.              

Bufo parietalis

Lower Risk - Near threatened

9.              

Bufo silentvalleyensis

Vulnerable

10.           

Pedostibes tuberculosus

Vulnerable

Family: Microhylidae

1.              

Microhyla sholigari

Data deficient

2.              

Melanobatrachus indicus

Vulnerable

3.              

Ramanella anamalaiensis

Data deficient

4.              

Ramanella minor

Data deficient

5.              

Ramanella montana

Lower Risk - Near threatened

6.              

Ramanella mormorata

Vulnerable

7.              

Ramanella triangularis

Vulnerable

Family: Ranidae

1.              

Indirana beddomii

Vulnerable

2.              

Indirana brachytarsus

Vulnerable

3.              

Indirana diplostictus

Vulnerable

4.              

Indirana gundia

Data deficient

5.              

Indirana leithii

Lower Risk - Near threatened

6.              

Indirana leptodactylus

Vulnerable

7.              

Indirana semipalmatus

Vulnerable

8.              

Indirana tenuilingua

Data deficient

9.           

Limnonectes brevipalmatas

Lower Risk - Near threatened

10.           

Limnonectes keralensis

Lower Risk - Near threatened

11.     

Limnonectes murthii

Endangered

12.           

Limnonectes mysorensis

Critically Endangered

13.           

Limnonectes nilagirica

Endangered

14.           

Limnonectes sauriceps

Data deficient

15.           

Micrixalus fuscus

Lower Risk - Near threatened

16.           

Micrixalus gadgili

Endangered

17.           

Micrixalus nudis

Vulnerable

18.           

Micrixalus phyllophilus

Vulnerable

19.           

Micrixalus saxicola

Lower Risk - Near threatened

20.           

Micrixalus silvaticus

Vulnerable

21.           

Micrixalus thampii

Endangered

22.           

Nyctibatrachus aliciae

Vulnerable

23.           

Nyctibatrachus beddomii

Lower Risk - Near threatened

24.           

Nyctibatrachus deccanensis (pygmaeus)

Vulnerable

25.           

Nyctibatrachus humayuni

Endangered

26.           

Nyctibatrachus hussaini

Data deficient

27.           

Nyctibatrachus kempholeyensis

Data deficient

28.           

Nyctibatrachus major

Lower Risk - Near threatened

29.           

Nyctibatrachus minor

Vulnerable

30.           

Nyctibatrachus sanctipalustris

Endangered

31.           

Nyctibatrachus sylvaticus

Data deficient

32.           

Nyctibatrachus vasanthi

Data deficient

33.           

Rana aurantiaca

Lower Risk - Near threatened

34.           

Rana curtipes

Lower Risk - Near threatened

35.           

Rana greeni

Data deficient

36.           

Rana malabarica

Lower Risk - Near threatened

37.           

Rana temporalis

Vulnerable

38.           

Rana travancorica

Data deficient

39.           

Tomopterna dobsonii

Data deficient

40.           

Tomopterna leucorhyncus

Data deficient

41.           

Tomopterna parambikulamana

Data deficient

42.           

Tomopterna rufescens

Lower Risk - Near threatened

Family: Nasikabatrachidae

1.              

Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis

Data deficient

Family: Rhacophoridae

1.              

Philautus adspersus

Data deficient

2.              

Philautus aurifasicatus

Data deficient

3.              

Philautus beddomii

Vulnerable

4.              

Philautus bombayensis

Endangered

5.              

Philautus chalzodes

Vulnerable

6.              

Philautus charius

Lower Risk - Near threatened

7.              

Philautus crnri

Data deficient

8.              

Philautus elegans

Data deficient

9.              

Philautus flaviventris

Data deficient

10.           

Philautus glandulosus

Vulnerable

11.           

Philautus hassanensis

Data deficient

12.           

Philautus kottigeharensis

Data deficient

13.           

Philautus leucorhinus

Lower Risk - Near threatened

14.           

Philautus melanensis

Data deficient

15.           

Philautus narainensis

Data deficient

16.           

Philautus nasutus

Data deficient

17.           

Philautus nobeli

Data deficient

18.           

Philautus parkeri

Data deficient

19.           

Philautus pictus

Data deficient

20.           

Philautus pulcherimus

Vulnerable

21.           

Philautus punctatus

Data deficient

22.           

Philautus signatus

Vulnerable

23.           

Philautus swamianus

Data deficient

24.           

Philautus temporalis

Endangered

25.           

Philautus travancoricus

Data deficient

26.           

Philautus variabilis

Lower Risk - Near threatened

27.           

Polypedates cruciger

Vulnerable

28.           

Polypedates pseudocruciger

Data deficient

29.           

Rhacophorus calcadensis

Data deficient

30.           

Rhacophorus lateralis

Endangered

31.           

Rhacophorus malabaricuds

Lower Risk - Near threatened

32.           

Rhacophorus pleurostictus

Vulnerable

33.           

Rhacophorus pseudomalabaricus

Data deficient

Family: Caeciliidae

1.              

Gegeneophis carnosus

Vulnerable

2.              

Gegeneophis ramaswamii

Endangered

3.              

Indotyphlus battersbyi

Critically Endangered

Family: Icthyophiidae

1.              

Ichthyophis beddomei

Vulnerable

2.              

Ichthyophis bombayensis

Endangered

3.              

Ichthyophis longicephalus

Vulnerable

4.              

Ichthyophis malabarensis

Vulnerable

5.              

Ichthyophis peninsularis

Vulnerable

6.              

Ichthyophis subterrestris

Vulnerable

7.              

Ichthyophis tricolor

Endangered

Family: Uraeotyphlidae

1.              

Uraeotyphlus malabaricus

Endangered

2.              

Uraeotyphlus menoni

Vulnerable

3.              

Uraeotyphlus narayani

Vulnerable

4.              

Uraeotyphlus oxyurus

Vulnerable



Figure 1. IUCN status of endemic Anurans of Western Ghats. Status is not known for remaining 38 species. 
Cr-En:  Critically endangered, En: Endangered, Vu: Vulnerable, Lr-nt: Lower risk near threatened, 
Lr-lc: Lower risk least concerned.


Figure 2. IUCN status of non-endemic Anurans of Western Ghats. Status is not known for 1 species. 
Vu: Vulnerable, Lr-nt: Lower risk near threatened, Lr-lc: Lower risk least concerned.

Table 3. Checklist of non-endemic amphibians to Western Ghats with IUCN criteria

Sl. No.

Name

IUCN criteria

1.              

Bufo fergusonii

Lower Risk - Least concerned

2.              

Bufo melanostictus

Vulnerable

3.              

Bufo microtympanum

Lower Risk - Near threatened

4.              

Bufo stomaticus

Lower Risk - Near threatened

Family: Microhylidae

1.              

Kaloula taprobanica

Lower Risk - Near threatened

2.              

Microhyla ornate

Lower Risk - Least concerned

3.              

Microhyla rubra

Lower Risk - Near threatened

4.              

Ramanella variegata

Lower Risk - Near threatened

5.              

Uperdon globulosus

Lower Risk - Near threatened

6.              

Uperdon systoma

Lower Risk - Near threatened

Family: Ranidae

1.              

Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis

Lower Risk - Near threatened

2.              

Euphlyctis hexadactylus

Lower Risk - Near threatened

3.              

Hoplobatrachus crassus

Lower Risk - Near threatened

4.              

Hoplobatrachus tigerinus

Vulnerable

5.              

Limnonectes limnocharis

Vulnerable

6.              

Limnonectes syhadrensis

Lower Risk - Near threatened

7.              

Tomopterna breviceps

Data deficient

8.              

Tomopterna rolandae

Lower Risk - Near threatened

Family: Rhacophoridae

1.              

Polypedates leucomystax

Lower Risk - Least concerned

2.              

Polypedates maculates

Lower Risk - Least concerned

Sources: Report of BCPP CAMP on Amphibians of India (1997) and Gururaja (2003) 

Amphibians of Sharavathi River Basin

Amphibian species in Sharavathi River Basin has been studied as a part of ongoing ecological research in the Western Ghats. The preliminary survey during 2003 has recorded 27 amphibian species from the region. Of these 18 species are endemic to Western Ghats. Philautus temporalis with endangered IUCN status has been recorded (Gururaja, et al ‘Amphibian species in Sharavathi River Basin’ manuscript under review). Table 4 details the amphibians of Sharavathi River Basin

Table 4. Amphibians of Sharavathi River Basin

Species

Common name

IUCN status

Order: ANURA (Frogs and Toads)

 

Family: Bufonidae

 

 

Bufo melanostictus

Schneider, 1799

Common Indian Toad

Vulnerable

Bufo fergusonii

Boulenger. 1892

Ferguson’s Toad

Lower Risk Least concerned

Family: Microhylidae

 

 

Microhyla ornata

(Duméril and Bibron, 1841)

Ornate narrow-mouthed frog

Lower Risk-Least concerned

Ramanella montana

Jerdon, 1854

Jerdon’s narrow mouthed frog

Lower Risk-Near threatened

Family: Ranidae

 

 

Micrixalus saxicola

Jerdon, 1853

Black torrent frog

Lower Risk-Near threatened

Micrixalus fuscus
Boulenger, 1882

 

Lower Risk-Near threatened

Nyctibatrachus aliciae

Inger, Shaffer, Koshy & Bakde, 1984

Alice’s Wrinkled frog

Vulnerable

Nyctibatrachus major

Boulenger, 1882

Large wrinkled frog

Lower Risk-Near threatened

Indirana beddomii

(Günther, 1875)

Beddome’s leaping frog

Vulnerable

Rana aurantiaca

  Boulenger, 1904

Golden Frog

Lower Risk-Near threatened

Rana curtipes

Jerdon, 1853

Bi-coloured frog

Lower Risk-Near threatened

Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis (Schneider, 1799)

Skipper frog

Lower Risk-Near threatened

Euphlyctis hexadactylus

(Lesson, 1834)

Indian pond frog

Lower Risk-Near threatened

Limnonectus keralensis (Dubois, 1980)

Verrucose frog

Lower Risk-Near threatened

Limnonectus limnocharis٭ (Gravenhorst, 1829)

Indian cricket frog

Vulnerable

Indirana semipalmatus

(Boulenger, 1882)

Brown leaping frog

Vulnerable

Rana temporalis

Günther, 1864

Bronzed frog

Vulnerable

Hoplobatrachus tigerinus

(Daudin, 1803)

Indian Bull frog

Vulnerable

Indirana breviceps

Schneider, 1799

Indian burrowing frog

Lower Risk-Near threatened

Tomopterna rufescens

Jerdon, 1853

Rufescent burrowing frog

Lower Risk-Near threatened

Tomopterna dobsonii
Boulenger, 1882

Dobson’s burrowing frog

Data deficient

Family: Rhacophoridae

 

 

Philautus flaviventris

Boulenger, 1882

 

Data deficient

Philautus temporalis

Günther, 1864

Plain coloured bushfrog

Endangered

Polypedates cruciger
Blyth, 1853

Whipping Frog

Vulnerable

Polypedates maculatus٭

(Gray, 1833)

Common Indian tree frog

Lower Risk-Least concerned

Rhacophorus malabaricus

Jerdon, 1870

Malabar Gliding frog

Lower Risk-Near threatened

ORDER: APODA (Caecilians)

 

Family: Ichthyophiidea

 

 

Ichthyophis beddomii 

Peters 1879

Beddome's Caecilian

Vulnerable

٭ Non-endemic
 - Click for Frog calls

Amphibian Conservation 

Conservation of amphibians is not effective in terms of captive breeding and other ex-situ practices. It requires broad based holistic approaches focussing on habitat based conservation plans. This has to be carried out carefully considering vital components (such as humidity, temperature, vegetation etc.,) of individual species habitats. Conservation of habitats ensures the continuous availability of food, shelter and breeding grounds to amphibians and thereby ensuring their viable population in the ecosystem. Continuous monitoring and creating awareness in public and especially in the young minds will certainly help in effective conservation of amphibians.


Top

Email
Sahyadri
ENVIS
Energy
GRASS
CES
IISc
Email