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	[[Category:Endemic fauna of the Western Ghats]]		[[Category:Endemic fauna of the Western Ghats]]
	[[Category:Frogs of India]]		[[Category:Frogs of India]]
			[[Category:National symbols of India]]
	[[Category:Amphibians described in 2003]]		[[Category:Amphibians described in 2003]]
	[[Category:EDGE species]]		[[Category:EDGE species]]

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{{Short description|Species of amphibian}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2020}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Purple frog
| status = EN
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name=IUCN>{{Cite journal | author = S.D. Biju | title = ''Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis'' | journal = [[The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species]] | volume = 2004 | page = e.T58051A11722468 | date = 2004 | doi = 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2004.RLTS.T58051A11722468.en }}</ref>
| image = Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis (Purple frog) from Vagamon, Kerala (12).jpg
| image_caption = ''Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis''
| image_alt = Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis
| image2 = Vocal-Behavior-of-the-Elusive-Purple-Frog-of-India-(Nasikabatrachus-sahyadrensis)-a-Fossorial-pone.0084809.s001.oga
| image2_caption = Calls of ''Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis''
| genus = Nasikabatrachus
| species = sahyadrensis
| authority = [[Sathyabhama Das Biju|Biju]] & Bossuyt, 2003
| range_map = Distribution Map of Nasikabatrachus.jpg
| range_map_caption = Distribution range of ''Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis'' (in ORANGE)
}}

The '''purple frog''' (''Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis'') is a [[frog]] species belonging to the family [[Sooglossidae]]. It can be found in the [[Western Ghats]] in [[India]]. Names in English that have been used for this species are '''purple frog''', '''Indian purple frog''', or '''pignose frog'''. Although the adult frog was formally [[species description|described]] in October 2003,<ref>{{cite journal|last=Biju|first=S. D.|author2=Bossuyt, F. |title=New frog family from India reveals an ancient biogeographical link with the Seychelles|journal=Nature|year=2003|volume=425|issue=6959|pages=711–714|doi=10.1038/nature02019|pmid=14562102|bibcode=2003Natur.425..711B|s2cid=4425593}}</ref> the taxon was recognized much earlier by its [[tadpole]], which had been described in 1918.<ref name="Annandale, N. & Rao, C.R.N. 1917 185–186">{{cite journal|author1=Annandale, N. |author2=Rao, C.R.N. |name-list-style=amp |year=1917| title=Indian tadpoles|journal=Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal|volume=13|pages=185–186}}</ref>

==History of the discovery==
The species was described from specimens collected in the [[Idukki]] district of [[Kerala]] by [[Sathyabhama Das Biju|S.D. Biju]] from the Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute in [[Palode]], India, and [[Franky Bossuyt]] from the ''[[Vrije Universiteit Brussel]]'' (Free University of Brussels), in 2003. However, it was already well known to the local people and several earlier documented specimens and publications had been ignored by the authors in the 2003 paper that describes the genus and species.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Das|first=Indraneil|title=Some forgotten descriptions of ''Nasikabatrachus'' (Anura - Sooglossidae)|journal=Herpetological Review|year=2007|volume=38|pages=291–292}}</ref>

==Name==
The scientific name ''Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis'' is a Latinized form, composed of respectively derived from [[Sanskrit]] {{transl|sa|nāsikā}} ({{Lang|sa|नासिका}}) for "nose", [[Greek language|Greek]] {{Transl|el|batrachos}} ({{Lang|el|βάτραχος}}) for "frog", and [[Sahyadri]], the native name of [[Western Ghats]] where it inhabits.

Its name Purple pig-nosed frog also is from its novel pointed nose that is more qualified to slurping up insects and termites underground than getting flies noticeable all around.

==Description==
[[File:Vocal-Behavior-of-the-Elusive-Purple-Frog-of-India-(Nasikabatrachus-sahyadrensis)-a-Fossorial-pone.0084809.s005.ogv|thumb|left|Video recording of a vocalizing male.]]
The body of ''Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis'' appears robust and bloated and is relatively rounded compared to other more [[dorsoventral]]ly flattened [[frogs]]. Their flattened body assists them to cling to submerged rocks and boulders which essentially helps them fight strong currents, allowing them to remain near stream banks where they typically reside.<ref>Senevirathne G, Thomas A, Kerney R, Hanken J, Biju SD, Meegaskumbura M. From clinging to digging: The postembryonic skeletal ontogeny of the indian purple frog, ''Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis'' (anura: Nasikabatrachidae). PLOS ONE. 2016;11(3):e0151114.</ref> Its arms and legs splay out in the standard [[anura (frog)|anura]]n body form. Compared to other frogs, ''N. sahyadrensis'' has a small head and an unusual pointed snout. Adults are typically dark purplish-grey in color. Males are about a third of the length of females.<ref name=life>{{cite journal|author1=Zachariah, A |author2=RK Abraham |author3=S Das |author4=KC Jayan |author5=R Altig |name-list-style=amp |year=2012| title=A detailed account of the reproductive strategy and developmental stages of ''Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis'' (Anura: Nasikabatrachidae), the only extant member of an archaic frog lineage |journal=Zootaxa |volume=3510|pages= 53–64 |url=http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2012/f/z03510p064f.pdf|doi=10.11646/zootaxa.3510.1.3 }}</ref> The [[Holotype|specimen]] with which the species was originally described was {{Convert|7.0|cm|in|abbr=in}} long from the tip of the snout to the vent. Tadpoles of the species had been described in 1917 by [[Nelson Annandale]] and [[C. R. Narayan Rao]] as having oral suckers that allowed them to live in torrential streams.<ref name="Annandale, N. & Rao, C.R.N. 1917 185–186"/><ref>{{cite journal|last=Annandale|first=N. |year=1918|title= Some undescribed tadpoles from the hills of southern India|journal= Records of the Indian Museum|volume= 15| pages=17–23}}</ref> Suckers are also present in [[Rheophile|rheophilic]] fishes of genera such as ''[[Glyptothorax]]'', ''[[Travancoria]]'', ''[[Homaloptera]]'', and ''[[Bhavania]]'', adaptations that are the result of [[convergent evolution]]. Some of these fishes co-occur with ''Nasikabatrachus'' tadpoles in the hill streams.<ref name=life/><ref>{{cite journal|author1=Annandale, N. |author2=Hora, S.L. |name-list-style=amp |year=1922| title= Parallel evolution in the fish and tadpoles of mountains torrents| journal=Records of the Indian Museum| volume=24|pages=505–510}}</ref> Its vocalization is a drawn-out harsh call that sounds similar to a chicken clucking. The frogs may switch to headfirst borrowing due to their wedge-shaped skull and other shaped limbs.<ref>PLOS ONE, 2016, Volume 11, Issue 3</ref>

[[File:Purple frog tadpole by Nihal jabin.jpg|thumb|Purple frog tadpoles]]

==Distribution==
Earlier thought to be restricted to the south of the [[Palghat Gap]] in the [[Western Ghats]], additional records have extended its known range farther north of the gap.<ref>Das, K. S. Anoop 2006 Record of ''Nasikabatrachus'' from the Northern Western Ghats. Zoos' Print Journal 21(9):2410 [http://www.zoosprint.org/viewPDFFile.asp?fname=2410.pdf&typ=jnl&Imonth=9&Iyear=2006 PDF] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303180847/http://www.zoosprint.org/viewPDFFile.asp?fname=2410.pdf&typ=jnl&Imonth=9&Iyear=2006 |date=3 March 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author1=Radhakrishnan, C. |author2=K.C. Gopi |author3=K.P. Dinesh |name-list-style=amp |year=2007| title=Zoogeography of ''Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis'' Biju and Bossuyt (Amphibia: Anura; Nasikabatrachidae) in the Western Ghats, India|journal=Records of the Zoological Survey of India|volume=107|pages= 115–121}}</ref> The species is now known to be quite widely distributed in the Western Ghats, ranging from the [[Vellarimala|Camel's Hump Hill]] Range in the north, all the way to the northernmost portions of the [[Agasthyamalai Hills|Agasthyamalai Hill]] Range in the south.<ref name=life />

==Ecology==
The frog spends most of its life underground and surfaces only during the [[monsoon]], for a period of two weeks, for mating.<ref name="Marshall 2014">{{cite web | last=Marshall | first=Presented by Michael | title=Eight ugly animals we should save anyway | website=BBC Earth | date=17 October 2014 | url=http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20141017-eight-ugly-animals-we-should-save | access-date=3 January 2015|quote=India’s purple frog spends almost all the year underground, surfacing for around two weeks in the monsoon to breed in temporary ponds created by the torrential rain.}}</ref> With few field scientists out in the field during the rainy season, the species was discovered and studied only in recent times. Males emerge to call beside temporary rainwater streams. They mount females and grip them ([[amplexus]]) along the vertebral column. Around 3000 eggs are laid in a rock pool and the tadpoles [[Metamorphosis|metamorphose]] after around 100 days.<ref name=life />

[[File:Purple frog babies by Nihal jabin.jpg|thumb|Purple frog juveniles]]
[[File:Purple frog mating by Nihal Jabin.jpg|thumb]]

Unlike many other burrowing species of frogs that emerge and feed above the ground, this species has been found to forage underground, feeding mainly on termites using its tongue and a special [[Buccal space|buccal groove]].<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Radhakrishnan | first1 = C. | last2 = Gopi | first2 = K. C. | last3 = Jafer Palot | first3 = Muhamed | year = 2007 | title = Extension of range of distribution of ''Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis'' Biju & Bossuyt (Amphibia: Anura: Nasikabatrachidae) along Western Ghats, with some insights into its bionomics | url = http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/jan252007/213.pdf | journal = Current Science | volume = 92 | issue = 2| pages = 213–216 }}</ref>

In 2015, tadpoles of the species were discovered to be traditionally consumed by tribal communities.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Thomas | first1 = A. | last2 = Biju | first2 = S. D. | year = 2015 | title = Tadpole consumption is a direct threat to the endangered purple frog, Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis | url = http://www.salamandra-journal.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=48&Itemid=58 | journal = Salamandra | volume = 51 | pages = 252–258 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150925101154/http://www.salamandra-journal.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=48&Itemid=58 | archive-date = 2015-09-25 }}</ref>

The major threat to these amphibians in the Western Ghats of India is caused by the alteration of natural habitats by an ever-increasing human population, resulting in large areas being converted for settlement and agricultural use. Recent studies have shown frog utilization to be one of the major threats, which include the utilization of frogs for food, traditional medicine, research purposes, and pet trade has also been considered a major contributor to their decline. Tadpole-harvesting was prevalent in the monsoon season during July–September every year. The Nadukani-Moolamattom-Kulamaav tribal people have developed an indigenous method for collecting these uniquely adapted [[suctorial]] tadpoles. Usually, about 2–5 individuals would participate in each harvesting event.<ref>S D, Biju & Ashish,. (2015). Tadpole consumption is a direct threat to the endangered purple frog, Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis. Salamandra. 51. 252-258.</ref>

The Purple Frog growth also depends on the velocity of the water. When the velocity of water increased, there was a greater number of tadpoles than the lower velocity of water areas in both streams. The tadpoles also had constant activity in the streams as well. They also have a huge influence on the number of tadpoles in the environments they are in.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis}}
* [http://www.edgeofexistence.org/amphibians/species_info.php?id=549 Edge of Existence page on ''Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis'']
* [http://www.cite-sciences.fr/francais/ala_cite/science_actualites/sitesactu/question_actu.php?langue=an&id_article=2463#sondage Continental drift and the Sooglossidae]
* [http://amphibiaweb.org/cgi/amphib_query?where-genus=Nasikabatrachus&where-species=sahyadrensis AmphibiaWeb page on ''Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis'']

{{Anura}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q311152}}

[[Category:Endemic fauna of the Western Ghats]]
[[Category:Frogs of India]]
[[Category:Amphibians described in 2003]]
[[Category:EDGE species]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Sathyabhama Das Biju]]
[[Category:Nasikabatrachidae]]

Purple frog - Revision history

172.70.218.204: /* External links */

imported>Narky Blert: Link to DAB page repaired