Dattatreya night frog

Description

Nyctibatrachus dattatreyaensis (Dattatreya night frog) is a species of frog in the Nyctibatrachidae family first described in the Shola forests around the Dattatreya Peeta in the Chikkamagaluru district of Karnataka.It is still known only from this part of the Western Ghats,India.This species' head is wider than long;the skin on the dorsum is highly wrinkled with transverse corrugated folds - three discontinuous longitudinal folds,one dorsolaterally and two laterally;the webbing on toes is medium (three-quarters of the length);two yellowish bands occur on the dorsolateral area,prominent from subadult to adult stage;femoral glands are present.N.dattatreyaensis is a medium-sized (about 40 mm) frog active during night.The thumb pad and femoral glands are prominent in mature males.The eyes are golden yellow with black rhomboidal pupils.The upper surface of the body is reddish-black to stone black,with two yellow lateral bands.In day time,the frog prefers to hide below small boulders and damp leaf litter along the slow-flowing streams of the Shola forests in the hill ranges.