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The presence of huge pachyderms in the night, pitch black except for the insignificant light streaks from our torches, almost made us retreat, but the distinct call of the frog kept us blindly moving towards it
Vijayakumar SP and Anil Zachariah |
This frog calls loudly during the monsoon season, hiding the rest of the year under stones and logs on the forest floor or within tree holes |
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This frog was named after the Anamalai Hills, one of the hill ranges in the Western Ghats, where it was first discovered in the year 1937. The only clue scientist had about the Anamalai Dot-Frog's possible range was from original description, noted as the "base of Anamalai Hills, Coimbatore".
Subsequently, the type specimen was lost and there was no confirmed information on the species until our team stumbled upon several sites containing this species.
After 73 years, multiple populations of this species have been located by SP Vijayakumar, Anil Zachariah, David Raju, Sachin Rai and SD Biju in different habitats within the Parambikulam Tiger Reserve in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
This frog exhibits a light to dark-brown dorsum with two yellow lines and scattered yellow spots, and the underside of the body is brown with scattered white spots, giving it the common name 'Anamalai Dot-Frog'.
Listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as Data Deficient (DD). |
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