''Indirana gundia'' is a species of

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...

found in the Western Ghats of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It is only known from its

type locality Type locality may refer to: * Type locality (biology) * Type locality (geology) See also * Local (disambiguation) * Locality (disambiguation) {{disambiguation ...

, Kempholey, Karnataka. ''Indirana gundia'' is listed among "Top 100 EDGE Amphibians". It represents a family that has been evolving independently in India for almost 50 million years.

Description

''Indirana gundia'' are small in size, with a total length of . The dorsum is variable in colour, ranging from brown to yellowish, via golden, cream, pinkish and reddish hues, probably providing good camouflage against the background of decaying leaves on the forest floor. Adult frogs have long, muscular legs; the digits on both pairs of limbs are unwebbed but dilated into disc-like suckers. The head is fairly pointed and the skin has longitudinal glandular folds along the back. The mouth is wide and the buccal cavity is whitish or yellowish.

Habitat and conservation

''Indirana gundia'' is a terrestrial frog inhabiting moist tropical forest. It is threatened by habitat loss caused by intensive livestock production, harvesting of wood and timber by local people, road construction, and the development of tourism facilities.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q592170 gundia Frogs of India Endemic fauna of the Western Ghats EDGE species Amphibians described in 1986