''Micrixalus adonis'' is a newly described 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 ...

s in the family Micrixalidae. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the Western Ghats in southern

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 ...

, restricted to areas between the

Palghat Gap Palakkad Gap or Palghat Gap is a low mountain pass in the Western Ghats between Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu and Palakkad in Kerala. It has an average elevation of with a width of . The pass is located between the Nilgiri Hills to the north and ...

and

Shencottah Gap Sengottai (also known as Shencottah, Chenkotta or Shenkottai) is a town in the Tenkasi district, of Tamil Nadu, India. It is the gateway to southern Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Spread over an area of 2.68 km2 with a population of over 26,823, t ...

. Common name beautiful dancing frog has been proposed for this species, in reference to its vividly rich colouration.

Description

''M. adonis'' is within the colloquial ''

Micrixalus fuscus ''Micrixalus fuscus'' (dusky torrent frog or brown tropical frog) is a species of small frog found in dense forested hill streams in the Western Ghats of India. '' M. herrei'' was formerly synonymized within this species. Description Males me ...

'' group, including ''M. fuscus'', ''M. herrei'', ''M. kodayari'', ''M. mallani'', and ''M. nelliyampathi''. The species share similar physical characteristics, including slender bodies, the presence of dorsolateral folds, and among others a V-shaped glandular ridge on the anterior half of the body. While being similar to other species within the ''Micrixalus fuscus'' group, ''M. adonis'' is most noticeably different in the shape of its head, which is rounded laterally. Males measure and females in snout–vent length. Foot-flagging has not been observed in this species, presence of flashy colouration on dorsal surface of the hind limb together with the degree of webbing and habitat preference suggest that it might nevertheless possess this behaviour.

Habitat

Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

s with a forested canopy. It is not known from any protected area.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q16862979

adonis In Greek mythology, Adonis, ; derived from the Canaanite word ''ʼadōn'', meaning "lord". R. S. P. Beekes, ''Etymological Dictionary of Greek'', Brill, 2009, p. 23. was the mortal lover of the goddess Aphrodite. One day, Adonis was gored by ...

Endemic fauna of the Western Ghats Frogs of India Amphibians described in 2014 Taxa named by Sathyabhama Das Biju