''Nyctibatrachus'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

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

to the Western Ghats of southwestern

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 ...

. Their common name is night frogs. Their scientific name also means "night frog", in reference to their habits and dark color. They are the only extant members of the

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

subfamily Nyctibatrachinae. Currently, 35 species belong to ''Nyctibatrachus.''

Description

Members of the genus ''Nyctibatrachus'' are robust-bodied frogs that range in size from small ( snout–vent length <13 mm in ''Nyctibatrachus robinmoorei'') to relatively large (up to 84 mm '' Nyctibatrachus karnatakaensis''). The especially small species are among the smallest of all Indian frogs. They have a concealed tympanum, dorsum with longitudinal skin folds, femoral glands, and expanded finger and toes disks. They occur near streams in hilly evergreen forests and are nocturnal. Most species have

amplexus Amplexus (Latin "embrace") is a type of mating behavior exhibited by some externally fertilizing species (chiefly amphibians and horseshoe crabs) in which a male grasps a female with his front legs as part of the mating process, and at the same ...

but '' Nyctibatrachus humayuni'' does not; in this species the male moves over the eggs after the female has deposited them.

Species

The following species are recognised in the genus ''Nyctibatrachus'':

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2699473 Nyctibatrachidae Amphibians of India Endemic fauna of the Western Ghats Amphibian genera Taxa named by George Albert Boulenger