''Astrobatrachus'' is a genus 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 Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Nyctibatrachidae Nyctibatrachidae is a small family of frogs found in the Western Ghats of India and in Sri Lanka. Their common name is robust frogs. Recognition of Nyctibatrachidae as a family is fairly recent. These frogs were earlier on placed in the broadly ...

that 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 of India. It is the only member of the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

Astrobatrachinae and is represented by a single species, ''Astrobatrachus kurichiyana'', commonly known as the starry dwarf frog. It was discovered in the shola

cloud forest A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF), is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud c ...

s of the Wayanad Plateau, and is considered a relict species due to its very small range restricted to certain refugia habitats. It is genetically highly different from both ''

Nyctibatrachus ''Nyctibatrachus'' is a genus of frogs endemic to the Western Ghats of southwestern India. 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 ...

'' and ''

Lankanectes ''Lankanectes'' is a genus of frogs in the family Nyctibatrachidae that is endemic to Sri Lanka. It is the only member of the Nyctibatrachidae to be found outside India and the only member of the subfamily Lankanectinae. There are two known spec ...

'', with their last common sister species hypothesized to have existed several millions of years ago. It can physically be distinguished by its brown coloration with an orange belly and bluish-white spots. This species is threatened by its very small distribution which completely falls outside

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

s, making it vulnerable to habitat degradation.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q62056762 Nyctibatrachidae Endemic fauna of the Western Ghats Monotypic amphibian genera Amphibians described in 2019