''Micrixalus'' (commonly known as dancing frogs, tropical frogs, and torrent frogs) 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 from that are

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

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 ...

. They are

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 "unispec ...

within the family Micrixalidae. Before being raised to the family level they were classified as the subfamily Micrixalinae within Ranidae. ''Micrixalus'' frogs, such as '' Micrixalus saxicola'', are popularly known as "dancing frogs" due to their peculiar habit of waving their feet to attract females during the breeding season. Dancing frogs are extremely vulnerable as their habitat is severely threatened.

Description

The family is characterized by having a pectoral girdle that is firmisternal and

tadpole A tadpole is the larval stage in the biological life cycle of an amphibian. Most tadpoles are fully aquatic, though some species of amphibians have tadpoles that are terrestrial. Tadpoles have some fish-like features that may not be found i ...

s having a single row of labial teeth. Biju ''et al.'' (2014) list the following characteristic features as common to all species of ''Micrixalus'':

Natural history

Dancing frogs are found in the vicinity of fast and slow moving

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

streams in the forests of the Western Ghats. Typical habitats include high altitude

shola Sholas are the local name for patches of stunted tropical montane forest found in valleys amid rolling grassland in the higher montane regions of South India, largely in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamilnadu. These patches of shola forest are found ...

forests, wet evergreen forests, ''

Myristica ''Myristica'' is a genus of trees in the family Myristicaceae. There are over 150 species, distributed in Asia and the western Pacific. The type species of the genus, and the most economically important member, is ''Myristica fragrans'' (the nut ...

'' swamps, and secondary forests. Both the genus and the family are also known by the epithets "tropical frogs" and "torrent frogs". During the breeding season, male dancing frogs call from spots close to running water and display their prominent white vocal sacs. Males tap their hindfeet and extend it, subsequently stretching the foot outward and shaking it, both at prospective mates and rival males. This type of hindleg movement has been termed as "foot-flagging" and has been observed in many, but not all, ''Micrixalus'' species and evidence inferred for a few other species as well. Foot flagging is done with either hindlimb and also while calling. The

mating In biology, mating is the pairing of either opposite-sex or hermaphroditic organisms for the purposes of sexual reproduction. ''Fertilization'' is the fusion of two gametes. ''Copulation'' is the union of the sex organs of two sexually reproduc ...

pair enter the water where the eggs are fertilised. The female dancing frog excavates in the streambed with her hindlimbs. The pair detach, the female lays her eggs in the chamber in the streambed and buries the spawn with sand and gravel using the hindlimbs.

DNA analysis

In 2014, researchers uncovered 14 new species in the genus ''Micrixalus''. This was the result of a

DNA analysis Genetic testing, also known as DNA testing, is used to identify changes in DNA sequence or chromosome structure. Genetic testing can also include measuring the results of genetic changes, such as RNA analysis as an output of gene expression, or ...

of the dancing frogs from the Western Ghats region of South India. In addition, they noted that the two species ''M. narainensis'' and ''M. swamianus'' are junior synonyms of ''M. kottigeharensis'', and that ''M. herrei'' is elevated from a synonym of ''M. fuscus'' to a valid species. The members of the team were S.D. Biju and Sonali Garg (both from

Delhi University Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate Central university (India), central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and ...

), K.V. Gururaja from

Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) is a public, deemed, research university for higher education and research in science, engineering, design, and management. It is located in Bengaluru, in the Indian state of Karnataka. The institute was ...

, and, Yogesh Shouche and Sandeep A. W. (both from

National Centre for Cell Science The National Centre for Cell Science is a National Level, Biotechnology, Tissue Engineering and Tissue Banking research center located on the campus of University of Pune in Pune, India. The institute formerly known as National Facility for Anima ...

, Pune). The results, which were published in the peer-reviewed

Ceylon Journal of Science The ''Ceylon Journal of Science'' is an open access peer-reviewed scientific journal established in 1924 by the Government of Ceylon. The journal was the result of the merger of '' Annals of the Royal Botanic Gardens'', ''Peradeniya'', ''Spolia Ze ...

in May 2014, have arisen from a study conducted over a dozen years in the forests of the Western Ghats in the states of

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

and

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

. The species were differentiated due to

molecular markers A molecular marker is a molecule, sampled from some source, that gives information about its source. For example, DNA is a molecular marker that gives information about the organism from which it was taken. For another example, some proteins can be ...

from DNA analysis which also indicated that the

group had evolved in this habitat approximately 85 million years ago. The Western Ghats is a

biodiversity hotspot A biodiversity hotspot is a biogeographic region with significant levels of biodiversity that is threatened by human habitation. Norman Myers wrote about the concept in two articles in ''The Environmentalist'' in 1988 and 1990, after which the co ...

for amphibians with 75 new amphibian species having been discovered in the last fifteen years alone. This discovery raised the number of endemic amphibian species in the Western Ghats to 181. However, S.D. Biju, the leader of the research team, stated that the potential for discovering new amphibian species is far from exhausted, and as many as a hundred new species could be awaiting discovery. This study has serious conservation implications for India as many as seven species of dancing frogs are only found outside protected areas.

Species

The genus (and the family) contains 24 species:

Image gallery

Image:Micrixalus_saxicola.jpg, ''Micrixalus saxicola'' from

Wayanad Wayanad () is a district in the north-east of Indian state Kerala with administrative headquarters at the municipality of Kalpetta. It is the only plateau in Kerala. The Wayanad Plateau forms a continuation of the Mysore Plateau, the southern ...

Image:Micrixalus_fuscus.jpg, ''Micrixalus candidus'' from

Tadiandamol Tadiandamol or Thadiyandamol is the highest mountain of Madikeri taluk Kodagu district, Karnataka, India. It is the third highest peak in Karnataka, after Mullayyanagiri & Kudremukha. It is located Western Ghats range, and reaches an elevation ...

Image:Micrixalus_nelliyampathi.jpg, ''Micrixalus nelliyampathi'' Image:Micrixalus_uttaraghati.jpg, ''Micrixalus uttaraghati''

References

External links

Photo gallery : Meet the Dancing Frogs of the Western Ghats

Video : Meet the hilarious dancing frogs as scientists discover new species
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2699439 Amphibians of Asia Amphibians of India Endemic fauna of the Western Ghats Amphibian genera Taxa named by George Albert Boulenger