Nyctibatrachus beddomii

Nyctibatrachus beddomii (common names: Beddome's night frog, pigmy wrinkled frog, Beddome's dwarf wrinkled frog, and Tirunelveli's hill frog) is a species of frog in the family Nyctibatrachidae.^[2]

Nyctibatrachus beddomii
Dorsal view
Conservation status
Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Amphibia
Order:	Anura
Family:	Nyctibatrachidae
Genus:	Nyctibatrachus
Species:	N. beddomii
Binomial name
Nyctibatrachus beddomii (Boulenger, 1882)
Synonyms
Nannobatrachus beddomii Boulenger, 1882

Taxonomy

The epithet or specific name, beddomii, honors Colonel Richard Henry Beddome (1830–1911), British naturalist and military officer.

The species is one of 34 species in the night frog genus Nyctibatrachus, in the robust frog family Nyctibatrachidae.^[3] Within its genus, it is part of a clade (group formed by all of a common ancestor's descendants) that includes N. manalari, N. robinmoorei, N. anamallaiensis, N. sabarimalai, and N. pulivijayani. It is basal within the group and is sister (most closely related) to a clade that includes the other five species.^[4][5] The following cladogram shows relationships among these species, according to a 2017 study.^[4]

	N. beddomii N. manalari N. robinmoorei N. anamallaiensis N. sabarimalai N. pulivijayani

Size

Adult can length up from 13–18 mm (0.51–0.71 in).

Distribution and habitat

It is endemic to southern Western Ghats of India.^[1][2]

Nyctibatrachus beddomii are semi-terrestrial frogs found in the leaf-litter but also under rocks and logs in evergreen and semi-evergreen moist and deciduous forests.^[1] The small sized frog is commonly seen in swampy areas and shallow waterlogged areas along forest streams. Call is a faint 'tink-tink' repeated several times, largely at night.^{[citation needed]}

Conservation status

It is threatened by habitat loss caused by logging and clearing for agriculture.^[1] It listed as an Endangered species by the IUCN.

References

1. S.D. Biju, Sushil Dutta, M.S. Ravichandran (2004). "Nyctibatrachus beddomii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2004: e.T58396A11767424. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2004.RLTS.T58396A11767424.en. Retrieved 16 November 2021.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
2. Frost, Darrel R. (2013). "Nyctibatrachus beddomii (Boulenger, 1882)". Amphibian Species of the World 5.6, an Online Reference. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
3. Frost, Darrel R. (2023). "Nyctibatrachus". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. American Museum of Natural History. doi:10.5531/db.vz.0001.
4. Garg, Sonali; Suyesh, Robin; Sukesan, Sandeep; Biju, Sd (21 February 2017). "Seven new species of Night Frogs (Anura, Nyctibatrachidae) from the Western Ghats Biodiversity Hotspot of India, with remarkably high diversity of diminutive forms". PeerJ. 5: e3007. doi:10.7717/peerj.3007. ISSN 2167-8359. PMC 5322763. PMID 28243532. This article incorporates text from this source, which is available under the CC BY 4.0 license.
5. Kumar, K.S. Pavan; Vishwajith, H.U.; Anisha, Anand; Dayananda, G.Y.; Gururaja, Kotambylu Vasudeva; Priti, Hebbar (15 November 2022). "A new cryptic species of Nyctibatrachus (Amphibia, Anura, Nyctibatrachidae) with description of its tadpole from the central Western Ghats, India". Zootaxa. 5209 (1): 69–92. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5209.1.4. ISSN 1175-5334. PMID 37045404. S2CID 253537588.