''Nyctibatrachus'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order (biology), order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough ski ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

to the Western Ghats of southwestern

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. Their common name is night frogs. Their

scientific name In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

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 "unisp ...

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 botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

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 Snout–vent length (SVL) is a morphometric measurement taken in herpetology from the tip of the snout to the most posterior opening of the cloacal slit (vent)."direct line distance from tip of snout to posterior margin of vent" It is the mos ...

<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 Nocturnality is a ethology, behavior in some non-human animals characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnality, diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatur ...

. Most species have

amplexus Amplexus (Latin "embrace") is a type of Mating, mating behavior exhibited by some External fertilization, externally fertilizing species (chiefly amphibians, Amphipoda, amphipods, and horseshoe crabs) in which a male grasps a female with his fro ...

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

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