About
The Critically Endangered Gundia Indian frog is a ground-dwelling species, living on the forest floor of a single, small area of the Western Ghats.
Not much is known about the life history of this species because it has been little-studied since its formal discovery in 1986. The family of frogs to which this species belongs diverged from all other amphibians over 80 million years ago, around the same time that elephants and elephant shrews last shared a common ancestor!
The Gundia Indian frog is threatened by habitat loss caused by intensive livestock production, harvesting of timber by local people, road construction, and the development of tourism facilities. The species is protected by national legislation but they are not currently present in any protected areas.
- Order: Anura
- Family: Ranixalidae
- Population: Unknown
- Trend: decreasing
- Size: 23-38mm
EDGE Score
Distribution
This species is found in forests of Kempshole and Sakleshpur in the Western Ghats of India, 200metres above sea level.
Habitat and Ecology
The species is terrestrial, residing in moist tropical forest. They breed on wet rocks near streams. The tadpoles are finless and they scour wet rock surfaces next to streams for algae and other organic material to eat. Adults are likely to eat small to medium sized invertebrates in the leaf litter.
