A new rightfrog, Nyctibatrachus minimus sp. nov. (Anura: Nyctibatrachidae): the smallest frog from India

Abstract

A new nightfrog, Nyctibatrachus minim us sp. nov. (Anura: Nyctibatrachidae) is described from Kurichiyarmala in the Western Ghats, India. Its most distinctive feature is the small adult snout-vent length, averaging only 12.3 mm in adult males (N = 15), making it the smallest known frog from India. Analyses of a fragment of the mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase 1 gene indicate a minimum divergence of 22 % with known small-sized congeners. Miniaturization in Nyctibatrachus sp. seems to be associated with absence of webbing on toes and fingers, which may have resulted from evolutionary specialization to life in terrestrial habitats.