Bombay Night Frog

The Bombay night frog (Nyctibatrachus humayuni) is endemic to the Western Ghats, found in Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka at 200-1,200 m above sea level, near torrential hill streams in tropical moist evergreen and semi-evergreen forest. Its name honours the Indian biologist Humayun Abdulali (Wikipedia, general species account).

It grows to about 48 mm, with a back mottled dark grey or brown, a paler belly, and limbs sometimes dark-banded. It is plump, with prominent forward-facing eyes with vertically slit pupils, a wide head and a rounded snout. Breeding takes place in the monsoon, from May to September: the female deposits a small clutch at the exact spot from which the male called, and the male stands over the eggs and fertilises them. In one cave with a stream, fulvous fruit bats roost and their droppings hold many invertebrates on which the frogs feed (Wikipedia, general species account).