Purple Frog

The purple frog (Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis), also called the Indian purple frog, Mahabali frog or pignose frog, is endemic to the Western Ghats and well adapted to a subterranean life. The specimen from which it was originally described was 7.0 cm long from snout tip to vent. The adult was formally described in October 2003, though the juvenile form had been described earlier, in 1917 (Wikipedia, general species account).

Compared with other frogs it has a small head and an unusual pointed snout, and adults are typically dark purplish grey. Its call is a drawn-out, harsh sound similar to a chicken clucking, and males call from under a thin layer of soil. Females carry the males on their backs to the egg-laying sites, usually crevices along fast-flowing streams, and the frog may burrow headfirst because of its wedge-shaped skull and unusually shaped limbs (Wikipedia, general species account).