Overview
The Purple Frog (Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis), also known as the Indian purple frog or pignose frog, is a living relic whose evolutionary lineage diverged from other anurans over 120 million years ago during the Cretaceous period. Spending almost its entire adult life up to 12 feet underground in the Western Ghats of India, it emerges for only a few days each year during the monsoon to breed.
Biology and Physical Characteristics
Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis has an unmistakable bloated, rounded body with dark purple-to-grayish skin and a small pointed snout tipped with a whitish fleshy protrusion. Its short, muscular hind limbs are equipped with hardened, shovel-like spade tubercles (metatarsal spades) designed for rapid backward burrowing into compacted tropical soils. Its small mouth and specialized grooved tongue allow it to suck in subterranean termites and ants within underground galleries.
Behavior and Ecology
This secretive anuran lives as an obligate burrower, spending roughly 360 days of the year completely hidden in subterranean soil chambers feeding on termites. During the onset of heavy pre-monsoon rains in May, males emit loud, muffled breeding calls from burrows beneath stream banks. They emerge briefly to mate in torrential seasonal streams, where females lay thousands of eggs before adults immediately burrow back underground.
Conservation and Human Impact
Assessed as Endangered by the IUCN, the purple frog faces substantial habitat loss and fragmentation resulting from cardamom, coffee, and rubber plantations across the Western Ghats. In addition, check-dams and seasonal road mortality during breeding emergences threaten localized populations. Conservation efforts focus on stream corridor restoration and community awareness across Kerala.
Interesting Factoid
The purple frog spends almost 360 days of the year living entirely underground, surfacing for only a few brief days during torrential monsoon downpours to mate in rushing streams before vanishing back beneath the earth!
Last updated: October 2026