Near-extinct frog found

BANGALORE: A purple frog with a pig-like snout, thought to be
near-extinct, has been found alive in a field close to the Kerala
Forest Research Institute at Peechi near Thrissur town in Kerala.First
reported in India eight years ago, the rare frog species is closely
linked to a similar frog found only in the island group of the
Seychelles — suggesting the affinity between the Western Ghats and the
Indian Ocean archipelago. Just over 8 cm in length and weighing 142
gm, the frog, which lives mostly under soil was found by a farm worker
planting tuber crops. The KFRI researchers brought the frog to their
campus and identified it as the species Nasikabatrachus sahyadrenis,
never before reported in the district. 'It is almost a living fossil,'
K.K. Ramachandran, head of the KFRI's Wildlife Biology Division, told
The Hindu.

The Hindu, 25th December 2008