At a glance
- IUCN category
- EN · Endangered
- Animal group
- Reptiles & Amphibians
- Population trend
- Decreasing
- Last verified
Conservation overview
The purple frog is a bloated, burrowing frog with a pointed snout that spends almost its whole life underground. It is assessed as Endangered.
It surfaces only briefly to breed during the monsoon and represents an ancient, distinct lineage.
Range & habitat
The Western Ghats of India.
Major threats
Threats below are drawn from the authoritative sources listed on this page. For the current, complete assessment, see the IUCN Red List.
- Habitat loss to agriculture
- Dams and land-use change
- Collection of tadpoles in places
Why it matters
A 'living fossil' frog of the Western Ghats, the purple frog highlights the unique, ancient amphibian life of one of the world's biodiversity hotspots.
Sources
Sources for Purple Frog
- IUCN Red List — look up Purple Frog (authoritative status)
- AmphibiaWeb (UC Berkeley)
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is the purple frog so unusual?
It is a stout, burrowing frog that lives almost entirely underground, emerging only briefly to breed. It belongs to an ancient lineage with few living relatives, making it evolutionarily special.
Why is the purple frog Endangered?
Published assessments cite habitat loss to agriculture, dams and land-use change in the Western Ghats, and local collection. See the IUCN Red List.
Last updated: