Nyctibatrachidae is a small family of frogs found in the Western Ghats of India and in Sri Lanka.[1] Their common name is robust frogs.[2] Recognition of Nyctibatrachidae as a family is fairly recent. These frogs were previously placed in the broadly defined family Ranidae, which was more recently divided into three subfamilies: Lankanectinae, Nyctibatrachinae, and Astrobatrachinae.[3][4]
Nyctibatrachidae | |
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Nyctibatrachus beddomii | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Amphibia |
Order: | Anura |
Clade: | Ranoidea |
Family: | Nyctibatrachidae Blommers-Schlösser, 1993 |
Type genus | |
Nyctibatrachus Boulenger, 1882
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The family contains three genera in their own subfamilies:[2][1][4]
Nyctibatrachus are robust-bodied frogs that range in size from small (snout–vent length <20 mm in Nyctibatrachus beddomii) to relatively large (up to 84 mm Nyctibatrachus karnatakaensis). They occur in near streams in hilly evergreen forests. Lankanectes is an aquatic species of slow-moving rivers in marshy areas.[5]