Amphibian Endemics Of The Western Ghats

The Western Ghats or Sahyadri is a range of mountains that runs along the western coast of India. It stretches from the Satpur range in the north and ends in Kanyakumari in the southern tip of India. It is one of the 10 biodiversity hotspots with a high degree of endemic and endangered flora and fauna. This high endemism is due to its unique topography.
The Western Ghats is specially rich in its amphibian diversity. It has around 151 species of amphibians of which around 130 are endemic and found no where else in the world. Several genus such as Uraeotyphlus, Gegeniophis, Indotyphlus, Indirana, Ghatixalus, Micrixalus and Nictibatrachus are entirely endemic to the western ghats. The Southern western ghats is also the only home for the rare and primitive Purple frog (Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis) which has changed little since the juracic period. The western ghats is also home to several species of amphibians yet to be described.
The impact of humans and our ecological amnesia has taken a huge toll on the amphibian diversity. Now this unique habitat lies in our hands. Habitat loss and fragmentation, pollution and global warming have had a direct impact on amphibians. Now it is time for us to take drastic steps to conserve them and their natural habitat.