Ghatixalus variabilis

Appearance

Male Ghatixalus variabilis grow to a snout-vent length of 41–51 mm (1.6–2.0 in) and females to about 67 mm (2.6 in). The colour is variable, even within a single location. The dorsum has a colour pattern characterized by prominent dark brown blotches.

Range and habitat

Ghatixalus variabilis is found in the Nilgiri hills (a part of the Western Ghats), Tamil Nadu, India. This frog is threatened by deforestation and habitat fragmentation. The patches of remaining forest are separated by farmland, that prevents frogs from moving between enclaves.

Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.

Breeding

Calling males and egg sites define most frog field work. A species known from one ridge is as narrow as it sounds.

Eggs and damp skin make amphibians quick to vanish from a drained wetland or a forest stripped of litter.

In crisis

Chytrid fungus, collection, and wet-forest loss are the usual pressures on frogs with a high threat category.

Ghatixalus variabilis is Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.

Sources

Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Ghatixalus variabilis, Wikidata item Q2720429. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.