The kick boxer of Western Ghats
Just before going to sleep, on our recent camping trip we heard varied, continuous streams of sounds. Initially it sounded like cicadas making noise. I kind of ignored the sounds. However after couple of more hours, I noticed that the sounds did continue to make a rhythmic melody.
I took my phone and a torch and started walking in the direction of the sound. I reached a rice paddy. And to my surprise i found the origin of the sounds almost from all the corners of the field. Those were many kinds of sounds and the musicians were none other than the FROGS.
As the sounds of different kinds , so were the frogs. I could see also also species of frogs in the paddy. The most interesting one I spotted was the one which really a tiny torrent but its sounds was the one which attracted listeners the most. Do see the video, with ear-phones ON to listen to the continuous rhythmic music composed by this particular frog.
Now some Gyan…
Amazing Facts About the Frog
- There are over 5,000 species of frog.
- Frogs don’t need to drink water as they absorb it through their skin.
- A frog’s call is unique to its species, and some frog calls can be heard up to a mile away.
- Some frogs can jump over 20 times their own body length; that is like a human jumping 30m.
- Many species of frog care for their offspring. For example some poison dart frogs lay their eggs on the forest floor so they can guard them and urinate on them to keep them moist.
- Females of some frog species keep a regular check on their offspring (tadpoles) and if food becomes scarce she will deposit unfertilised eggs for them to eat.
- Asian tree frogs build nests in trees above water so that when the tadpoles hatch they fall directly into the water.
- Due to their permeable skin, typically biphastic life (aquatic larvae and terrestrial adults), and mid-position in the food web frogs and other amphibians are excellent biological indicators of the wider health of ecosystems.
- In Egypt the frog is the symbol of life and fertility, and in Egyptian mythology Heget is a frog-goddess who represents fertility.
Few years ago, scientists have found 14 new species of frogs in the western ghats of India. Of these 14 species, the most talked species is the dancing frog. The frog in our video seems to be the same dancing frog. There is a particular style of feet movements of this frog. this is called as foot flagging and some time foot tapping also. Earlier scientists thought that this kind of behavior males do to attract their female counterpart. Later some studies shown that frogs show this behavior not to attract female but to drive away the rival males. They use their legs to kick away other male frogs from going near the females. So why not call them the kick boxers of Western Ghats? Yes they do kick other males. As in the video above, the frog is not showing any movement of leg lke foot flagging or foot tapping thats because, there wasn’t any other male frog of the same species.
Some useful resources online for learning more about frogs
- http://www.caleidoscope.in/alternative-lifestyle/k-v-gururaja-and-his-world-of-frogs
- http://amphibiaweb.org/cgi/amphib_query?special=call&genus=Micrixalus&species=saxicola
- https://shashankbirla.wordpress.com/2015/10/15/its-a-frogs-world-wayanad/
- https://www.frogindia.org/publications.htm
Sharing couple of more pics of other frog/toad species found at Nisargshala Campsite area..
Frog near Nisargshala campsite
Golden backed frog of India
A Documentary on the dancing frogs of India
