Priti Hebbar

Manipal Academy of Higher Education | MAHE · Department of Biology and Humanities

Climate change is one of the major drivers of biodiversity loss. Among vertebrates, amphibians are one of the more sensitive groups to climate change due to their unique ecology, habitat requirements, narrow thermal tolerance and relatively limited dispersal abilities. We projected the influence of climate change on an endemic toad, Malabar Tree To...

Climate change is one of the major drivers of biodiversity loss. Among vertebrates, amphibians are one of the more sensitive groups to climate change due to their unique ecology, habitat requirements, narrow thermal tolerance and relatively limited dispersal abilities. We projected the influence of climate change on an endemic toad, Malabar Tree To...

Amphibians play a crucial role in ecosystems by aiding nutrient cycling, serving as bioindicators, and controlling insect populations. However, they are increasingly threatened by habitat destruction, climate change, pollution, diseases, and invasive species. This study investigates the impact of the invasive African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) on...

Amphibians are one of the most threatened groups of vertebrates globally. For effective conservation, understanding the patterns and processes underlying amphibian diversity is essential. Studies of genetic diversity and structure among conspecific populations and closely related species can provide crucial insights for their conservation; however,...

We describe a new species of night frog belonging to the genus Nyctibatrachus from the central Western Ghats, India. Nyctibatrachus tunga sp. nov. is distinguished from all congeners by a combination of (1) body size medium (SVL 37.0–40.2 mm ♂, 42.4–47.4 mm ♀), (2) head wider than long (HW 16.0–17.6 mm ♂, 17.4–20.3 mm ♀, HL 11.7–13.6 mm ♂, 13.4–15....

The frogs of genus Nyctibatrachus from the Western Ghats are endemic, with some taxa showing a narrow distribution range. Nyctibatrachus jog was known only from the type locality, Jog falls from Sharavathi river basin suggesting a restricted distribution. In this study, using DNA barcoding, we studied the distribution patterns of N. jog by sampling...

Unrelated species often evolve similar phenotypic solutions to the same environmental problem, a phenomenon known as convergent evolution. But how do these common traits arise? We address this question from a physiological perspective by assessing how convergence of an elaborate gestural display in frogs (foot-flagging) is linked to changes in the...

Amphibians show a high amount of species richness and endemism. Such diversity can be attributed to their microenvironment as amphibians display fine‐scale heterogeneity depending on the microhabitats they inhabit. Tadpoles are considered as good indicators for understanding microhabitat–species association as they reflect the breeding sites and si...

Amphibians show a very high level of diversity and endemism and are facing global declines from the past few decades. Studies have shown that the molecular tools can be helpful in their conservation efforts. In India, more than 80% of amphibians are endemic and most show a narrow range of distribution. Most of the Indian amphibians lack information...

The genus Euphlyctis is widely distributed across Southwestern Arabian Peninsula into parts of Southeast Asia. Five of the seven known Euphlyctis species are found within the Indian subcontinent. Here, we describe a new species, Euphlyctis karaavali sp. nov. from South-west coast of India, which was discovered during surveys engaging citizens. This...

Microhyla sholigari is an endangered frog described in the year 2000. The original description was based on non-adult types and lacked information on several morphological characters, call structure, genetic material and photographs of the animal in life. The absence of such information posed challenges in field identification of this species. Sinc...

Microhyla sholigari is an endangered frog described in the year 2000. The original description was based on non-adult types and lacked information on several morphological characters, call structure, genetic material and photographs of the animal in life. The absence of such information posed challenges in field identification of this species. Sinc...

In recent times, several new species of amphibians have been described from India. Many of these discoveries are from biodiversity hotspots or from within protected areas. We undertook amphibian surveys in human dominated landscapes outside of protected areas in south western region of India between years 2013-2015. We encountered a new species of...

Call record of M. laterite sp. nov. (WAV)

Call record of M. sholigari. (WAV)

Details of abbreviations used for morphometric measurements. (DOCX)

Un-corrected pairwise genetic distances of Microhyla species used for analysis. Uperodon variegatus is used as an out-group. Genetic distances are in percentage. (DOCX)

List of species and accession numbers used for phylogenetic analysis. List was based on Howlader, Nair (28). (DOCX)

A new cryptic species of bush frog Raorchestes honnametti sp. nov. is described from the south-eastern part of the Western Ghats, India. This newly described species belongs to the Charius clade and is morphologically similar to other clade members—R. charius and R. griet. Therefore, an integrative taxonomic approach based on molecular and bioacous...

GenBank accession numbers for ND1 gene of 49 species of Raorchestes and Rhacophorus malabaricus compared in the study. (XLSX)

Morphological comparison of R. honnametti with R. thodai and with non-Western Ghats species of Raorchestes. (DOCX)

Linear Discriminant Analysis factor loadings for Axis 1 and Axis 2. (XLSX)

GenBank accession numbers for 16S rRNA gene of 49 species of Raorchestes and Rhacophorus malabaricus compared in the study. (XLSX)

Details of type materials and voucher specimens examined. (XLSX)

Genetic divergence (in percentage) matrix of 50 species of Raorchestes and an outgroup Rhacophorus malabaricus. (XLSX)

Western Ghats of India is known for its high amphibian diversity, but very little is known about their tadpoles. Here, for the first time, we describe tadpoles of three species of an endemic genus, Nyctibatrachus, namely N. kempholeyensis, N. jog and N. kumbara using morphology and molecular techniques. Tadpoles were found in the streams and Myrist...

Reproductive modes are diverse and unique in anurans. Selective pressures of evolution, ecology and environment are attributed to such diverse reproductive modes. Globally forty different reproductive modes in anurans have been described to date. The genus Nyctibatrachus has been recently revised and belongs to an ancient lineage of frog families i...

Nearly one-third of over 6600 species of amphibians worldwide is facing threat of extinction 1 , making them the most threatened vertebrate group on the planet 2. Populations of many species are declining rapidly, beyond the extinction rates that have occurred previously. Rapid urbanization leading to change in suitable habitat plays a major role i...