Assessment Results
Nyctibatrachus beddomii
Beddome's Dwarf Wrinkled Frog, Beddome's Night Frog
Order:
Anura
Family:
Nyctibatrachidae
Synonym(s):
Nannobatrachus beddomii
Assessed for:
India
on:
02 Oct 2020
by:
AArk/ASG India Assessment Workshop
Authors:
Neelesh Dahanukar, Nikhil Dandekar, Sandeep Das, Sonali Garg, Gururaja K.V., Priti Hebbar, Dr. Trupti Jadhav, Krishna Komanduri, Girish K.G., Rajkumar K.P., Seshadri K.S., Lilly E. Linden, Nikhil Modak, Sanjay Molur, Annemarie Ohler, Dr. Anand Padhye, Nameer P.O., Keerthikrutha Seetharaman, S.R. Chandramouli, S.R. Ganesh, Gayathri Sreedharan, Abhin M. Sunil, Robin Suyesh and Ashish Thomas
IUCN Global Red List:
Endangered (EN)
National Red List:
(not assessed)
Distribution:
India
Evolutionary Distinctiveness score:
26.93850455
Recommended Conservation Actions:
Additional Comments:
| Question # | Short Name | Question Text | Response | Comments |
| 1 | Extinction risk | Current IUCN Red List category. [Data obtained from the IUCN Red List.] | Endangered (EN) | |
| 2 | Possibly extinct | Is there a strong possibility that this species might be extinct in the wild? | No / unlikely | |
| 3 | Phylogenetic significance | The taxon’s Evolutionary Distinctiveness (ED) score, as generated by the ZSL EDGE program. (These data are not editable by Assessors). | ED value 20 - 50 | |
| 4 | Protected habitat | Is a population of at least 50% of the individuals of the taxon included within a well-managed or reliably protected area or areas? | Yes / probably | This species is endemic to the southern region of the Western Ghats. This frog occurs in Athirimala and Ponmudi of Kerala State, Sengaltheri and all upper montane habitats of Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (Seshadri KS, pers. comm. September 2020), and “Tinnevelly” of Tamil Nadu State (Biju et al. 2011). It ranges between 80 and 1,425 m asl (Biju et al. 2011). It has been recorded from Neyyar Wildlife Sanctuary, Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary and Peppara Wildlife Sanctuary (Sandeep Das, pers. comm. September 2020), in Kerala, and from Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu. It was previously known from Mavadi transect in Meghamalai landscape, Tamil Nadu (Srinivas and Bhupathy 2013), although these records have been assigned to Nyctibatrachus manalari (SR Ganesh, pers. comm. September 2020). It occurs in India at elevations of 400-1,800m asl. |
| 5 | Habitat for reintroduction, conservation translocation or supplementation | Does enough well-managed and reliably protected habitat exist, either within or outside of currently protected areas that is suitable for conservation translocation, including population restoration or conservation introduction? | Yes / probably | |
| 6 | Previous reintroductions | Have reintroduction or translocation attempts been made in the past for this species? | No | |
| 7 | In situ conservation activities | Are any in situ conservation actions currently in place for this species? (Only required if a Red List Assessment has not been completed, or if new actions have been implemented since the last Red List Assessment. (Information from the Conservation Actions section of the Red List assessment should be reviewed and considered when answering this question.). | Yes / probably | It has been recorded from a number of protected areas in India. It is protected by national legislation. |
| 8 | In situ conservation activities | Are additional in situ conservation actions required to help conserve this species in the wild (e.g. habitat restoration and/or protection, control of invasive species, national legislation etc.)? | Yes / probably | Restricting the number of tourists in certain reserves will be beneficial for this species, as well as educating people to deter the pollution from littering and of stream habitats (India RLA/CNA workshop, 2020). |
| 9 | In situ research | Is additional in situ research required to better understand the species, e.g. distribution, population trends, natural history etc.? | Yes | Research is required on the effect of threats on this species including the effects of pesticides from tea plantations, the effect of greywater, and the effects of dams on amphibians. Further studies are required to investigate the full effects of Bd on this species (India RLA/CNA workshop September 2020). The outcomes of this research can then be used inform conservation actions going forward (India RLA/CNA workshop, 2020). |
| 10 | Threat mitigation | Are the threats facing the taxon, including any new and emerging threats not considered in the IUCN Red List, potentially reversible? | Threats are likely to be reversible in time frame to prevent further decline / extinction | This species is not found in agricultural areas. Outside of the protected areas, the forest habitat of this species is being cleared for conversion to agricultural land (including tea plantations), and it is being exploited for timber and wood by local people. The construction of both small and large-scale dams is also threat. In Kerala, in Athirumala, Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve, an annual pilgrimage takes place, with around 100 people each day between January and March, which causes littering and pollution of streams in the area. In Ponmudi, road mortality is a problem as it is a high tourism area (Sandeep Das, pers. comm. September 2020) and in the Bonaccaud region. Grey water from local communities might be a problem around the Rosemala area (Keerthikrutha Seetharaman, pers. comm. September 2020), however the proportion of exploited parts of steam habitats in Ponmudi would be relatively low (S.R. Ganesh, pers. comm. September 2020). Tourism in Ponmudi is also causing species disturbance, and is considered to be minor threat to the species (India RLA/CNA workshop, 2020). This species cannot tolerate a lot of habitat degradation (India RLA/CNA workshop, 2020). Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) has been confirmed in the genus, with morbidity observed but no mortalities to date, but further studies required to investigate full effects on this species (India RLA/CNA workshop September 2020). |
| 11 | Over-collection from the wild | Is the taxon suffering from collection within its natural range, either for food, for the pet trade or for any other reason, which threatens the species’ continued persistence in the wild? | No / unlikely | |
| 12 | Population recovery | Is the known population of this species in the wild large enough to recover naturally, without ex situ intervention if threats are mitigated? | Yes / probably | The population is naturally fragmented due to the patchy distribution of its stream and swamp habitat (India RLA/CNA workshop, 2020). It is common in parts of its range, but its status varies between localities (India RLA/CNA workshop, 2020). |
| 13 | Action plans | Does an Action Plan for the species already exist, or is one currently being developed? | No | |
| 14 | Biological distinctiveness | Does the taxon exhibit a distinctive reproductive mode, behaviour, aspect of morphology or physiology, within the Order to which it belongs (e.g. Anura, Passeriformes etc.)? | No aspect of biology known to be exceptional | Male parental behaviour is displayed in this species (Keerthikrutha Seetharaman, pers. comm. September 2020), however this is not unique. |
| 15 | Cultural/socio-economic importance | Does the taxon have a special human cultural value (e.g. as a national or regional symbol, in a historic context, featuring in traditional stories) or economic value (e.g. food, traditional medicine, tourism) within its natural range or in a wider global context? | No | |
| 16 | Scientific importance | Is the species vital to current or planned research other than species-specific ecology/biology/conservation within the Order to which it belongs (e.g. Anura, Passeriformes etc.) e.g. human medicine, climate change, environmental pollutants and conservation science? | No research dependent on this species | |
| 17 | Ex situ research | Does conserving this species (or closely related species) in situ depend upon research that can be most easily carried out ex situ? | No | |
| 18 | Ex situ conservation activities | Is any ex situ research or other ex situ conservation action currently in place for this species? (Information from the Conservation Actions section of the Red List assessment should be reviewed and considered when answering this question.) | No / unlikely | |
| 19 | Husbandry analog required | If an ex situ rescue program is recommended for this species, would an analog species be required to develop husbandry protocols first? | Yes / probably | A husbandry analog is recommended for this species, however there is very little known about the requirements of this species in the wild, and so additional research is required to determine its requirements, prior to deciding on a suitable analog (India RLA/CNA workshop, 2020). |
| 20 | Husbandry analog | Do the biological and ecological attributes of this species make it suitable for developing husbandry regimes for more threatened related species? i.e. could this species be used in captivity to help to develop husbandry and breeding protocols which could be used for a similar, but more endangered species at a later stage? | No | |
| 21 | Captive breeding | Has this species been successfully bred and/or maintained in captivity? | Not held in captivity to date | |
| 22 | Conservation education/ecotourism potential | Is the species especially diurnal, active or colourful, or is there an interesting or unusual aspect of its ecology that make it particularly suitable to be an educational ambassador for conservation of the species in the range country, either in zoos or aquariums or within ecotourism activities? | No | |
| 23 | Mandate | Is there an existing conservation mandate recommending the ex situ conservation of this taxon? | No | |
| 24 | Range State approval | If an ex situ initiative was proposed for this species, would it be supported (and approved) by the range State (either within the range State or out-of-country ex situ)? | Yes / probably | |
| 25 | Founder specimens | Are sufficient animals of the taxon available or potentially available (from wild or captive sources) to initiate an ex situ program, if one was recommended? | Yes / probably | |
| 26 | Taxonomic status | Has a complete taxonomic analysis of the species in the wild been carried out, to fully understand the functional unit you wish to conserve (i.e. have species limits been determined)? | Yes | This species has been taxonomically revised recently (Annemarie Ohler, pers. comm. September 2020). |
Citation:
Neelesh Dahanukar, Nikhil Dandekar, Sandeep Das, Sonali Garg, Gururaja K.V., Priti Hebbar, Dr. Trupti Jadhav, Krishna Komanduri, Girish K.G., Rajkumar K.P., Seshadri K.S., Lilly E. Linden, Nikhil Modak, Sanjay Molur, Annemarie Ohler, Dr. Anand Padhye, Nameer P.O., Keerthikrutha Seetharaman, S.R. Chandramouli, S.R. Ganesh, Gayathri Sreedharan, Abhin M. Sunil, Robin Suyesh and Ashish Thomas 2020. Conservation Needs Assessment for Nyctibatrachus beddomii, India
(AArk/ASG India Assessment Workshop).
https://conservationneeds.org/assessment/5597
Accessed 25 Apr 2025
